The celebrity and former Made in Chelsea star Ashley James tells us on the metro.co.uk website that her cat was traumatised after almost drowning in her bathtub in an accident.
James reported on the event on her Instagram webpage last Thursday. She said that she had forgotten to drain the water out after taking a bath. She had no idea that her cat, Lady, had jumped into it.
She said that she heard some splashing from the bathroom and thought that her kittens were playing around. She followed the noise, she said. She took her camera with her. It is interesting that she appears to take videos and still photographs of a lot of what she does. It appears to be integral to her life.
She no doubt does this in order to feed her social media accounts which are in effect a record of her life. Having tracked the noise down to the bathroom she discovered that Lady was drowning in the bathwater, she said.
She claims that Lady was traumatised by the ordeal. But today she’s dry and cuddling up to her. We are told that Ashley is a huge animal lover and she does have some beautiful cats. The two cats in the video below appear to be Ragdolls.
I have to question the story. I don’t mean to be rude and don’t have any intention to insult Ashley James. I have never heard of a cat drowning in a bathtub. I accept that a bathtub might be difficult for some domestic cats to get out of because of the shiny surface. However, a domestic cat’s athleticism would normally enable them to get out even if the water was deeper than the cat’s height to the shoulder.
That said it is an interesting hazard in the house which had not previously occurred to me. If the water is deep and the bath large, a kitten might fall in and become trapped. It is something a concerned cat guardian might take into consideration.
Ragdolls might be an exception, panic might cause their flop response.
If the kitten was really in distress, she should get that kitten a vet check. Even one drop of inhaled water can cause problems and may kill even a while after the event.
I’d suggest that Ashley spends a little less time gawping at & creating a fabricated impression of her life through a phone and more time actually looking at her cats, first hand.
I hope Ashley learns an important lesson about real guardianship of her companion cats from this unfortunate episode.