We had excitement last night. Have I mentioned that the new neighbors’ cat has been coming inside a lot? Started out chasing chickens, but now it realizes that the chickens are bigger than he is. Now he just comes in to try to eat. I guess my cat food is better than his. My cats are so mellow that they don’t care, aside from Twinks who will occasionally chase them off (“them” being this cat and two others who started following his lead).

Don't you love how he manages to look indignant as he's being ushered out of our house?

Anyway. Last night, Mark went out to the back for a smoke. It was about midnight, maybe a little earlier. He suddenly comes back in saying “I need help” and walks back out. In the garage, he puts on his coat and gloves. I ask what’s up, he says, “there’s a cat in the fence”. So I grab the flashlight and follow him out. The cat is indeed in the fence. The neighbor cat. He’s gotten his collar hooked on one of the hinges of the dog exersize yard I use to keep the chickens out of the tomatoes. Looks like he’s been there a while – he’s kinda feeble, you know? I’m not like Mark – when I see something like that, I don’t automatically think, “protect myself”, I think, “Help the cat”. So I hand him the flashlight and hold the cat steady with one hand and unhook him with the other. Yes, I got a few scratches, and yes, I got some blood on my arm from the cat. But it would have taken him forever to get the cat undone with garden gloves on, and the coat probably wouldn’t have helped.

Poor Charlie (turns out that’s the cats name) went limp when I unhooked him, just relaxed into my arms. I took him back to his house, late as it was. I figured that since we knew where he was from it was the best thing to do. The blood was from his mouth, probably his throat was raw from trying to breath hung up like that.

Oh, and he’s fine now. He’s already been in twice this morning looking for food. Maybe I should recommend switching brands to my neighbor?