Minzy

This is my cat, Minzy.

Back in 2009, my dad and I were looking through some newspapers and chanced upon an ad stating that there was a cat up for adoption in the city nearby. Without giving it much thought, we drove over and took her in. Minzy was a stray cat, and had been for a year until she was found. She spent a lot of her time outside hunting, and making friends. She has brought us numerous gifts, like a cat does. Birds, bats, grasshoppers, lizards, you name it, she brings it.

Minzy didn’t like many other animals living around the block. She’d bark at the dogs (yes, she can bark), and hiss at the cats. There was a tom cat named Marshall that belonged to a neighbor; he wasn’t the best looking cat in town, but Minzy seemed to get along with him very well.

Even though she spent a lot time outside, she would come back at least once a day, typically around dinner time. However, she went missing for three days once. Whilst we shook her food and called her name for hours on end, I stumbled upon Marshall, who was trying to get my attention by walking around me. Once I walked towards him, he sprinted into an empty house. I thought nothing of it. Since I’ve never met Marshall, he probably got scared and ran away. After all of that, we decided to end our search for the day.

The next morning, my sister and I continued our search. Jokingly, I suggested that we go see what was going on in that empty house. We stood outside the house, and yelled, “MINZY!” To our surprise, we heard what initially were weak, faint mews, with each reply to our calls sounding more desperate, and much louder. The sounds were coming from the drain! We could definitely recognize her distinct, sharp, meow. Those healthy calls were such a relief!

Being weak teenage girls, my sister and I couldn’t lift the drain cover. It was 7am on a Saturday morning, and everyone else in our family were asleep. There’s nothing better than a wake up call from two high-pitched, excited, teenagers, desperately looking for help from someone strong.

All sleepy and confused, our Dad got up and we managed to drag him down to the empty house. Even with his super-human Dad strength, he couldn’t lift the cover! Nearby, there were a couple of construction workers on their way to a renovation. Seeing that we needed help, they kindly approached us and helped lift the drain cover. Minzy was hiding in a small branch of the drain connected to the empty house. Because it was an empty house, no one was using the toilets, the bath, or had any water running. She had ventured about 3 meters in to the dry pipe, and couldn’t inch backwards to get herself out. She must’ve gone down when there was maintenance going on a couple of days ago, gone for an adventure, and gotten trapped. To thank them for their efforts, we made the construction workers cookies and smoothies. We couldn’t have done this without Marshall, so we wrote a little thank-you letter attached to a can of delicious soft cat food and gave it to his owners.

Back in the house, we noticed that Minzy had a couple of cuts on her. After dressing her wounds, she had some food, and pranced out of the house once again.  My sister and I had spent a lot of time online watching behavior specialists on YouTube, and reading up on cats. There was something about cats knowing when they’re going to die, and hiding from their owners. When we noticed that she went missing, we tried our very best not to let that thought run through our minds.
Needless to say, this cat is a trooper, and we’re very proud of her. Despite being such a careless and overly-active cat, Minzy has truly touched us all with her resilience. We wouldn’t have been able to find her without Marshall, and I’m glad that they have such a friendship. Who said cats don’t have a compassion?