The Adventures of Stig

This is Stig, a neighborhood cat.

In August, posters popped up on telephone poles with a photo of Stig. I like sniffing his big cypress trees and his citrus trees. I always look for him and his family members when I patrol around his sidewalk. And, yes, I let him know I was there. Always do.

Alice was concerned about Stig. I was not. I knew exactly where he was, but can the people always understand what I say? Noooooooo.

More than a week after the posters appeared, Alice stopped to talk with a human neighbor who was looking at a roof while standing in front of several saucers of water and cat food. A "Siamese" had been living on the roof, crying for several nights, the lady said, and she was concerned he could not get down for water and food.

Stig is a solid grey Euro Burmese, not a Siamese.

Alice was not worried. There had been several days of 100F weather and that roof cat had to be able to get down or it would not have survived that long.

Alice also knew a new cat had moved into a house backing up to the roof with the cat. If a "Siamese" had wandered into the area, a cat turf war may have started driving a small cat up to a roof.

I screamed at Alice, that roof cat is Stig!!! She got the message and started asking the lady watching the roof some questions. The cat was small and athletic looking. Perhaps Stig? Check. It had yellow eyes and a red collar. Bingo! Stig.

Alice walked the lady over to the nearest poster a couple of blocks away. "That's him!' shouted the lady when she saw Stig's photo.

That night, Stig's people came with a ladder and Stig got himself down. Slept for two days straight once he got home.

The evening after Stig was rescued, a big yellow neighborhood cat was sitting on the center of my walkway waiting for Alice and me to return in the car. Staring at us, not in a friendly way. It was not pleased at all. It told Alice she should not interfere with cat business. She got the message but told the cat there is room in the neighborhood for all the cats. There is enough food and water for them all. Be nice! she said, you may need to be rescued one day yourself. It stalked off. A bully.

Alice and I are really not cat people nor do we like bullies at all. But no one should ever be stuck on a roof, not even a cat.