6A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL DECEMBER 6, 2017
Pets tips 'n' tales: Cleo's Christmas miracle
COURTESY PHOTO
(L to R) Elinor, Molly, Amanda holds Adeline and their miracle cat CleoCatra, and Shane.
By MaryEllen Scribe
For The Sentinel
As CleoCatra (Cleo) the sev-
en-month-old Russian Blue
cat's family was moving from
Utah to Washington state, trag-
edy struck.
They were traveling in two
vehicles. Shane, the daddy, was
ahead of his wife Amanda's van
which carried their three chil-
dren Elinor-5, Molly-3, and
Adeline-1, their cat-Cleo and
dog-Irene. The vehicles were
packed to the hilt, and like many
traveling families, the pets sat
on the children's laps.
Then the unthinkable hap-
pened outside of Pendleton, Or-
egon. The van's tire blew. The
vehicle rolled over and landed
on its roof. The totaled van's
windows shattered allowing
their pets to escape. Amanda
and the children were banged
up but have since healed.
In the mayhem that purr-
sued, both pets bolted. Irene
was killed by a passing vehicle
and Cleo disappeared. The dev-
astated family was stranded in
Pendleton for a few days. All
the while they hoped that Cleo
would turn up at a shelter.
"Molly named her stuffed an-
imals Cleo," said Amanda, "and
Elinor cried every night for her
kitty."
The family eventually rent-
ed a van and headed out to
their new home in Bellingham,
Washington.
Two weeks before Christmas
their phone rang and Amanda
began crying.
"This is the last phone call
I imagined," she said. "Oh my
gosh! I can't believe you found
her!"
On the phone was animal
advocate, Robin, a Pendleton
Animal Welfare Shelter board
member.
What a smart cat Cleo was
because she ran a mile from the
busy freeway and took up ref-
uge in Robin's barn.
Twelve days after the car
crash, when Robin was in the
barn feeding her horses she saw
a young cat scampering up into
the rafters. She climbed up after
it and there was Cleo!
"She told me that Cleo still
had her ID collar," said Amanda.
"We were all amazed that it had
stayed on in the accident. Robin
read our number and immedi-
ately phoned. Can you believe
that kitten survived a vehicle
accident, hunger, a snowstorm
and freezing temperatures for
almost two weeks!
When Elinor and Molly
heard the amazing news, they
jumped up and down with joy-
ful abandonment. Adeline didn't
understand what was going on;
but when Robin sent us a pic-
ture of Cleo, Adeline wanted to
stare at it all night."
Robin's newspaper featured
Cleo's story to see if anyone
could drive the kitty to Bell-
ingham. Luckily, a woman
who lives in Bellingham had a
daughter graduating from Boi-
se State and they volunteered
to bring Cleo when they drove
home. And they did, a week be-
fore Christmas on Molly's birth-
day.
"Cleo has regained the
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weight she lost back and is do-
ing great," said Amanda, "She
loves us and we do her. Our
children giggle watching Cleo
play. One day, the cat was play-
ing in her open crate when she
discovered a toothbrush. It took
seven hilarious minutes for her
to wiggle the toothbrush into
the crate, leaving her us all in
glee-fi lled hiss-terics. I still am
amazed how our story turned
out. It was a good Christmas af-
ter all."
TIPS
In retrospect Amanda said,
"We had sold most of our pos-
sessions before the move and
packed the van with what was
left. I wish we had made room
for our pets' crates, never think-
ing that something terrible
would happen.
Shane and I can't believe that
Cleo's collar stayed on for two
weeks. From now on all our pets
will have microchips, so we
don't have to rely on a miracle
to have them returned!"
Sadly, Cleo's case is not iso-
lated. When I was the photog-
rapher for the fi re department,
the responders to the freeway
crashes were well aware of how
many pets escape during the
emergency attention shown to
their guardians.
When traveling with a pet,
even a pet carrier can pop open
during a crash. A microchip is
the best way to have your lost
pet identifi ed as collars and ID
tags can get lost in the confu-
sion.
Tell us about your pet!
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