One Lucky Kitten

[Jennifer Gray (Maurine)]

I was on my way to my counseling appointment today when I saw something that made me litterally freak. A small charcoal grey kitten was on the shoulder of the 610 loop, and not in a good place. She was right past the exit ramp for I-10, and right past where all the traffic(three lanes) merged from six ten onto I-10 as well as several other lanes all merging togeather...she was on the bridge, and the shoulder there was no more than about two feet, thus no room to pull over. I was so pissed..she was looking into traffic, screaming. I went down, wondering what to do, and then shot off the freeway the minute I had enough shoulder(just past the bridge). I got out of my truck after hitting the hazard lights, and began to walk the nearly mile back over the hudge bridge, facing three lanes of traffic going a good fifty miles an hour. I was praying and talking to Yinepu the entire time, asking Him to keep the kitten safe, keep me safe, and keep traffic safe. I could not leave her there...she would surly die. It seemed forever to reach her, and by the time I did, it was worse..she was now up on the edge of the wall, looking down at the freeway traffic going under her...all three lanes. I was sick. I had no idea if this tinny kiiten was wild, and would actually jump off the bridge into traffic, or even try to run across 610 to escape me. Either thing would have shurly been fatal. I got about 15 feet from her, and nealt down, slapping the top of the three foot wall. She turned and looked at me, and continued her meowing. By this time, traffic had slowed a bit, to watch the drama. I approached slowly and low, and got about three feet from her, when she backed up, right over the edge of the wall...I immedately lowered my head, in shock....out of the corner of me eye, I saw two grey paws, I stayed nealt as she pulled herself up, cried, and scurried back about one foot and stopped. Nervously, I approached...traffic was now slowed to about five miles an hour. I reached out, my arm extending just beyond the wall to catch her in case she backed up again, and in a mindless blurr, I grabbed her by the back of the neck. With the prize in my hand, I thanked Yinepu for allowing me to catch her, and not letting anyone wreck in the process. Traffic immedeately began to pick up....no honks, no nothing...I never looked at a single car, only saw them out of the corner of my eye... She was filthy, covered in her own urin and fecies, and absolutly skinny. I continued to thank Yinepu all the way to the truck, and on to the office where she had a nice bath. <IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> Looking back on the event, I feel if she had not backed up, and had such a blessed close call, she may have really done something stupid, like leap off the bridge...It was truly a miracle she did not get killed, and I guess she is lucky I came her way, as I think she had been there for quite some time..she may have been marooned on the bridge following the deluge that flooded all the major freeways, possibly stranding her on that bridge. If that is the case, she was there for over five days. She is now eating a little(I am feeding her only a small portion of food a time to keep her from getting too shocked), and drinking fine..and sleeping a lot. <IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> <BR> <BR> Sahyinepu

[Sheri Gordon (Sheri)]

awwwwwwwwwwwwww What a sweet story. :-)

[Chris Ceraolo (Chris)]

That's a cat that needs to be named I-10-but seriously, in your religion Maurine, aren't cats holy? <BR> <BR>Just a thought- <BR>Chris

[Jennifer Gray (Maurine)]

Well, in ancient times if you killed one you were executed..but I doubt that would happen now...Actually, the Nisut had to put her cat to sleep very recently, so I think they may have modernized a bit. ;) <BR> <BR>I was thinking of naming her 610 since that was the freeay she was on, but I am not even sure I will be keeping her. She is so sweet though...she let me bathe her and everything.

[Angillas (Angillas)]

Jen, all I can say about your rescue is... <BR>(wait for it) <BR> <BR> <BR>Thank you.

[Starr Magick (Starr)]

Ohh Jen... Sniffle... <BR>Poor little thing.. <BR>how ANYONE can let the poor little thing get INTO a situation like that is just HORRID.. <BR> <BR>I cannot believe people some days.. I was coming home from work the other day and I saw this poor kitty crossing the road.. all of a sudden a motorcycle comes outta nowhere and Swerves not to miss the cat but PURPOUSLY HIT the poor thing... <BR> <BR>I got the vehicle info and sadly the poor thing was dead instantly.. (probably a blessing over suffering though) <BR> <BR>I ask though HOW can ANYONE have such a TOTAL disregard for life..?? <BR> <BR>makes me wonder what kinda world we live in some days <BR> <BR>I am SO glad yours had a happy ending though Jen! <BR> as long as we keep doing our share hopefully the world will be a little better place for all living things <BR> <BR>Starr

[Electric Goose (Egg)]

I once had a little grey cat with white paws. His name was Casey. Best little cat I have ever owned. Er, best little cat who ever owned ME!

