Kitten climbs Frances, mauls chaplain
By Travis Smith

During the annual ORU picnic a small gray and black striped cat was found climbing Frances in an attempt to flee crowds of students making their way past the dorm to Lake Evelyn for their outdoor dinners. Senior Chaplain Nicholas Michalski was among the 20 or so bystanders who witnessed the kitten's hurried ascent to the eighth floor.

"It acted like it was scared," said Michalski of the cat. "I think it was because there were so many people going by. Some people tried to reach it or knock it down with a shoe or stick, but they didn't get to it in time."

When initial acts of kindness in removing the kitten from the side of Frances failed, the young animal continued its climb past the fourth floor all the way to the eighth. Witnesses claim that attempts to safely remove the cat only made it climb faster and higher. Cat lovers in the crowd, mainly women, became concerned.

The group then attempted to use a blanket to catch the cat, should it fall. Their fireman-like efforts paid off several minutes later when the feline lost its grip and plummeted to the ground, barely catching the end of the outstretched cloth. Soon the kitten was nowhere to be seen, as it had darted around the corner and hidden in one of the bushes adorning Frances.

When asked the reason for his heroic action, Michalski, one of the blanket holders, replied, "We had a blanket and so I thought that it was worth a try to save the cat rather than see it die."

Although largely unbeknownst at the time, it is now known that a small family of wild cats had taken up residence in one of the storm drains on campus over the summer.

When the cat escaped, senior Sara Lomax, a cat lover, hurried to check on its condition. Michalski and senior Luis Falcon followed suit. The three music majors began to maneuver the cat into a position in which one of them would be able to examine it, and that was when it attacked. Falcon later described the feline as "a small gray and black cat with honey-brown eyes and large fangs."

After the ensuing struggle, the three students were eventually able to examine the kitten, finding that it had suffered no visible injuries in its fall from the tower. However, the ordeal would leave Lomax and Michalski singing with pain as they received several scratches and one bite each on their hands. Lomax was hurt the most: The beast bit through a nerve in her finger.

"I was surprised that it was as vicious as it was," Lomax said. "I didn't expect it to bite as hard as it did…most kittens aren't that mean."

"We didn't realize it was a wild cat that had never been touched by a person before," Michalski said.

For both students a healthy dose of bandages and antibiotics seemed to heal their wounds.

"I've always hated cats and I still do," said Falcon of the ordeal. Falcon's allergic reaction to cats served him well on this occasion, as his aversion to touching them resulted in his total escape from the fury of the feral kitten.

Despite the attack, the trio found the kitten to be perfectly healthy. They made sure to check its eyes, mouth, etc. for signs of rabies or some other malady that could spread through bites or scratches.

"It was a perfectly healthy cat. [It was] just very wild, and it had just fallen eight stories so it was agitated," said Michalski.

Although the cat most likely did not appreciate the heroic efforts of the ORU students that day, the event did hold significance for those involved.

"It is something to talk about when everyone is discussing weird things that have happened [to them]," Lomax said.

When asked to share any lessons learned from the event, answers from all three concurred.

"Don't trust wild kittens," Lomax concluded.

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