Bollie & Ginger

Let me tell you a little story about my cats - Bollie and Ginger. Bollie is short for the Bollinger Champagne I was drinking the night he was given to me (he was a stray) and he is as classy as the real stuff. He is very fluffy, and looks a lot like a Maine Coon cat. He weighs 9 kilograms, but is not overweight - he is just HUGE. He has a very quirky personality - he likes to watch Animal Hospital and Harry's Practice - he sits in front of the television and watches these two shows intently. Every now and then he puts his paw up and touches the screen. He is not a "lap cat", and doesn't "do" beds or couches, but he loves to follow you around and "help" with the gardening and housework, although he doesn't like the monstrous vacuum cleaner - he runs for it. He also will not drink water out of a bowl - he will only drink out of a glass!!! He has his own glass of water on the go all the time.

My nickname for Bollie is "Fat Boy". He loves to laze around on his perch on top of the scratching post, which is positioned by the window so he can watch the world go by. Now his best friend, Ginger, is a cutie - although he eats twice as much as Bollie he is only half the size. My nickname for him is "Buddy Cat", as he is my best buddy, and likes nothing better than being curled up on the couch with you or on your bed with you. He belonged to an ex next door neighbour who got him for their 2 year old child (bad mistake) who terrorised the cat. Ginger slowly moved himself in to live with Bollie and myself (he knew the right place to be!!). He is, of course, Ginger in colouring, and he just adores Bollie. They sleep together and wash each other's coats. And now to the story of the visit by the Fire Brigade. . . . . I have only one side entrance to my home (I think you call them semi-detached houses in Victoria). The gate is over six feet high, but there is a retaining wall that Bollie uses to get over the gate. Bollie struggles to get over the gate, and, once over, can not jump back. I live on a busy main road.

One day, when I got home from work and went to check the letter box, I could hear this plaintive cry that I recognised as belonging to my Bollie Cat. I looked in all the trees, and across the road, but could not locate him. I eventually found him stuck six feet down in the storm water drain (lucky it was summer and daylight saving). A neighbour came out and said that the Fire Brigade charge about $500 to rescue animals. So I rang the RSPCA. Their only comment was "It's really hard to get cats out of drains". What a great help that was. Animal Rescue was next on the phone call list - no answer there. I then rang the local Council and a lovely man came out on his way home from work and spent ages working out what to do to help the cat. Bollie was very traumatised at this stage. The Council man put food, water and a step ladder down the drain, with the hope that the cat would come to get food or water and have the sense to use the step ladder to get out of the drain. This theory did not work out in practice!!! By this stage, I was getting as traumatised as the poor Bollie Cat. So I rang the Fire Brigade and asked them how much it would cost to rescue the cat out of the drain (nothing, actually), gave them directions to my house, with me looking like a drunk, laying in the gutter talking to the drain!!! Not long after, a big red fire truck (no siren or flashing lights, though), hurtled to my house. Of course, all the neighbours just had to have a look!!! How embarrassing (for me - Bollie was six feet down in the drain). Four big burly fireman jumped out of the truck. One jumped down and nearly died when he looked up the drainpipe - "It's a bloody tiger!!" "What do you feed him?", says the heroic cat rescuer!!! We had three plans of attack. First, the big red fire truck did a U-turn, and was positioned next to the drain on the other side of the road (all of this in peak hour traffic, too!!!). The theory behind this was to put the fire hose down the other side of the drain and turn the water on - flush the cat out! No. The drains meet in the middle of the road and drop away so there was no water getting to the cat!!! OK - now to Plan B - as the cat was JUST out of reach (as you do) of the gorgeous firemen, (I'd make sure I was within reach, mind you!!!) it was then decided to make a little "noose" to slip around the Bollie cat's paw or head to get him out. UH OH - that didn't work either. Bollie was crying, I was nearly crying, and the firemen were nearly crying by this stage (over an hour had passed and we were all getting traumatised) so we then swung in to Plan C - I got the common old garden hose and the fireman manouvered it up behind the cat. On went the water, and BINGO!!! Cat flies in to fireman's arms!!! HOORAYYYY!!! Safe at last!!!! Of course, the other three firemen had to come and have a pat and they all thought he was just absolutely beautiful, so fluffy and so BIG!!!!! As they left my house, I waved Bollie's paw goodbye, thanking them on his behalf, saying "See you next time". They called out "Now don't you forget - stop feeding that cat for a few weeks!!!

And that is the end of the fantastic, heroic, gorgeous fireman rescue story. By the way, all my friends want to be reincarnated as my cats - they say I spoil them. I went to a cat show yesterday - wanted to bring them all home, but instead, brought home some toys for the boys, and another scratching post.

Bollie and Ginger say "Miaow to all our friends on Flippy's Cat Page". They read it on the weekend and they think it is fantastic!!!! So cheerio for now from Trish, Bollie and Ginger.

PS: Next story in the amazing tales of Bollie is "Bollie the Magic Cat - How to enter a house when your human mother is at work!!" (Now, this is a good one!)

Copyright © Trish Wescombe
May 31, 1999