10 September 2010 - the first day of Hari Raya, I was at my parents’ house in Penang when I heard repeatedly a kitten crying in distressed. I went to the balcony trying to determine where the cries came from, when a female cat suddenly caught my eyes. She was at the brim of a huge drain and was looking down at the bottom of it. I knew immediately that the kitten had fallen into the drain and was crying for help.
Together with my brother and my niece, we brought along a piece of wood of about 6 feet long and some used towels to rescue the poor kitten. The moment the mother cat saw us approaching the drain, she ran away.
The poor kitten was half immersed with water. Without a minute to lose, I thrust the wood in to the drain, prompting the kitten to grab hold of the wood. Unfortunately, he failed to understand my intention. I had to prompt him several times and talked softly to him. Then only he put his two front paws on the wood followed by his two hind legs. Slowly and steadily, I pulled the wood up holding it horizontally to make sure the kitten wouldn’t fall and carefully put him down on the ground.
The mother immediately ran to her baby but was cautious about us. My brother managed to take a picture before the mother picked him up with her mouth and walked away from us. Then, she put him down, licked him for a short while giving him the assurance that he was safe. The kitten, in return, rubbed his head and body against his mommy!
