I went to visit family over the Easter weekend so arranged for my reciprocal cat-sitting friends to come and see my two boys in the morning and let them out, then visit again to give them dinner and put the cat flap on entry only in the evening. Last year when I went away for a week we had all sorts of woes because they thought Rolo went missing, when in actual fact he could let himself out of the entry only cat flap (a modified "thumb-proof" Sureflap has solved that problem). This time around it seems that Monty was the one up to mischief - both cats hide under the bed when strangers visit, and were off outside on Saturday night so no cats to report then. But only Rolo was under the bed in the morning. I assumed Monty was either enjoying the nice weather and making himself scarce to avoid the terrifying cat sitters, or just hiding somewhere else in the house. He was around back under the bed when my friends visited that evening, so I wasn't left worrying for too long.
I came back late yesterday, and now a neighbour has just been over to give me the full story - she apparently helped to cut Monty free of a trampoline on Sunday morning! This was over in the back garden of another house, and the person who lives there spotted him tangled up in the trampoline, something (wire/supports?) caught up around his legs, but she couldn't work out how to get him loose - so asked for help from this other neighbour. He'd apparently scratched her quite a bit while they held him still and cut him loose, but he ran off the minute he realised he was free.
In retrospect I thought he'd seemed a little stiff this morning - he's usually straight up over the fence when I let the boys out, but was sat in the garden until I went and opened the gate to put rubbish out. I actually gave him a good feel over in case he had any injuries from fighting or something. But he'd eaten breakfast fine and from strokes didn't seem to be favouring anywhere sore, so I think all in all he had a lucky escape - he could have got caught around the neck and hung himself, and that would have been the end of his fluffy days.
I guess this is a good opportunity just to say that if you have a trampoline in your garden, is there anywhere a cat of little brain might get itself tangled up? I'm very grateful that my neighbours took the time to and scratches cut him free! When Monty's back later extra Dreamies for him and some admonishment to be more careful when he's been nosey in other people's gardens...
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The litter tray
Easter trampoline misadventure
givemushypeasachance · 07/04/2015 14:07
Hmm I'd say "floofy eejit" rather than little lad - as my sister said in response to my text about this; "what the bloody hell was he doing on a trampoline?". 
I suspect he was being nosey - he does insist on sticking his face into everything...
He's been back this evening for some chicken for tea, and I've had another look over him and can't see any injuries; all legs and tail being used and no reaction when I stroked over them. He's just not in much of a fence-leaping mood, so will keep an eye on that for the next few days.
This is him cuddling up with me when I got home last night.
"Most sane people" We're cat people though.
When DH rolls over at night, I instinctively put a protective arm over the Little Monsieur. Who wouldn't have enough sense to remove himself from a squashing.
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