By SHIRA BETH WILDPORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Someone who works there contacted me. He had been in there over 24 hours. I had very little to work with. Finally got a broken piece of pallet and string (that would sink when it was wet).
I tied the string to the broken piece of wood, in a way that it would not tighten when pulled and let it sink. Then I tried many times to get the loop around his head and under at least one armpit. When that finally worked I pulled him up but he would not fit through the holes in the grate.
I had to lower him down without dropping him and grab his paws and pull his arms out first. His head was very tight.
Once I got his head out his hips got stuck and forced his feet down. I was a surprised as anyone that I got him out. He was very cold, very pale and not moving.
I ran with him to my car which was a ways away because I was asked to move it. All I had in the car was a roll of paper towels. I wrapped him up and stuffed him in my shirt and drove a few miles to Wendy's office because I live further away. She had a blow dryer at work! She blew him dry, put him on a heating pad in a carrier and gave him some dry food. He finally started to shiver as he was eating. He started to pink up.
He had no water in his lungs, which is amazing. His nails are worn down to the quick which tells us he tried to climb straight up the wall. His nose and lips were red and swollen. His paw pads were red and swollen.
All is good now. He's here and is adjusting to home life. It does seem that he was feral and this was not an intentional act.
My best guess is in the big storm we had the day before he was near the opening of the storm drain tube and got washed into it. He is the miracle.
To withstand the storm, the cold, the water, the sounds of cars and trucks running overhead and still hang on for all that time. No food, no mom, no siblings. He was getting weak. And it was looking like he was going to give up. Every once in a while he would let his head sink and bubbles would come out of his nose.
If he could go through all of that, alone and terrified, the least I could do is everything in my power to help him get out. I was not going to leave him.
My best guess is in the big storm we had the day before he was near the opening of the storm drain tube and got washed into it. He is the miracle.
To withstand the storm, the cold, the water, the sounds of cars and trucks running overhead and still hang on for all that time. No food, no mom, no siblings. He was getting weak. And it was looking like he was going to give up. Every once in a while he would let his head sink and bubbles would come out of his nose.
If he could go through all of that, alone and terrified, the least I could do is everything in my power to help him get out. I was not going to leave him.
I figured if the police did come to remove me, there was no way they would leave him in there if he was still alive.
A lot of people asked me about this ordeal today. I was flabbergasted by people who said I was crazy to sit there for two hours trying to get a kitten out of there. They would have walked away. How do you do that?
I was either going to get him out or stay with him if he drowned. It would have killed me, but I would not, could not leave him to die alone.