My husband, Cat Rescuer! And a question for you cat owners out there...
Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 9:55AM 
Jeff rescued a cat from underneath a neighbour's car yesterday morning.
This may not seem like a big thing to most of you but then again most of you might not realize that Jeff is NOT a morning person and is also not a cat person (like me, he's allergic).
But let me start from the beginning.
Yesterday morning, I went out to do some weeding in the front garden. For some weird reason, I've fallen in love with weeding lately. No, don't bother inviting me come over to weed your garden because I've plenty to enjoy in our own, thank you kindly.
Anyway, I was eagerly heading down our front driveway with my styrofoam knee pad and garden gloves in hand when I noticed our next door neighbour's feet sticking out from underneath his car. One of the things I love about our neighbourhood is the fact that although we neighbours are friendly with each other, we respect each other's privacy. So although I was curious (I hadn't realized my neighbour was into car mechanic type of stuff), I didn't say anything and just kept walking by.
But then he said, "Are you good with cats?"
Apparently a cat (who was wearing a collar, and a leash dragging behind it) had climbed up INSIDE the bottom of our neighbour's car and had gotten himself trapped up inside the frame. Our neighbour's son happened to notice part of the red leash lying outside of the car on the driveway the next morning and decided to investigate.
Good thing, else things might have gotten messy if the family had decided to go anywhere in the car. Our neighbour had taken the leash off, which seemed to have gotten tangled around part of the frame, but the cat was still wedged up inside the car, unable to turn around.
I'm not particularly good with cats but I do find that my friends' cats find me attractive, probably because I'm trying to ignore them because of my allergies. Cats don't seem to like being ignored. It's like they're thinking, How dare this lowly human not recognize my overwhelming cuteness? Why is she not fawning over me? I'd better turn up the charm.
So I put my knee pad down on the pavement and lay on top of it to peer under the car. All I could see was the tip of its tail hanging down. Eek. Was it even ALIVE? I tried coaxing it out with my best "hey kitty kitty" voice" and the tip of the tail curled a fraction of an inch. *Whew*...at least it was still alive.
Nudged it gently with the end of my Swiffer mop, but the cat barely moved, though I could see its face now. Its eyes were half-closed, and I could see its tail curled again a little bit, but that was it. Poor thing...I figure that it must have tired itself out during the night.
By this time Jeff, who had been sleeping in because of a late gaming night, came out to investigate. Can't imagine what was going through his mind when he saw me lying on my stomach on our neighbour's driveway, the top part of me underneath their car, apparently talking to myself.
When I gave up, he gave it a shot as well. He managed to wedge himself further under the car and was actually able to touch the cat. By shifting around and gently pushing the cat, Jeff finally managed to nudge the creature's hindquarters out. By this time, the cat had evidently decided it had had enough of the whole situation and was making more of an attempt to get out as well, and a short time later, it finally dropped to the pavement.
Without a thank you or disdainful glare, it just casually strolled away. Maybe it was just too embarrassed and was already pretending the whole messy affair never happened. I've never been able to understand cats.
Meanwhile, Jeff was dirty and had a bad crick in his neck and shoulders from trying to reach and then manipulate the cat. As our neighbour went to call the Humane Society and tell them they didn't have to come over after all, and as Jeff and I hurried to get ready for friends who were arriving within the hour for brunch, I couldn't help thinking, WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT CAT THINKING?
So my question to your cat owners out there is the following: Why on earth would any cat want to climb up inside the bottom frame of a car? And with all the grace and physical agility possessed by most cats, how on earth could they climb into a space they couldn't get themselves out of?
I just don't get cats.
Reader Comments (8)
One of our cats pulled that stunt with a neighbor's truck back when she (the cat) was young and limber, but she got herself out with nothing more than a grease smudge on her skull. Another one when I was a kid used to climb up into the wheel wells, on top of the tires; we had to make a walk-around of the car, checking to make sure Shadow wasn't sleeping on top of any of the wheel, before we'd go anywhere.
Some of it may be the residual engine-heat trapped under the hood. Cats like warm spots.
Most cats also like caves: ref cats inside paper bags and cardboard boxes.
Many cats just enjoy climbing. The same cat as got up into the neighbor's truck would also climb the Christmas tree.
In the winter it's quite common. Warm engine, cold out side, kitty wants to be warm. I don't know how cold it got last night, but if the cat got loose, and was scared, the car would have made a good hiding place. The leash may have stopped it from coming out, or it wasn't coming out with all those strangers around. it may even have been stuck. Cats can do that when they panic. Jeff freed it, and it ran for further safety.
As a cat owner I thank you all for your help. My cats wouldn't bother, well unless you came to my house, which I don't reccomend we have a number of cats, all of whom would love to say hello to you. But you are right cats are strange. Very very strange,
Agreed. Car engine is warm, and is a cozy spot up off the ground where pesky dogs and small children can't see them and won't bother them. Don't know what possesses cats to end up in spots they can't figure out how to get out of.... although being chased by a big slobbery barking critter who wags its tail (which is Cat-ese for "I'm gonna git you sucka") is a VERY strong motivator...
Cat slipped away from owner and was on a spree. For whatever reason (cold, scared, just for funzies_ cat climbs into car. Stupid leash, cat gets stuck. After a while humans show and try to rescue. Cat adopts bored disdain, still stuck but not admitting it. Your hubby loosens things enough that cat can get loose. Cat does so, still projecting bored disdain: "I could have disentangled myself whenever I wanted to, I simply hadn't wanted to yet."
It's like when the cat tried to jump somewhere and misses: "I meant to do that", licking tail.
Cattitude.
Cats are insane and don't have any sense of self-preservation. They also don't think through the consequences of their actions, such as "If I go in here, can I get out again?"
They also find it difficult to jump/crawl backwards out of a space they've got themselves into, which is probably what happened here.
That and the cat probably thought you should feel grateful to IT for allowing you to help him get out, as cats also feel they are the centre of the known universe, and the fact they let us measly humans do anything at all is something we should be grateful for.
The cat may have been looking for a space safe from a dog or unhappy raccoon, too.
Duffy is honoured to be your subject in first 2 photos
Margaret, Technoshaman & Heather: Good point about the warmth of the car. Still seems a bit crazy to me, but who account for the quirks of the feline mind. :-)
Damedini: "Catitude" is a great word!
Emsy: Heh, you're obviously a cat owner!
BJM: Good point. There are a LOT of raccoons around here.
Ginny: Duffy is very photogenic!