Big Cat
This is amazing!
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 Humane Society. In this largely rural area, cats of all
stripes and ages 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
it's 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 Ibs. 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 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's 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 about 3 lbs of cat food
a day, 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 Snowball's 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".
(see photo of Snowball attached!)
Steve and Brigid 
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