--FAR UP FELINES - SOME HIGH ALTITUDE CAT-TITUDES:
--AMAZING MOUNTAINEERS:
A four month old kitten followed a group of climbers to
the top of the 14,691 foot Matterhorn Mountain in the
Alps on September 6, 1950.
In 1928 the members of a mountaineering club in the Swiss
Alps were very surprised when a cat showed up at the club's
hut - which was a whopping 9,000 feet above sea level!
The hutkeeper immediately adopted the cat, which made
itself at home at the mountain retreat and often follow
climbers to the craggy, frozen slopes to a peak that was
more than 12,000 feet high. All in a day's work! Nothing
like having your own personal mountain climbing cat guide!
How about this one: In 1962, a kitten named Zizou moved
in with a mountaineering club at the Albert Premier shelter
at Mont Blanc in France, which is almost 9,000 feet high.
Zizou like to zigzag up the slopes with the mountaineers
to the peak - which is more than 15,000 feet into the
clouds.
--AND THEN THERE'S THE WALLS AND BRIDGES:
In Yorkshire, England in 1980, a female cat was literally
driven up the wall by a dog. Scared by a pooch in pursuit,
a kitty zoomed up some seventy feet to the roof of a five
story apartment building.
Have you heard about Patricia, the pregnant puss? She
truly knows what a comedown is, and probably holds the
world record for surviving a fall from the greatest
height.
It seems on March 8, 1981, she was thrown off St. John's
Bridge in Portland, Oregon, (who could do such a despicable
thing?) and fell 204 feet into the whirling waters of the
Willamette River. Fortunately, two fishermen rescued
Patricia and brought her to a vet. She had to have some
extensive surgery, and ended up losing her kittens, but
she did survive. A loving family adopted her and later
proudly displayed her in cat shows.
Truly a miracle cat!
