GEORGIE PORGIE SITTING IN A TREE

Well he wasn't "k-i-s-s-i-n-g"! Last week as I was leaving for dance class with Erin and Sarah, our kitten George did what he does best, he darted through the door. I yelled to Tom to get him in sometime in the next hour. Somewhere in my pea sized brain I should have realized that George was used to coming when I called him, not Tom. He tried to get him to come in the entire time I was gone but when I arrived home three hours later he was still out. I knew when I called and he didn't come right away that he was lost. The kids helped look for him for awhile but I needed to send them to bed. I looked for two hours in the dark woods with my flashlight. Let me mention here that we do see BEARS around quite a bit! We also hear foxes a lot but I was more worried that George could have encountered them, then me having any problems. I was quite worried because it was getting to be around 40 degrees F. I knew my other cats can handle freezing temperatures, but George's coat is no where near as full as theirs. He's put on weight since we've had him but can still be described as scrawny. I finally gave up and went to bed by our front door so I could hear him meow if he showed up and wanted to get in. I tossed and turned thinking of all the horrible possibilites. Did something eat him? Would he curl up somewhere, tired, fall asleep then freeze to death? I had asked Tom if Beau had gone running after anything and he said only to the edge of the lawn...in other words, no he hadn't gotten a hold of George and done something horrible. You see, although inside Beau is meek with George, I've seen Beau go after wild animals with a vengence and don't totally trust that his wild instincts wouldn't take over. As I slept I kept imagining that I could hear George cry. I woke up exhausted. Thomas and Erin got ready for school while I made "lost kitten" signs to hang up at the entrance to our community. We had 5 minutes before we needed to leave and Erin and I went out to call George again. As we headed out into the woods behind our house calling I heard a faint "meow"! Oh my god, I hear him!!!!!!! I thought I was going to cry with relief. Relief because I wouldn't need to explain to Sarah that he wasn't coming back and relief because I like the little bugger!! We stopped and called again, it was coming from my neighbor, Margaret's house! At first we thought he was trapped in their wood pile until Erin looked up and saw him HIGH up in a tree. We called, he meowed but wouldn't budge. I had to bring Thomas and Erin to school but I told Sarah to watch him while I was gone in case he decided to come down he wouldn't get lost again. One of our other cat's Bob decided to help by calling to George and keeping Sarah company. During that time Richard, Margaret's husband, came outside and then went in to tell Margaret, "we have a little girl in our driveway"! So I came back to Sarah and Margaret staring up into the tree, Bob had enough and gave up. Sarah needed to get ready for school so I sent her in. I also didn't really want her to be there in case George fell and got hurt. He was up about two and a half stories and foolishly decided to come down the hard way. I think he used up one of his nine lives when he luckily landed between a railroad tie wall and a stump with a pointy piece of wood sticking out of it. He landed in some leaves that didn't do much to break his fall. I saw as his feet landed, his back kept going and bent backwards more than it probably should. He got up quite dazed and started to stagger off. My neighbor worried he was getting away but I wanted to see if he could walk. I then scooped him up and carried him home. He was shivering, not from the cold but from the stress. As soon as I got home with him, he wobbled up the stairs and went pee in the litter box. He peed for a very long time! He ate a bit. He looked exhausted and dazed. He was walking a little crooked and I was concerned because his back had bent so much but a couple of hours later he seemed A-OK! The next day he was back to his usual crazy kitten self! A very happy ending! I can't tell you how happy I really am! I'm so grateful he is home.