0 Locks, 3 Miles. Now moored at Westport Lake, Trent & Mersey Canal.
Old McDonald had a farm with Bill & Ben the flower pot men at the entrance to the Caldon Canal. Rubber man with his head in the well and his legs in the canal.
Last night while watching some late night TV Dot heard a lot of splashing going on outside the boat. Upon investigation with my powerful torch we found a cat in the canal trying vainly to get out of the water but thwarted by the sheer concrete sides.
I raced around the other side of the canal and at the second attempt managed to extricate the poor little mite back on to terra firma. Dot bought a basket around for me to carry him back to the boat because he was a real sodden mess. He was so skinny and cold he was too weak to even stand let alone walk.
Our stray waif that Derek rescued from the Caldon Canal.
Back at the boat I dried him off the best I could and Dot found a carton left over from the week-end festival which we turned into a make shift home for him. As he was shivering and too weak to lick himself dry we wrapped him in an old towel and placed a covered hot water bottle in with him which he snuggled up to.
In the meantime Dot had found an emergency animal rescue phone number which she rang even though it was after 11pm. The lady on the other end offered advice on what best to do in the meantime and we were to ring back in the morning if he was still alive. We settled our unexpected visitor in the cratch and retired for the night quite expecting a case of rigor mortis by the morning.
This little character had other idea’s because come morning he regained his appetite, drank a large quantity of water, and you could see him regaining his strength as the morning wore on. His bright eyes showed that he was not about to throw in the towel and pop his clog's. We rang the rescue service back to say that he was still alive and they arranged for him to be collected.
While waiting for John from the Stoke and Newcastle Cat’s Protection League to arrive I took him out into the park to get some sun and stretch his skinny legs.Picking him up and making a fuss of him proved that he was a very friendly and likeable cat. We came to the conclusion that (1) he was either a boat cat that got left behind at some stage and abandoned or (2) that he used to live in the neighbourhood and his owners moved away and either left him behind or took him with them and as has happened before he tried to return to his old home. Either way he was a very lucky cat to cross paths with us.
Now we are certain he could have been a boat cat as he took to our boat very easily.
When John arrived our guest was placed in a proper cat basket and after certain formalities were completed he was whisked away to a vet for a full medical examination. If he passes the medical he will be advertised and put up for adoption. Here’s hoping, because he was such a friendly little character and deserves a good home.
The Nursery - Canadian Geese and Goslings on the canal at Westport lake.
1658 locks, 3490 miles, 61 Tunnels, 45 swing bridges and 47 lift bridges since Nov 2006
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