Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Worst Birthday Gift EVERrrrr !!

Today is Tanjiro's and Uschi-Swirl's Fourth Birthday!

So we stopped at the store and got a

Happy Birthday cake and a

Hello-Kitty "Happy Birthday" balloon.

We were excited to get a blog shot of the balloon
floating above a Bengal hidden in some tall grass.

Uschi happily strolled around
showing off his new balloon.

Where is Uschi?

All of a sudden,

Vladi lept, and Uschi lept,...

Uschi flew around the yard,...

Zooooom,...

Zooooom,....

He just kept on going and going,
we have never seen him run so
hard and for so long.

We were laughing so hard,...
Until we realized he was scared of the balloon.
(yes, bad parent behavior)

The balloon was deflating and scared Uschi was
rapidly approaching total exhaustion. He was still running
as hard as he could but was now barely moving.

He headed for the pond,... We ran!!!

He went right in,... and swam,...
like an Asian Leopard cat fleeing from a predator.

Lesley was beginning to wade in to rescue him,

I shouted he would be fine,...
keep taking pictures for the blog.
(BAAD, dad behavior)

THEN,...
he stopped swimming and we saw this look,...
(click the image to enlarge it)
OH NO!!

As he went under, I lept in,...

and grabbed him as he was actually under water.

Exhausted but back to shore,...

Uschi looks intense but was absolutely limp and

Shocky.

Headed home ASAP!!

Uschi didn't want to get out of my arms
(atypical) but it was more shock than anything.

I toweled and put him down,...
he slunk behind the cloths bins and hunkered.

"I'm not coming out"

"Are you okay?"

"Come on Uschi,..."

He was still shocky and hadn't groomed himself about
1hr later, we really wanted him to just show some signs
of alertness, then all would be alright.

"Noooo, I'm not ready."

Eventually,

He shot under the kitchen sink and looked out.

Now we knew he had progressed to "just being scared,"
so we got on with things.

After another hour or so,...

Uschi cautiously curled up under my "office" chair.

Keeping an eye out for danger.

Time for a special treat,...

Some cat-nip...

Makes Uschi look like a young kitten.

Feeling a bit more confident.

Uschi checks out the dreaded Hello Kitty balloon.

But he was still a bit "off",... he stayed

By my side for hours,...

Then, finally,

Collapsed,...

with his head on a pillow.


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11 comments:

Jax said...

Happy Birthday! Jax (Uschi and Tanjiro's brother) didn't have quite an exciting day. I visit your site regularly to see how his brothers are. We are lucky people to have these boys.

Bengal Lady said...

Happy Birthday boys - and Jax too! How exciting!

tribabe said...

Oh my goodness! What a day. Hopefully kitty won't take up lap swimming. Happy birthday!

Unknown said...

Oh, what a horrible experience, you poor Uschi! (And I *really* am commiserating this time, I swear.) What a thing to happen on your birthday. I'm sure you got extra cuddles and loving to get you back on track. Happy birthday to the two of you, who have given us so much pleasure over these years!

Unknown said...

Happy birthday boys...a little late. I'm sure U will be on the lookout for those killer flying balloons in the future.

Freya's Staff said...

Poor Uschi! But you shouldn't feel too bad, it was just an accident..

Taz said...

Too cute you guys! :o)

The look on Uschi's face in the pond is precious. The next pic of Lav's turned Lifegurad made me laugh out loud.

Happy B-day to the boys and well wishes to the both of you.

Taz

Pam said...

Happy Birthday you handsome boys! Uschi will be ok, all parents make some mistakes and the fact you would jump into the water to save him shows how much you care. No more "Killer Hello Kitty" ballons, stick to cakes and tissue paper, Hugs,
Pam, Kinny, Tessa and big Sam

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness,Poor Uschi! The look on his little face just tore my heart right out. But am I bad because I feel like laughing and crying at the same time!!!

You are a brave Uschi!

Kittenmom

Tory said...

Oh poor Ush! Dax had a similar scenario happen to him - he was playing with a plastic bag, when he got up it the handle was around his neck as he started walking. He realized it was there and it spooked him and he TOOK OFF. TEARING around the house so fast he was a blur, nobody could catch him to help get the bag off him. Eventually he went crashing through the dining room chairs and finally head first into the hutch. It stunned him, I pounced and got the bag off him and brought him upstairs where he was in shock too. Then we realized he was limping very badly :( A trip to the vet, anti-inflammatories, and confined to the bedroom for one week :( He eventually got better (no broken bones thank goodness), but now we keep plastic bags away from him!

Unknown said...

Poor Uschi!!! My snow bengal boy Sabu did that... he was playing "pounce" with a plastic bag (I was chaperoning them)... and he got it around his neck and took off, I thought it was funny too... for the first 10 seconds, and then he just started panicking more.. poor baby ran INTO the wall with the loudest thunk, I caught him and rescued him but he was traumatized under the bed for a day, it was all of 25 seconds but the post stress syndrome lasted a few days!!! Fast recovery and well wishes to Uschi!!