A Cat, a hedge, a shed and a muppet
A 10 year adventure too good to be missed
Growing up I loved The Muppets and for whatever reason this little bit sung by the perennially underrated Rowlf The Dog (and featuring a Muppet I didn’t even know had a name, Gaffer!) has resonated with me. It’s ridiculously fun and catchy:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="And today it has resonance because of this wonderful little story from the charmingly named UK town of Chilton Moor.
<Editors note: The names in today’s bit of Good News are just simply amazing. Actually almost every detail in today’s story from the hedge, to the names, to the shed to Rowlf himself (herself?) is top-notch!>
It is a heartwarming tale that feels straight out of Rowlf’s song! Just replace Gaffer with Whiskas (yes, a cat named Whiskas!) a resilient 16-year-old cat who found her way back home to her owner, Linda Ellerton, after a 10-year adventure!
In a nondescript shed near the well-named (you were warned) Houghton-le-Spring, a local man found the cat comfortably settled in his shed, and whisked her off to a nearby vet in December. From there and via the magic of microchips Whiskas was soon reunited with her owner, Linda Ellerton. (Appropriately enough Ellerton originally adopted Whiskas in 2007 after finding her as a kitten under a hedge in Scotland. From a hedge to a shed!)
"When I saw the RSPCA Facebook post, I thought it can't possibly be Whiskas after all these years." Linda then added, "We thought she had found somewhere else to live when she didn't come in one night."
The full story can be found here, via the BBC.
Epilog: Whiskas return was complicated a little by the fact that Linda’s family now watches over a large dog. So the cat has been entrusted to her brother, David Jeffrey.