[Tina (Trina)]

Fortunately you were there, Maurine... <BR> <BR>Hm, I'm not sure, whether I properly understood, what you think, how she got there, but is it possible that she got there accidentally and someone is looking for her?

[Jennifer Gray (Maurine)]

Um..no way onto the freeway without having to cross traffic. Been watching the cat in the house, amazing how clumsy she is. Fell off a table, slid down the staircase banaster, and all sorts of crazy stuff. We seriously are thinking she hadn't been there for long at all...she had either been dumped, or perhaps feel out of the underside fo a car after goig for a ride...but now leaning more to the dumped theory.

[Electric Goose (Egg)]

Poor thing! I know they sometimes climb in warm engine compartments when it's cold out. If that's what she did, she's lucky she didn't get cooked! <BR> <BR>Best Friends in Utah (I donate to them every chance I get) had a kitty once that someone saw tossed out a car window while slowing down for the on-ramp. The person who saw called Best Friends and they sent someone out to retrieve him. They named him Freeway. He had lost a few toenails trying to grab hold of the concrete as he landed. He was all black. <BR> <BR>Do you need anything for her? I've got a TON of kitty stuff. Bowls, treats, sample kibbles, toys galore! Be happy to ship you some!

[Jennifer Gray (Maurine)]

I am fine with her care...interesting about the lost toe nails..she is missing at least one, though I assumed she lost it falling over the edge of the wall and trying to pull herself over it again. <BR> <BR>I just gave her a thourough examination, and nearly all her toes are dammaged; compleetly gone, or very worn. If she recieved the dammage after being tossed from a mooving vehicle, then that makes her dangling form the wall over I-10 even more incredible. It would also explain her bumped upper lip, and the several scratches on her. She would have probably sufferd these injuries, which ironically were quite fresh when I first found her, when she hit the pavement. But like I said, if her claws were dammaged in the toss, then that makes the fact that she did not fall to her death even more incredible. I think being tossed may also explain the mess she made of herself....I guess if one was thrown from a mooving vehicle they would certainly urinate and the such on themselves. <BR> <BR>As I thought when I first found her, if she had been dumped, that was the cruelest thing anyone could do. How did they expect her to survive on that interstate? Her being dumped would also explain her being more willing to leap from the bridge, than walk the leangth of the narrow shoulder for the possiblillity of a way off the bridge. Yinepu's comment that the kitten was too afraid to moove down the freeway would also be evident of her not traveling willingly to that spot. Plus, Houston is quite hot, and I find it hard to believe that she could have survived in the open sun for days on end(which she would have had to if she had been there from the flood). Sge also was not dehydrated when I found her. So then, I must conclude that she either hitched a ride under a vehicle on accident, or was thrown from a car onto the freeway. Most people who I have talked to feel she was dumped though.

[Tina (Trina)]

I see. I just remembered the pictures of the flooded freeways and thought, maybe anything could happen in such a chaos that's normally caused by such a flood. But if that was too long ago, then that's probably not the reason, as you say. <BR> <BR>I'm just wondering, how anyone would dump a cat on a freeway, where there is so much and so fast traffic. I mean, aside from the fact that that must be hell for the cat, wouldn't they have to be afraid that anyone would observe them? Or do you think they wouldn't care about that? <BR> <BR>Anyway, you saved the life of that kitten - and it was also risky for you. I really find that so courageous.

[Jennifer Gray (Maurine)]

I think that is why I preferred to believe that the cat was stranded in the flood, to think someone could dump her seemed too cruel. But I also know that people deliberately will run down animals, as well as drown them in rivers and other things. So, perhaps they did it with the intent of her dying, or simply didn't care..as to someone seeing it, I doubt it would have mattered. I wintnessed someone go off the road to try to run down a cat in our neighborhood...we told the cops, even gave them the license, and they didn't seem to care. I doubt anything would be done even if someone did report it.

[Electric Goose (Egg)]

People do the most awful things. Like to that kitty Freeway. They also had one called Maytag. Another black kitty. She was put in a dish washer for a bath. The heating element burned her ears off and part of her tail. <BR> <BR>I have a love/hate relationship with the Best Friends newsletters. Love the adoption stories. Hate to read how they arrived at Best Friends... <BR> <BR>For every awful person out there, we have good ones too. People like YOU. <BR> <BR>Watch her little nails as they grow back in. They may start out crooked or malformed. If they do, you'll have to trim them a LOT to straighten them out.

[Jennifer Gray (Maurine)]

OK, thanks for the tip on nails Goose. <IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)">