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Sebastian, part 3

After 3 days up in a tree, Sebastian was looking pitiful. He was also scaring me. Every once in awhile his head would drop below the branch or a foot would slip off. Once his whole hiney slipped and he slowly pulled himself back up on the branch. It is too small for me to call it a limb! I had even called the television station for help by this time. My voice was hoarse from calling for him to come down, my eyes were dry and swollen from the tears I had shed. A car pulled in my driveway that I did not recognize. A young man got out, my daughter's ex boyfriend. He goes to his trunk and gets some rope, a backpack and some other gear. He had heard about Sebastian and had borried some tree climbing gear. Up the tree he went. He stopped quite a few time going up , wiping his brow. He looked so pale. I was worried that the heat was getting to him. Finally he reached Sebastian and picked him up. Sebastian went limp in his arms. He placed him in the backpack and headed down the tree. Once on the ground I took Sebastian from the backpack and took him inside. He was so thin and dehydrated! It was a miracle that he was still alive. It was the middle of the summer and we had been hitting temperatures in the hundreds. He was so weak that he could not drink. I gave him droppers of water and stroked his throat so he could swallow. He regained his strength and never again did he fall out of the window! He made sure that he was on the back of the couch instead of the window after that!

Afterwards I found out that Shawn had an extreme fear of heights. He was pale because of his fear not the heat. He said because of his respect for me and because he knew how much I loved that cat he had to do something. I will always be grateful for that young man for his act of bravery.

Sebastian, part 2

Comet was another pound rescue. He was a long haired white cat with a black spot on his back. He was a bit of a stuck up cat. LOL He was a smart one. Actually a bit too smart for his own good. He took up with little Sebastian and gave him the baths he needed. They would run and romp thru the house until it was time for me to go to bed and then Sebastian would come and crawl in bed with me. Kittenhood was a good time for Sebastian. He got all the loving he wanted, good food and fun too. I lived in a trailer park at that time and I kept my cats inside. Comet would go outside sometimes and sit on the porch or use the bathroom in the yard. Sebastian would run away and hide under the bed anytime the door opened. I did not have air conditioning so I kept the windows open all the time whenever it was warm out. Sometimes Comet would push a screen out and jump out the window. He did this one day while I was at work and a dog killed him on our porch. I found out that day just how bad a temper I really have. I exploded! I knew whose dog it was and confronted them, to no avail of course. Later on I found out that he was shot by another neighbor when he attacked their little girl. Anyway after that Sebastian became a calm kitty. I believe that he saw it happen. He never attempted to go outside. He grew from a tiny kitten to a big 15 pound cat with zero fat on him.

I started working 12 hour night shifts at a hospital 50 miles away. I had to sleep during the day. Sebastian would sleep with me even though he probably could have found a cooler place to sleep. It was comforting to have him snuggle up to me. I never could hear him cry because of my hearing loss so he would put his paw on me to let me know he was talking to me. I always knew when someone would come to the door because he would run for the bedroom. He was a very shy cat that did not tolerate strangers. Heck, he did not tolerate people he knew! He would not allow my then husband to touch him. That alone should have alerted me to something about that person. Another story there, another time.

Until Sebastian was about 3 years old, he had never been outside except when I would take him to the vet. He would have anxiety attacks then! His favorite place to sleep was in the window when he was not sleeping with me. By now he was a big cat and filled up the window when he was laying in it. I came home from work one morning and found my screen out of the window. This window was about 15 feet off the ground. I looked around to see if any of my pitiful possessions were taken. As far as I could see nothing was gone except for Sebastian! I called and called but I did not see h im. My daughter went outside looking for him and heard him crying. Looking up, he was in the huge oak tree that was in our front yard! He had climbed so far up that he was in the little branches at the top! I was at a loss as what to do. In the house I went to call for help. Electric company, nope. They said call fire department. I called the fire department, they said nope, don't do that, try Animal Control. I called them, nope, they would set a trap out to catch him. I was at a loss. My sweetie was outside, in a tree and it was hot!