Thanksgiving Turkey-cat
Kiwi is such a doofus. He went downstairs with N this morning while N took care of some work stuff, and suddenly Kiwi was nowhere to be found. We hunted high and low, knowing that he loves to get into the unfinished part of the basement, and climb anything and everything. No sign of him.
A *thud* and a plaintive "meow" alerted us to his location. The little munchkin somehow managed to jump up to where the drywall stops going up from the underside of the stairs. He ventured in, then slid all the way to the bottom. And because drywall is smooth and at a 45 degree angle, he couldn't climb up again.
Once we found him, and shone a torch down there, we could see his eyes, round like saucers, shining back at us from the bottom. :( We got a sheet and a ribbon, thinking maybe we could get him to climb onto the sheet and hold on, but he couldn't get the concept. We tried putting a paint roller on the end of an extendable pole so we could get that behind him and scoop him out, but he wouldn't let us get it past him.
After much trying of non-damaging ploys, we ended up breaking into the drywall, so he could get out himself. He rushed out, and ran around to the other side of the basement, where it's finished. He was trembling and scared when I picked him up to bring him upstairs, but at least he was purring.
So now we have a huge hole in the underside of the stairs. You can't see that part of the stairwell anyway, and he drywall didn't have any real function other than a cosmetic one, so there's no rush to get it repaired.
Curiosity didn't kill the cat... this time. But he's one scared, trembling little monster, who's down to seven lives. Who's not allowed downstairs again until he learns sense. Which, given past experience, could well be never. But I'm thankful he's safe. This time.
A *thud* and a plaintive "meow" alerted us to his location. The little munchkin somehow managed to jump up to where the drywall stops going up from the underside of the stairs. He ventured in, then slid all the way to the bottom. And because drywall is smooth and at a 45 degree angle, he couldn't climb up again.
Once we found him, and shone a torch down there, we could see his eyes, round like saucers, shining back at us from the bottom. :( We got a sheet and a ribbon, thinking maybe we could get him to climb onto the sheet and hold on, but he couldn't get the concept. We tried putting a paint roller on the end of an extendable pole so we could get that behind him and scoop him out, but he wouldn't let us get it past him.
After much trying of non-damaging ploys, we ended up breaking into the drywall, so he could get out himself. He rushed out, and ran around to the other side of the basement, where it's finished. He was trembling and scared when I picked him up to bring him upstairs, but at least he was purring.
So now we have a huge hole in the underside of the stairs. You can't see that part of the stairwell anyway, and he drywall didn't have any real function other than a cosmetic one, so there's no rush to get it repaired.
Curiosity didn't kill the cat... this time. But he's one scared, trembling little monster, who's down to seven lives. Who's not allowed downstairs again until he learns sense. Which, given past experience, could well be never. But I'm thankful he's safe. This time.