Karnak Street Kats

Gamma and his two brothers, Alpha and Beta, were dumped on my front porch as kittens with their mother, Irene. Gamma is a silver gray cat with a white bib, white feet, and a splash of white on top of his nose. He was about three months old when he arrived. As usual, I planned to make them indoor only cats.

Gamma was a climber. Nothing stopped him from reaching the top of the tallest bookcase, about nine feet off the floor. He scrambled into every nook and cranny in the house. After only a couple of days, he discovered the deck off the kitchen. The deck, enclosed by lattice including the roof, was accessible through a doggie door. Gamma adored climbing the wooden ladder I had set up there for the cats.

There was only one problem with Gamma's adventures. If he found himself unable to extricate himself from a place, he cried piteously. I then had to rescue him. In the house, there were few places this happened.

At three one morning, I heard those familiar wails. Gamma had got himself trapped somewhere. I got out of bed then realized that the cries were coming from directly above my bed. There was nothing but roof there. I listened more closely. Gamma was outside on the roof!

I hastened to the deck and called him. He must have squeezed through the lattice to get to the roof. Maybe I could squeeze him back through. I tried, Gamma tried, but we could not find a space big enough to get through. I gave up.

I put on some shorts. I slept in underwear and a T-shirt. At three-thirty, I headed outside. I retrieved the extension ladder from its place and put it up to the roof. Gamma was there immediately. I tried to convince him to come down the ladder, but that didn't work. So, with a deep breath (I'm afraid of heights), I climbed the ladder.

Gamma was waiting impatiently. He had had enough of the roof. I grabbed him with one hand and brought him to my chest. Using only one hand to hold on to the ladder, I inched down. Gamma was unperturbed. I think he enjoyed the descent immensely. My legs were weak by the time we reached the ground.

Once inside, I sealed the doggie door after making sure there were no cats on the deck. Of course there were none in sight. I knew where they were: in my bedroom, sitting on my bed where they had all enjoyed my struggles.

Gamma continues to go out, but he is inside every night. He would like to be top cat, but Wellington stands in his way.