by Brent Frazier
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Curiosity didn't kill the cat, but it is costing a Walter Hill family the cost of a brand-new sectional sofa.
"She's always sticking her nose into something," said Marty Milliken, describing the family's 6-month-old Siamese cat named Mia.
Tuesday night, just two days after Christmas, the family noticed young Mia was M-I-A.
"She was screaming! She was having a fit under there," recalled Kim Milliken, Marty's wife.
Little Mia had gotten herself wedged in the underside of the recliner Kim was seated in. Lucky for the feline, Kim knew to climb out of her seated position without moving the mechanics of the chair even a fraction of an inch.
"She would've been gone," Kim said. "The way her head was trapped in there."
Clearly caring more about the animal in peril than the family's living room furniture, Marty grabbed a box cutter and a kitchen knife, even a hammer and crow bar, to begin freeing the cat. A full 90 minutes into the ordeal, the Millikens could tell the cat's airway was growing increasingly pinched, and the animal was in serious trouble.
Marty then called upon a next door neighbor, an off-duty Metro police officer, Lt. Charles Beasley; and eventually, the Walter Hill Volunteer Fire Department, a lone member of which, Chris Stiles, was ultimately able to help free the cat.
"She was gasping for air," Kim recalled, though a trip to the veterinary clinic wasn't even necessary. Mia made a quick, and complete, recovery.
The kitty gets a second shot at life, the Millikens get something too: "I guess a new living room suit," Kim said excitedly.
The brand-new sectional sofa, picked out just today, two days before New Year's Eve, is set to be delivered sometime in mid January.
email: bfrazier@newschannel5.com
