Hair-raising adventure
MEET Chloe the high-speed car surfing cat.
The two-year-old's morning nap on an ambulance ended in a hair-raising 13km trip from Port Douglas to Oak Beach at 100km/h, with lights flashing and siren blaring all the way.
Chloe's owner and paramedic Myles White got a huge shock when an extremely distressed meow alerted him to a "goggle-eyed" cat sitting on the roof.
"We did the job and we were loading the patient in the back of the ambulance when we heard a cat let out a big meow," he said.
"Someone said there was a cat on the roof and I looked up and was very surprised to see it was my cat, Chloe.
"The road to Oak Beach is quite windy and it was lights and sirens all the way.
"I cannot believe that she managed to stay on and survive.
"When I took her down, she was all fluffed up and her eyes were a bit blown out and she did a big 'Help, get me off' meow."
The call-out came on Tuesday morning from a New South Wales couple holidaying at Oak Beach whose six-year-old daughter was seriously ill.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the family managed to find the humour in the situation.
"Everyone had a good laugh and even the little girl, who was very sick, found it funny," Mr White said.
"We just could not work out how she stayed on the roof.
"There was nothing for her to hold on to."
But amazingly one brush with death was not enough for Chloe.
Within hours of surviving a road trip, she was rushed to the Mossman vet clinic after a being bitten by a paralysis tick.
"I think she has used all nine lives in 24 hours," Mr White said.
"The following night she was walking funny and was quite sick, so we took her to the vet.
"She is all right now but it's been a big 24 hours for her."
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Fast cat: Chloe was in no mood yesterday to repeat her hair-raising ride, instead being quite content to get a cuddle from owner Myles White.
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