Skeeter's Project
Pondering World Domination?
Each of our cats has a distinct, well-expressed personality. Skeeter, Kathy's ginger boy, is a serious, lovable, Project Cat. By Project Cat, I mean that when he gets an idea into his head, he'll work away on his project until he achieves his desired result. This can have scary results.
A few weeks ago, he decided his project was to open up the heating vents. Upstairs, our vents are in the floor. Our snazzy Art Deco-style metal louvered vents set into place without the benefit of screws. This is unfortunate, as Skeeter recently decided that he wants lift the vents up. In the lounge area (or, what would be the dining room if we cared about such things) we ended up moving a magazine rack partway over the vent to hold it down. He's just so stubborn.
Well, one morning, while I was in the studio and Kathy was upstairs getting ready for work, I noticed Tilly looking up at a corner of the ceiling. I thought I heard a noise. I would have thought that we had a critter between the floors, but suddenly I got suspicious.
I called Kathy through the intercom system and asked her where Skee was. She looked for him and couldn't find him. Dash meowed when asked about his brother. I said, "Go look at the heating vent in the lounge."
Wouldn't you know it, somehow he moved the heavy magazine rack out of the way and then removed the vent! Near as we could tell, he was in the duct work! Kathy called to Skee and, through the bottom floor door we have leading to the underworld (where the ductwork is) I heard a faint cry. Omigod!
I told Kathy to keep calling from the vent upstairs and peeking down. I pulled on some clothes and shoes (it wasn't 8 am yet). Grabbing my high-powered Xenon flashlight, I stepped into the creepy underworld.
I walked unsteadily along the slope, under the ductwork, calling to Skee. I heard Kathy above me. I had the intercom phone with me. She told me she was reaching into the duct work but couldn't see him. I moved the flashlight around to the duct that leads to the lounge. And there I saw...Kathy's fingers wiggling. What the heck? What happened to our ductwork?
What probably happened was a 15+ lb ginger tabby! We didn't know where he was and we were in a panic. How would we get him out if he had traveled far in? Who knows what state the ductwork was in? Mon dieu!
I went back upstairs to look down the duct. That's when I saw him. In between where the metal ducting attaches to the floor was a gap, and I spotted him...in between the two floors. I ran to get a hammer, then used the claw end to pry the ducting away from the floor. Reaching down, I pulled Skeeter out, trying to make sure he didn't scrape against any sharp edges.
He'd be traumatized by this experience and then he'd never do this again, right? Well, no. He shook himself out, gave me a, "Thanks, Alix" look, and then went on his way. That little rascal! Kathy and I exchanged, "we've got a problem" glances. I hammered down the duct as best I could, then we moved a marble-topped table over the vent. BOYS!
Today I went through the house with my Makita drill and newly-purchased split bit, drilling holes in the metal vents and driving #12 screws into the floor. I'm not letting a tabby cat win at this game. I suppose we ought to place a call to a heating/ventilation repair company, too. I'm pretty darn sure you're not supposed to have huge gaps in your ductwork. Our gas bill might be partially explained by this!
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