Bridgette's Harrowing Adventure

Bridgette, aka Bridgy-boo-boo and Boo

Poor Bridgy-boo-boo had quite the adventure today.

First thing on today's agenda was to take the heifer calves to the vet and get their bangs vaccinations.

Bangs vaccinations, for brucellosis in cattle, are required in the states of Colorado and Wyoming if you want to sell or import any cattle into those states. Since we live so close to both of these states, we always bangs vaccinate our heifers. The process requires a shot, an ear tattoo and a bangs tag in the heifer's ear. We had 11 heifers that we took in today.

We started gathering up the calves this morning just before 8 am. Our appointment at the vets was at 10 am. Dan the Man wanted to start early incase we had any troubles rounding up the little ladies. They aren't quite as familiar with the "rounding-up" process as the cows are so sometimes they think it is just a game of tag and Dan the Man and I are "it!" Thankfully today they were pretty good except a few who wanted to see if they could outrun the four wheeler. Those little turds eventually came to the realization that Dan the Man was the "Evel Knievel" of four wheelers and they were going to have to sprout wheels on their hoofs or wings on their backs if they were going to out run him.

With all the little ladies in the corral, it was time to load them up on the trailer. That went without a hitch (no pun intended) and it was only 8:30 am. Record time! Now we had several minutes to kill since we didn't need to leave until 9:30 am. Dan the Man and I went into the house to kill some time until it was time to leave. It wasn't going to hurt the little ladies to stand around in the trailer and wait.

We drove to Torrington, which is where our vet is. It's about 25 miles from our place to the vet's office. When we got there, Dan the Man instructed me to get out of the truck and direct him back to the loading chute. So I got out and walked to the back of the trailer. For a second I thought I heard a cat crying.

Hmmmm, that was weird... I thought I heard... wait, there it is again!
I swear I hear a cat crying... wonder where it is?

Now the cries were getting desperate as I approached the back of the trailer.

Sounds like the cries are coming from INSIDE the trailer!

Surely one of my cats is NOT in that trailer with the calves!?!?

As I get to the back gate of the trailer, there is no denying that a cat is in that trailer with the 11 calves. Oh my gosh, you have got to be kidding me!

I peer inside the trailer and can't see anything, but can definitely hear the cat. Luckily there is a sliding door on the back gate that I was able to slide open just enough for the cat to come flying out into my arms and still keep the calves inside the trailer.

Meanwhile, Dan the Man is wondering what in the world is taking me so long to direct him back! I'm sure Dan the Man was thinking "Doesn't she know that I can't see her directing if she stands directly behind the trailer?" Getting impatient he starts to inch his way back. I yell at him to stop and tell him that one of the cats got in the trailer.

Oh, poor Bridgy-boo-boo. What in tarnations were you doing in there? Come here my sweetie. Poor, poor kitty.

Thankfully she wasn't hurt, just full of poop! And I mean full of it. She was crawling all over me and getting it all over me as well. I took her to the truck and put her in the back of the cab. Then proceeded to direct Dan the Man back to the chute. Meanwhile Bridgette was crawling all over the inside of the cab with her poopy paws getting poop all over. Dan the Man told me to take her inside and clean her up before I put her back into the cab.

So I take her inside the vet's office and got some papertowels and tried to clean her the best I could. Poor Boo was ready to go home right then and there but we still had to get the little ladies vaccinated. So back in the cab she went until it was time to head back home.

Wow, would she have a tale to tell! I have no idea what possessed her to get into that trailer with the calves in the first place. It is a true miracle that she wasn't injured much less killed.

Bridgette back home safe and sound!

This reminds me of another cat we had who went on a similar adventure and lived to tell about it. A couple of years ago Dan the Man was hauling hay to Ft. Collins which is 135 miles from here. When he got to Centennial Livestock Auction, where he was hauling the hay to, he heard the cry of a cat and realized that it was coming from within the hay that he was hauling. He knew right away that it was one of our cats.

As Dan the Man and the guy from Centennial started to unload the hay with the bobcat, Dan the Man told the guy running the bobcat that they needed to be careful because one of my cats was in the load. So they carefully started to unload the bales. Dan the Man told the guy unloading that they were going to have to make sure that they caught the cat and didn't let it run away. He said he would be as "good as dead" if he didn't come back home with the cat! Dan the Man also told the guy something to the effect that "you don't know my wife!"

Anyway, the guy must have felt some sympathy for Dan the Man because between the two of them, they caught the cat. It was Leonna, Dan the Man's favorite cat of the 5 sisters. She must have crawled on the load before Dan the Man left and then couldn't get off fast enough before it was too late.

How this cat survived the ride to Ft. Collins I'll never know. We are talking 135 miles riding on the hay going 65-70 mph down the interstate! She must have gotten herself wedged between the bales is all I can figure out!

What a long day for poor Leonna. They must have left around noon and got back around 6:30 pm that night. Sweet little Leonna, she looked like a little lioness. A few months after that we found her dead just outside the house. Looked as if something must have killed her like an owl. What ever it was, it wasn't big enough to drag her away. We were crushed. Out of the 5 sisters, she is the only one that we have lost. After the hay episode, we always check our hay loads for cats.

After today's episode we will be checking the stock trailer for cats as well.