I don't write often about Whiskers because he is a sweet, gentle, senior cat who enjoys life, gives me love and no trouble whatsoever. He is a joy.
Whiskers spent his first few weeks of life in a box at the animal shelter and didn't know what is was to be outside. That was in August 2001.
Whiskers spent his first few weeks of life in a box at the animal shelter and didn't know what is was to be outside. That was in August 2001.
When he came home, he was just 6 weeks old and quickly adjusted to Scully and Dovi, even learning how to carry his toys in his mouth like the dogs.
Waking up at 6 a.m. to a very dry mouth and dry apartment, I got out of bed to put a pan of water to boil on the stove. We needed some moisture in the air.
The first hint of any sort of light was just barely showing as the crescent moon glowed in the pre-dawn hour. I really didn't want to wake up yet but knew I had to stay up for awhile. So, naturally, I came to the computer to check my e-mail.
After a few minutes I added more water to the now boiling frying pan- it was a chicken fryer so it was pretty deep. I wasn't concerned about leaving it unattended- I was a few feet away in the next room.
I became engrossed in a weight-loss video and Whiskers would run to me every so often or come to the living room and vocally "call" me. I thought he was hungry but he had his bowl of dried food and water. He had already gone to his litter box for his morning constitutional. He was driving me crazy...It became incessant.
He was getting to the point of becoming frantic, running in and out of the living room, crying and wailing loudly...so I left the video and went to the kitchen to mix his wet food with some dry food. The pan was still on and the flame was pretty high. Flames do rise with gas stoves. I didn't have any light on, though it was getting a little lighter in the kitchen. It smelled odd and the sound of the water was very loud...different. I went to the pan and it was EMPTY and TURNING black! If it weren't for Whiskers, I might not have found it until it was too late!
I flipped off the gas as the pan continued to blacken...the smell of burning, scalding stainless steel permeated the air...I added a little water at a time to the pan and the water jumped and bubbled and turned to steam immediately...the smell was worse....I just added more and more until the bottom of the pan was completely covered...as I swished the water around in the pan, it turned black...
Whiskers calmly went back to bed, averting a terrible disaster...while Scully and Dovi slept deeply in their beds.
It isn't the first time Whiskers has saved us all but I'll save that for another day...
And it isn't the first time a cat has saved a family from fire while the dog slept peacefully. Thank goodness cats are pretty much nocturnal.
Think about it, if you have a dog, you're covered during the day...and if you have a cat, he stands watch at night. Twenty-four hour protection, seven days a week...and they love unconditionally.
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