by Noella Noelophile®
The morning started with a scare. But not the fun kind.
Getting ready to leave, I saw my cat, Snuggles, poke her head out from the curtains in the dining-room window. That’s not unusual.
Then, about ten minutes later, neither of us had seen her–and it was breakfast time. And we realized we were hearing “outdoor” sounds, from…
…that dining-room window.
We checked the window, which we’d thought we’d closed–to find we’d left it open, AND the screen was pushed away from the bottom. Panic mode ensued.
Snuggles,has been an indoor cat all her life, and there are coyotes in our area. Not to mention that it was six a.m.–the time all our neighbors start getting into their cars and leaving for work. Oh, and did I mention that Tuesday’s trash day in our neighborhood?
My husband and I grabbed cat treats and dashed out the door, circled the house calling, “Kitty, kitty,” and walked around the block with a flashlight. (Looking for a black cat, in predawn, is really fun…not.) There was no sign of her.
I cancelled lunch plans with a friend. My husband debated staying home, but really needed to be at work today. Neighbors were alerted, local Animal Services were called (Snuggles is microchipped) and I registered us online as having a lost pet.
Getting any work done was impossible. Finally, I went to find some shoes and take another walk around our neighborhood–praying I wouldn’t find a huddled ball of black fur, in the wake of a tragedy.
Then…”mieuw.“. And guess who strolled into the room, as nonchalantly as you please, requesting breakfast.
I’ll never know how my husband and I didn’t find her in the house–OR how she didn’t jump out that open window. Or, where her new hiding place is! But we’re very thankful this morning, and giving our cat some extra cat treats and hugs.
And as little as we like to do this, somebody’s going to wear a cat collar in the future. Much as she may hate it, losing her would be something we’d hate, even more.