Quick reference:
Chalk River, where Rodger Degagne and his elephantine cat
live, is the
site of a nuclear research facility run by Atomic Energy of
Canada Limited
(AECL).
The story:
Rodger Degagne a former employee with AECL in Chalk River
may be embarking
on a new career as Feline Breeder. Relaxing in his spacious
home on
the shores of the Ottawa River, Mr. Degagne recalls how 15
years ago
he befriended two stray young cats on the old AECL research
facility
at Chalk River. The kittens had appeared in late summer and
apparently
had gotten under a security fence around the old labs
abandoned since
the late 50's. With the help of his tuna sandwich, Mr.
Degagne was able
to coax the kitties close enough so that he could pick them
up.
A self described animal lover he did not want to place the kittens in the local Human Society. In this largely rural area, cats of all stripes and age largely go unwanted and are humanely disposed of after a few days. Later that evening, his wife Louise and their two children, Nicole and Kelly came to a family decision to keep the kittens which they named Lost and Found. Lost turned out to be female and Found a male. When nature finally took its course a litter of kittens was born 6 years later. One of the litter was a big white female with a unique black markings on her side and tail. Something about the kitten captured the hearts of the family and while her siblings eventually found homes elsewhere, Snowball stayed with the Degagne's.
While Lost and Found are no longer with us, their progeny live on. In her 9 years Snowball's size has seemed to snowball. Put simply Snowball is no ordinary cat, she measures 69 inches from nose to tail and weighs in at 87 lbs. She started out a big kitty and she just seemed to keep growing. She always meowed for more food, and would climb up on the counter to eat food which I forgot to cover. "Chicken is her favorite, once I left a cooked chicken on the table that I was going to use for a boat picnic, an hour later the chicken was gone." Louise said. We knew that snowball wasn't your average cat when the neighbor German Shepherd ran yelping away from his first encounter with her. She just isn't afraid of any animals. After we found a half eaten raccoon out by the garage we decided that maybe Snowball should be kept fenced in. We soon discovered that while we can keep Snowball in the yard we couldn't Keep raccoons from Snowball. "At least it kept the food bills down!" Rodger laughed. "Like all female cats she is very territorial, but with us she is just a big ole kitten" he said. So what does a 87 pound cat eat? "Snowball goes through a about 3 lbs. of cat food a day, along with cooked chicken , supplemented with deer and moose that Rodger hunts in the fall. She likes Pike a lot, so I don't throw them back any more".
Snowball often accompanies Rodger fishing on the Ottawa, eagerly peering over the side of the boat as soon as his line goes tight. So what do the Degagne's attribute Snowballs size to? Rodger says "Well the vet thinks it could be her thyroid, but she isn't fat, she's just a real big cat. I think maybe her parents got into something at Chalk River that they shouldn't have".
-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), May 18, 2001.