Oliver the Firecat

Oliver was the 4th cat to join our tribe, after Jack, Bynx and Mina.

You may not see him in many videos of ours, because he's our "shy cat."

In fact there was a brief time when he was, depressed, and he would hide out all day, hardly ever engaging the tribe, but that was something I recognized, and remedied by seeking him out each day, and showering him with love and praise. Which caused his confidence to soar, and he soon began joining the tribe everyday.

But this story is before all of that.

This is a story about how Oliver the firecat, saved our house from an oven fire, and how when it mattered most...he was our hero.

This is what Oliver looked like when he first arrived. He was shy, timid, he kept to himself, and he couldn't meow...and when he tried it would just come out as a little squeak.

It took a lot of coaching, and love for me to get him to join the rest of my cats in daily activities, but he soon began to come around, and he learned to come and find me, when he needed some attention.

But he still couldn't meow. He could only manage to make the tiniest of squeaks, even when trying his very best.

And then one day, I turned the oven on to 400 degrees fahrenheit (204 degrees Celsius), and I had forgotten that the night before I left a package of macaroni and cheese inside, because the cats were trying to get into it.

I went about doing chores, changing litter boxes, keeping up with laundry, sweeping....my normal daily activities.

As the macaroni caught on fire, the house quickly began to fill with smoke, but I was in the back bedroom and didn't know it...

And then I heard it... "MEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW"

Again... "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW"

Not knowing who was making such alarming meows, I rushed to the kitchen to see the whole house filled with smoke, and I was able to put out the fire in the oven, and open all of the windows.

And there was Oliver, with the biggest, boldest meows, I had ever heard.

He was checking every room, and finding all of the cats, meowing at them, and rounding them up. (Just like a Fireman would.) 

My eyes filling with tears, my heart full of joy, it was one of my proudest cat dad moments ever.

Because when we needed him the most...

Oliver the Firecat, found his meow.