Have Claw Will Travel
Ever lose your house or car keys? Nearly a quarter of Americans lose them twice a week according to a Lost & Found Survey by Pixie.
Losing keys isn’t reserved just for folks in the USA. A Brazilian woman, Luh Meira, who goes by her TikTok handle, luhmeira7, found herself in such a predicament.
Somehow her keys fell into a small hole located in a stone block. The hole wasn’t wide enough to allow her to get her hand inside to grab the keys. So, she tried to use a stick to no avail. But out of nowhere, a good Samaritan walked by and came to her rescue.
The would-be hero was a black cat (no name given) who watched Meira’s futile attempts to retrieve her keys. That’s when the cat took over. Hero cat tried several times using both paws to grab the elusive keys. Finally, the cat was able to snag them and got the keys in its mouth to clear the hole, much to the delight of Meira who gave the feline a nice neck scratch as a reward.
This was just another instance of a cat coming to the rescue of a human. There have been many examples of felines doing even more heroic acts than simply fetching a set of keys. From meowing to draw the attention to an abandoned baby, to chasing off bad guys, these felines show they’re not scaredy cats.
Of course, that doesn’t describe our cat Chester, who is example 1A of a scaredy cat. I showed him the video and waited for his reaction.
Yawn – “One more example of us cats bailing you people out of a jam,” my pseudo-brave cat said. “And what’s with the token neck scratch? Shouldn’t that cat get a real reward like a case of kibble?”
“Well, I’ve never seen you do anything except eat, look out the window and sleep,” I said.
“That’s because I have to save my strength to rescue all of you in case there’s a real emergency,” Chester said with great authority.
“Give me an example,” I asked, waiting for a grand tale of fiction to be spun.
“Let’s say this house is on fire. After discovering the blaze, I dial 911 and let the dispatcher know what’s going on, then I’d run and tell everyone to get out. After I knew you were all safe, I’d grab a fire extinguisher and battle the flames until I got backup,” Chester said, panting as if he’d just gone through this scenario. “Of course, by the time the fire department showed up, the fire would be out and I’d start making the rounds on the morning news shows.
“How would that work at night when you’re locked in the basement,” I asked.
“I’d gather up my super cat strength and break the door down, then all that other stuff I just said,” Chester said proudly.
“You would just crash through the door,” I enquired. “Why haven’t you done that before when we hear you whining to get out of the cellar?”
“No need to destroy things if it isn’t absolutely necessary,” Chester quickly shot back.
“Interesting,” I said. “You’ve done a number on the family room drapes, window screens and furniture. Was there a fire happening then I wasn’t aware of?”
“A cat has to burn off some energy once in a while,” Chester said sheepishly. “I have to keep this body in tip-top shape just in case I need to jump into action and show my bravery to humanity.”
I’d heard enough, so I stomped on the floor with a loud thud and watched super cat flee in fear. Several minutes later, Chester came back to the room.
“Son of a dog,” Chester said, trying to catch his breath. “Why did you do that?”
“That was a test of the family feline emergency system,” I said. “If this had been a real emergency, you would have been instructed to take out your stop watches and time how fast Chester would run away from danger. We now resume our mundane lives.”
“You’re a funny one,” Chester said sarcastically. “How about I test the Chester emergency alert system in the middle of the night. After I break open the basement door, I yell ‘fire’ to see how all of you would react? I’d make sure to shoot video of that and post it online. I’ve never had a viral video before so there’s some extra incentive for me to check out this home’s safety procedures.”
“You wouldn’t do that, would you,” I asked.
“Try me,” was Chester’s cold response.
“What do you want,” I said in a surrendering voice.
“One, the TV remote when I’m out of stir,” Chester began. “Two, the rest of the summer out on the deck, unless it’s raining and three, endless kibble when I’m outside catching some rays.”
With that, I put Chester in the basement and locked the door.
“I agree to your demands only if you can get out on your own,” I said.
“I was just kidding about being able to break down the door,” Chester yelled dejectedly. “Give me a fighting chance.”
“OK,” I agreed. “I’ll drop the door keys in a box with a small opening. If you fish those out and unlock the door, you have a deal,” I said confidently that our cat would never pull that off.
Being overconfident is a flaw in humans. I realized that during each of my ten trips the next day to fetch Chester another round of kibble.
“You can put that bowl beside me and then you can get out of my sunlight. I’m working on a tan,” Chester commanded.
The Chester Chronicles 
Never underestimate the ability of a cat to get what they want. 🙂
LikeLike