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Cat found in wall, looking for new home |
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Wednesday, 25 June 2008 |
A certain kitten has used up at least one of her proverbial nine lives, and her temporary caregivers are seeking a home where she’ll be in harm’s way nevermore.
If that has a familiar literary sound, it’s not far off. Like the threatening cat in a wall (“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe), this kitty found herself in just such a position — only it was strictly by accident. And nothing the likes of Poe’s evil character was involved — only some innocent workmen who were repairing a damaged wall and failed to notice the presence of the curious feline.
Darla Huie, owner of Dizzy’s Grill in Benton, and her husband, Casey, know the facts all too well. She tells the story.
“We live in an old house behind a rock wall on Cantrell at I-430 in Little Rock,” she said. “A couple of weeks ago a young man lost control of his father’s SUV and plowed through a section of the wall. We weren’t home at the time.
“Mr. Norwood of the famed Norwood rock mason clan of Panke, Ark., Farm Valley of Roland saw the accident’s aftermath and offered to help repair our wall,” Huie said. “He provided a quick patch of the 15-foot gap with debris from the fallen stones and other miscellaneous flotsam from the accident on the spot, then returned the next day with his rock mason entourage and began repairing the wall.”
The project took four men four days. “The work looked good,” Huie said, “but there was some settling and they set a time four days out to come and re-level the rock after the settling.”
During their hiatus, Huie and her daughter, Lindsay Carter, were sitting on the front porch, 300 or so feet away from the wall, when they heard a plaintive meow, Huie said.
“Then we heard another louder meow and another,” she said.
Huie pointed out that she hadn’t sat out on her porch in at least a month.
“Having four 100-or-so-pound dogs at the house, we scrambled to put them in the house, lest they find the cat before we did,” she said.
She didn’t realize how complicated locating the crying cat would be.
“With the dogs safely confined, my husband, daughter and I searched for the cat. It wasn’t in a tree. It wasn’t in a shrub. It wasn’t on the Cantrell Road side of the wall.”
A short time later, Casey Huie paused and said: “That cat is inside the wall.”
Horrified that this really could be so, the three tried to decide what to do. Casey Huie hesitated only briefly before finding a mallet and an anvil and lit into the wall, his wife said.
“In five minutes, he’d made a hole in the new section of the rock wall and out popped a frightened, very vocal kitten,” Darla Huie said.
“We feared the cat would dart into traffic or up a tree, so my very pregnant daughter grabbed her by the tail and attempted to get her into a box — but no luck. She twisted out of her grasp. Lindsay grabbed her tail again to no avail. The kitten darted toward my husband, who scooped her up and cradled her. The kitten scampered onto his shoulders and he said, ‘Oh ... we have a cat!’”
From there the family relocated to the bonus room above their garage, gathering food, water and materials for a makeshift litter box.
The tortoiseshell kitten is about 6 weeks old, Darla Huie said.
She’s a delightful, sweet miss ... very social, well-adapted and loving. She’ll ride in the car. She’ll sleep on the dash ... . She’ll lie on her back in your lap, cradle your face with her paw and stare into your eyes.
“She’s been called many names in reference to her harrowing experience — including Rocky, Wally and Edgar Allen Poe. She tolerates teasing with aplomb and is already litter-box trained,” she added.
“Unfortunately, our house has 10 exterior doors and behind them wait a German shepherd, a Chesapeake Bay retriever, a Chow Chow and a Labrador retriever, all of whom find cats despicable ... The kitten would not be safe here.”
The Huies will cover $150 of the veterinary expenses for the cat’s future owner, Darla Huie said.
She noted that the rock mason returned a few dats agi to check the wall and was horrified to learn what had happened to the kitten.
“He promptly repaired the new hole at no charge,” she said.
“If anyone ever needs a rock mason, the Norwood guys ‘rock,’” Huie added.
Anyone interested in giving a home to the kitten is asked to call 951-4494.
Both of the Huies say the cat will make an ideal pet.
“We considered keeping her but are fearful she would meet an untimely demise,” she said. “We want to find her a good indoor home. She minds well, understands ‘no’ and is as close to a perfect cat as a 6-week-old kitten can be.
“She will make someone a great pet,” she promised.
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