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Tiki the 20-year-old blind cat rescued from icy pond in Westford

From MassLive

Tiki the 20-year-old blind cat rescued from icy pond in Westford

Tiki, a 20-year-old blind black-and-white cat, likes to roam about outdoors. But this time, he caused a scare after he was seen on ice floating in a Massachusetts pond and then fell in.

Tiki has an alert passerby and a couple of nearby construction workers to thank for his rescue.

"The crackling happened, and I was like, hysterical," passerby Dawn Felicani recalled Thursday. "And all of a sudden, it fell in! It's little head was sticking out! I'm in tears, and I'm freaking out."

She called first responders and a local animal control officer in Westford on Monday.

One of two construction workers at a neighboring house hopped into a rowboat and the other pushed him out and helped him navigate Nabnasset Pond. The worker in the boat used a shovel as he moved to break through the ice and fetched the cat from the water.

Tiki was taken inside, toweled off and wrapped in blankets.

Animal control officer Kirsten Hirschler said in a news release that Tiki was shivering, lethargic and in shock. He was taken to a veterinarian. Hirschler said Tiki's temperature was so low "it didn't even register on the thermometer."

She said she believed that Tiki might have been chased onto the ice by a predator and found himself stuck there. He usually doesn't venture that far, his owner, John Arden, said Thursday.

Tiki is doing well and is acting like nothing ever happened, Arden said.

He and his wife have owned Tiki since he was a kitten. He's been blind for about a year, but still gets about fine.

"He's pretty annoyed that he can't go back outside," Arden said.

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