Saving Sneakers

We got Sneakers when he was three months old. He was a cute little black and white kitten. We originally named him Snickers, but because of his white paws, we decided to call him Sneakers

When we first got him he was terrified. He wouldn't go by anyone. I tried to warm up to him with tuna fish, but he wouldn't be coaxed. One morning I woke up and sneakers was at the bottom of my bed. When he noticed I was awake he meowed at me. He became affectionate after that.

When he was about six months old he started wanting to go outside. We figured he was probably looking for a girlfriend. We got him fixed. He was very upset and cried all day.

He still liked to go outside sometimes. One day when he was out, I went looking for him. I heard him crying in the parking lot and found him underneath a car. I pulled him out he was covered with grease. He needed a bath, but he didn't want one. We did it somehow. Judy held him in the bathtub and I washed him with shampoo. Judy and I have battle scars.

One night Sneakers had been outside for a long time. It was getting late and we were getting worried. When I opened the door I could hear him crying. Sneakers has a cry that is his alone. I couldn't see him anywhere. Judy pointed at the roof. There he was crying because he couldn't get down.

A teen aged boy said he could climb up there and get Sneakers. He got up there, but couldn't catch Sneakers. It was late and we thought Sneakers might find his way down.

The next day he was still up there. We called the fire department. They said it was too dangerous to send their men up there after a cat.

I walked around the building to see how Sneakers got up there. There was a big tree that was close enough to the roof that a cat could jump to the roof. The limbs of the tree were to small for a cat on the roof to jump on them.

We called animal services they were no help, saying they had no equipment to catch him.

It had been three days and four nights. Sneakers was still up there. It was the middle of June. Poor Sneakers must have been burning hot.

I couldn't stand to hear him cry. I tried to climb on the hand rail, but couldn't. One of our neighbors came over saying that we should put some water and food up there. I thought it was a good idea, so I filled his dishes. The neighbor climbed on the handrail and set the food and water on the roof. I got a chair, a wooden box and two cushions off the couch, stacked them on each other, then climbed on them. As Sneakers started drinking the water, I told my neighbor to grab him. He grabbed him and handed him to me. I let him jump out of my hands on to the stairs. He ran straight into the apartment and ran under the bed. All the neighbors were cheering. In just a couple of minutes he came to me, rubbing his head on my leg, as if to say THANK YOU.