EDITOR – I felt Theresa’s pain after reading her sad experience concerning the baby vervet monkey.
I have also witnessed two baby vervets losing out in my road recently from speeding vehicles, and felt maybe this story of Swinton the cat that I rescued among the many others, would cheer her up and make her feel a little better:
“My mom gave birth to a litter of five kittens under the educare classroom where it was very dark and safe. My brothers and sisters perished in the dirty sand bed, but I was strong and my mother continued to feed me for the first few weeks.
“When I was about six weeks old she came to feed me less frequently, forcing me to leave the nest area to search for food. There were lots of people in the college buildings and sometimes there was a lot of noise which frightened me and made me hide. When it was quiet, especially in the afternoons, I would venture down to the dam nearby on the college grounds to hunt but all I was able to catch were a few locusts and some dragon flies. I was very hungry, frightened and lonely and the other cats hissed at me when they saw me.
“I watched the students when they came out during their breaks to eat their tuck and sandwiches but I was too frightened to come out and beg for a bite to eat. When they returned to their classes I would sneak out and search for something to eat like crusts. The dam water tasted lousy so at night I would sneak into a washroom left open and drink from a dripping basin tap. It quenched my parched throat and filled my tummy some.
” I was getting very thin and weak and my eyes were starting to feel sore. Then, one evening I saw the lights on in a classroom. I crept to the open door and saw a man by the board writing and teaching the students. Their bags sat on the floor, so I sneaked in and looked inside one to see if there was anything to eat perhaps. I was told to scoot and ran to the corner at the back too scared to come out from under the desk.
“Soon the students got up and left and the teacher came to me, gently picked me up and spoke reassuringly to me. His name was Chris de Jager and he said he was taking me home with him. Holding me we walked around until we found an empty cardboard box and he placed me inside. I lay quietly in the warm box even though the car noise frightened me, I did not try to escape. The journey ended after about twenty minutes and I was taken into a nice warm home.
“Chris’s wife, Ruth, picked me up from inside the box and spoke gently to me saying what a skinny dirty boy I was. She promised to bath me and find a nice home for me. There were eight other cats and she said I would have to stay overnight in a cattery until I could get the all clear after a visit to the doctor.
“She put me in a soft warm bed and brought me a big bowl of yummy food and fresh sweet tasting clean water. That night I started purring for the first time in my life. The next morning I was given a bath(can’t say I enjoyed that) but it made my black and white fur shine beautifully. I was placed in a carrier and taken to the vet who checked, de-wormed me and gave me my vaccinations, also some ointment for my sore eyes. Ruth said that I was so beautiful and special that I could stay with them. I am still there even though the other cats ignore me because I am a feral cat. My mom and dad say I’m special, give me lots of love and that’s all that matters.”
PS: Swinton lived with us for 15 years and I still feel his presence when I’m near his favourite spots in the garden.
Chris de Jager
Bellair
