Miracle kitten meets its WSDOT rescuers

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Ritz, the forlorn black kitten rescued from the Hood Canal Bridge in mid-July, had gained a whopping two pounds by the time he paid a visit to his rescuers.

“I’ve never seen a kitten eat so much in my life,” his adopted cat-mom Rachelle Gidney said Thursday. “He likes to eat everything. He had his first taste of tuna yesterday.”

Gidney said Ritz’s veterinarian has since given her the go-ahead to increase the 14-month-old kitten’s intake of wet and dry food.

With the emphasis on chow, it’s no surprise that Gidney took some goodies with her and Ritz on a recent excursion to meet the workers on the Hood Canal Bridge who were responsible for saving the cat’s life.

“I make the best chocolate chip cookies,” she said, adding that the Washington State Department of Transportation employees agreed.

On July 25, Gidney was crossing the bridge on her way to church when she heard meowing. Certain that it was a cat,  she alerted the Washington State Department of Transportation. The black kitten, who became “Ritz,” survived falling 45 feet before being rescued by WSDOT staff. He was given to Gidney, as she had requested, pending his rescue.

During her recent visit, she learned new details about Ritz’s brush with death.

Initially, when Gidney reported hearing a kitten on the bridge — a call that sparked the rescue — bridge workers assumed she was hearing a cat-like birdcall.

But Paul Gahr, supervisor for the Hood Canal span, instantly knew it wasn’t a chatty bird but a real live kitten, and one who needed help fast.

“We met at the west of the bridge,” Gidney said of the recent rendezvous.

“Of course he was a little scared,” she said of Ritz, who must have some memory of the scene.

It remains unknown how long the kitten was on the bridge, but his rescuers believe someone driving across the bridge abandoned the tiny cat.

“There’s no way he could haven gotten there himself,” Gidney said. “I honestly feel he just dropped out of the sky.”

Back at home in Port Ludlow, Ritz has bonded with one of Gidney’s other cats, Koda, who is 10 years his senior. He bathes Ritz, and has been captured on camera sleeping head to head with the kitten.

“He’s wonderful, a great addition to the family,” she said.

Ritz has also gained some local notoriety and a fan base.

Gidney’s daughter Bridgette, whom Ritz has claimed ownership of, has created a social media account for him. Readers can follow the life and times of the lucky kitten @ritzgidney on Instagram.