Cat on a hot tin (well, fibrolite) roof

[vilakins]

There was a sudden thump scraaaaaaaaaaaape thump on the roof above us, and Greg and I looked at each other.

"What was that?" I said.

"I have no idea."

I was beginning to suspect that I had. "I think a cat got out the bedroom window and slid down the roof." (All our upstairs windows are set into the roof, so they all lead onto slopes of varying degrees, and that side is steep.)

I went outside and sure enough, Vic peered over the gutter at me and meowed piteously. The roof is very steep there and I didn't think any of the cats would be stupid enough to use it as a way out. We had to induce him over towards the fence where he leaped onto a tree and made his way down it, making kitten-like meows all the way. :-P

Comments

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Years ago, one of my family's cats routinely scared the life out of the contractors replacing our roof (third storey!) by managing the five-foot jump from the attic floor through the skylight and going out to investigate what they were up to.

My mother refused to believe the contractors that it was our cat ("surely they're not that dumb/brave, etc") until the contractors pointed out the myriad of little paw prints on and around the skylight frame, inside the attic.

Sillydumbcats...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Hee! I can imagine our girls doing that!

Cats are usually pretty good at balance and working out if something's doable, but Vic totally misjudged the steepness of the slope. Actually I fear ever having to escape down that roof if there's a fire.

[kalinda001.livejournal.com]

Silly silly cat

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

A thug of little brain!

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Oh poor Vic, he had a moron moment. As an outside observer I have noticed that from time to time even the most sensible cat has moments of utter stupidity, probably because they are thinking of something else entirely. At least you were at home to rescue him, I hope he got a treat to clam the poor boy's nerves after wards.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He could have just got too hot in there and decided to take the quickest route to fresh air.

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

Eep, poor kitty. Glad he's okay!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He is, though I suspect his claws got an unexpected and rough manicure. :-P

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Oh Vic!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He's OK! He's been sitting on Greg's lap while we watched TV.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I'm glad :0)

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

Awww, silly cat! Glad you managed to get him down safely.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Me too! At least he was clever enough to use the tree.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Cats like us to think they're clever and inscrutable... and get most put out when it's called as a bluff :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

But they are both! It's just that they make the occasional mistake and they'd prefer we didn't notice.

[kerravonsen]

Glad he's okay.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He was absolutely fine once he reached the ground! I suspect his claws are a bit shorter though. ;-)

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

Ahh, the sounds of cats on adventures. I hope his little heart has recovered from the shock of not being able to make it to the ground.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Once he had his paws on the ground, he was fine. He just wandered off as if nothing had happened. Cats are like that, they prefer to pretend their mistakes never happened. :-P

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, for a video...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd seen it! The sound was amazing enough, :-P

I should have got my camera and snapped him in the gutter with the roof and window behind him. I did consider it but I was more concerned about getting him down.

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

We used to have a dormer window in the living room (I live in an attic flat). I learned not to leave it open at night as Vila twice climbed out onto the slate roof. He would climb up the slates and down the other side to the skylight of the bedroom window and crouch there, saying 'help' in pitiful tones.
When my partner of the time, Iain, reached up to get him, Vila would cringe backwards, because he was scared. We could hear his claws scrabbling on the tiles. Iain had to fetch a chair to stand on so he could reach Vila more easily, while I tempted him by rattling dried cat food in the jar.

This house is built into a hill so our flat is four storeys up at the back. The silly cat could have fallen all that way onto concrete *shudders*. Doing it once was bad enough, but he did it twice ! I'm just grateful none of the others tried to copy him.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! Poor little Vila! I've had to rescue cats from trees and roofs (usually only once), but they were never in that danger!

I'm not sure I was clear in my post, but all our upstairs windows are set into the roof, so they all lead onto slopes of varying degrees. That side is steep.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

Daft animal :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

And we'd thought we was one of the cleverer ones. :-P

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Thomas thought it was fun to enter the kitchen via the outhouse roof and a high window, then walk along the top of the wall cupboards and jump down via the grill. I don't think he ever managed to do it when the grill was on, but we kept telling him it was a very stupid thing to do.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Eep! In our previous place, we'd find Claudia on top of the kitchen cupboards, and she can only have got there via the bench which included a stove top. Luckily it was at the far end, and I hope she'd have avoided it if it had a boiling pot on it.

The main danger is when they leap from the floor onto surfaces they can't see. Once Claudia landed on a book which fell off, and as they both dropped, the book was under her arm as if she had gone up to borrow it. We laughed so much that she stalked off, offended.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

What you didn't see was the real culprit. The bird that was laughing it's little beak off at Vic's attempt to catch it!

We have to have our upstairs windows on "child-safe" open to stop our feline adventurers accepting the challenges the sparrows and (in summer house martins) keep sending their way. it's only a single storey drop but it is onto concrete which, judging by their reactions at least leaves a bruise.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

We put something like that on a some of the downstairs windows after the burglary last year, but I'd like them on all of them. They don't just stop cats getting out (or in), they also stop the windows slamming shut in the wind.

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

The wall windows in my flat (as opposed to the skylights I also have) can be locked so they're only open half an inch - just enough to let in fresh air.

The two windows upstairs look onto the sloping alleyway that runs between this house and the next block of terraces, and it's quite a drop. I daren't leave the windows any wider open in case a pigeon lands on the windowsill, and Diesel tries to pounce on it and falls off.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The locks on the downstairs windows can be open that much, and two wider amounts which is nice as it gives choice. We have them at the widest in summer, but I doubt a cat would want to squeeze through. The bedroom window is unrestrained and was thrown right open, very inviting to a cat who could probably hear our voices from the lounge via the open ranch sliders below. :-P