Meet Pepsi!
Name: Pepsi. a/k/a Pepsi Cat
Breed: Domestic Shorthair (Orange Tabby)
Likes: To be fed by teaspoon; belly rubs; being brushed HIS way! to watch an occasional nature program on TV; sit outside on screened porch, absorb sounds and watch the action from perch on top of table; give appreciative licks; climb his scratching post and balance precariously for fun while swatting at flying feather toy; crashing into paper bags; nipping my feet when he wants attention; shake his tail to greet me; cool his heels in winter on the porch and return inside to warm up.
Dislikes: Eating alone; collars of any kind; vet visits; any change in his environment floor or otherwise; loud noises; and any stranger who doesn’t keep the noise down.
About Pepsi: The old adage, any port in a storm, comes to mind when I tell you how a small kitten (now a 17 pound beauty) I call Pepsi came into my life.
We were visiting Bethany Beach, Delaware, on a cold November day about 6 years ago to celebrate a family member’s birthday. On leaving the Five Brothers Restaurant there, some children told us they heard mewing coming from somewhere nearby. A few moments later, I heard it as well and found the mews were coming from inside a soda machine around the corner. You guessed it, it was a Pepsi machine and folks trying to buy a soda were startled to hear something other than a can coming from the slot where the soda was to appear. After listening to the frantic meows, I asked the soda seekers to try getting a soda somewhere else so we could investigate (and rescue) what could only be a cat stuck inside. The kitten apparently had squeezed through the hole for the electric power cord and was hugging the warm condenser inside. We disconnected the power and tried to entice kitty to come out with a can of tuna fish. When that failed, we took the back of the machine off with the aid of the local police. (The local humane society was closed.) But kitty would not come out and was so far inside that only after the concerted efforts of a young stranger with very long arms who reached inside the machine, allowed us to reach the kitten and pull him out. We found a very young, small orange, flea infested kitten who was very frightened, clawing the air frantically and crying like crazy. I warmed kitty under my jacket and tried unsuccessfully to get him to eat or drink. Finally, we found a suitable box and placed him in for the ride to his new home in Virginia. We did not see the mom cat or any other kittens nearby. A quick visit to the vet showed that he weighed a little over 2 pounds and was seriously dehydrated. And that’s how I met Pepsi!