Valerie Axtens thought she had seen the last of her beloved cat Mendelson as she was being rescued through a window from rapidly rising floodwater.
Key points:
- Valerie Axtens was rescued during the February 28 flood
- Her beloved cat Mendelson survived the ordeal but vanished about a month later
- Mendelson has returned after 10 months away
The 92-year-old lives in North Lismore, one of the areas hardest hit by the February 28 disaster.
Floodwater reached her home’s attic, despite the house being raised above a one-in-100-year flood event.
After the floodwater receded and one of her sons was able to return and check on the mud-covered house, he discovered — much to everyone’s surprise — the cat had survived.
“He was in a cardboard carton on my bed,” Ms Axtens said.
“They were duly surprised to see he had actually survived this flood and they kept looking out for him, feeding him and he stayed around.”
Ms Axtens said “Mendo”, as he was affectionately known, stuck around the house for about a month before vanishing.
She suspected it had something to do with a feral cat named Digby, who had become a regular visitor to the house, along with his bad temper.
“Digby was not at all helpful, he kept fighting with Mendo so much so that Mendo finished up with a very large hole in his head,” Ms Axtens said.
“After taking him to the vet and having various things done, [we thought] hopefully Mendelson would be well, but he disappeared.
“I thought a snake has probably got the pair of them because neither of them was there.”
Almost 10 months passed before Ms Axtens got an unexpected but welcome surprise.
The cat came back.
Ms Axtens said her son Laurie had been fixing up the house one day when Mendelson walked in “like he’d never left”.
“I was absolutely amazed and totally delighted,” she said.
“Almost shocked to think that he had survived, it was unbelievable news.
“Goodness knows where he’s been but whoever was looking after him was very kind and they deserve a medal.”
