Below is a story that appeared in the Nevada Appeal in 2004 about Birdie.
Twenty-seven years ago, Marian Callison started what could have been a
new Thanksgiving tradition when she served her family "individual
turkeys" in place of a giant bird.
Instead of being browned and steaming on a platter in the middle of the
table, her turkey was alone, frozen, and abandoned on the porch outside.
Callison had left for work, her turkey defrosting on the counter. Upon
her return, she began to stuff the bird and was scratched as she placed
her hand inside the bird's cavity. She said she thought it was odd, but
guessed the bird's breast bone had been broken and was scratching her.
She peeked inside.
Two eyes peeked back. Her year-old kitten, Bird, an avid fan of turkey,
had climbed inside. "It was scary to see those little beady eyes looking
back at you," she said Monday from her Carson City home. "I tried for
over an hour to get her out of that turkey. I called the Butterball
hotline. I filled it full of hot water and shook it. She was so slimy I
couldn't grab her, and she had her claws dug in. "I worked for a vet and
called him, and he couldn't get her out. "I gave up and put the turkey
outside on the porch. It was beyond cold."
Callison went to the grocery store, where she bought Cornish game hens
to serve, instead of her 21-pound Butterball. "Bird was shivering on the
porch when I got back," Callison said. "My son gave her a bath, and ever
since then she's liked a bath. She's more like a dog than a cat."
Callison defrosted the game hens for dinner. "Everyone thought I was
starting a new tradition," she said.
The tradition took on a life of its own when the hosts of television
show "Crook and Chase" interviewed the Butterball lady a decade ago.
"She talked about this woman whose cat was stuck in the turkey,"
Callison said. "We heard it again on reruns yesterday."
Twenty-seven years later, the kitten Callison once held in her palm now
weighs 16 1/2 pounds, walks on a leash, and squeaks like a bird instead
of meowing.
"She's a coyote-colored Abyssinian," she said. "Turkey's still her
favorite dish."
In Loving Memory of Birdie
1974 - 2007
All images and text are Copyright © Marian Callison
May 02, 2007
Birdie was featured on the Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul webpage on May 1st, 2007.
