When I first got The Kitten he was full of confidence, with no knowledge of how scary the world could be.
Everything he encountered was a new challenge for him to defeat. The stairs – beaten in a week. The chairs – climbed by week two.
But he had one ultimate goal when he was in the garden – the wall! The old stone wall that runs along my garden is a feline highway. Cats use it to cross from one side of the houses to the other from the safety of a high perch. But it is also perfect for lounging on as the sun sets and the heated stones warm them from below. However, to get to the top requires skill.
The Kitten was bigger than average for his age, and yet he was unable to master the coordination and strength to jump and climb up onto the wall until he was nearly four months old.
Because he wasn’t old enough to be neutered I had him in a harness with lead attached at all times. It was long enough that he could explore all of the garden and I only needed to pop out to untangle the lead every so often.
Until I heard the cries of a lost and angry Kitten.
I immediately noticed that the lead was extended over the wall. I didn’t think I had allowed enough length for The Kitten to go so far, and in reality, I didn’t think he could get up there yet.
Imagining that The Kitten may be stuck, suspended by the lead, I grabbed a ladder to peer over the wall – only to find The Kitten sat on the ground on the other side looking very unimpressed.
“Let me go!”
“Oh dear, Kitten. Are you stuck?”
“Let me go!”
The only external access to the other side of the wall is through a gap between the wall and the neighbouring house that even a small child might struggle to squeeze through. The only way back was the way he arrived.
I tried to gently pull him up using the lead, but it was precarious and the harness would have choked him.
“OK, Kitten. You’ll have to hang on while I figure out how to get you out.”
After a lot of umming and erring I eventually managed to drag the ladder over the wall, into the gap, so I could climb down to rescue The Kitten. As soon as I got close to him he got very angry, hissing and growling.
“LET ME GO!”
“Kitten, it’s your fault you’re stuck down here. Shut up and come with me.” With a lot of angry noises from The Kitten, I carried him back over the wall and into the garden.
For the next couple of weeks, while he awaited his neutering appointment, The Kitten was on a shorter lead and closely monitored during outdoor-time, much to his chagrin.