Someone has been calling the house every morning at 7am. They call and then they aren't there when I answer. Today, there was a call at 6:45a which was particularly annoying because I had tears streaming down my face because Philo had been missing for 24 hours.When we decided over a year ago to let Philo be an outdoor/indoor cat, the funny thing was, we never got the courage to let him out. Too many dangers in the people world. But he longs to be free, to roam, to chase, and to do whatever it is that felines do beneath all the bushes and along all the fence-rows. In an effort to satiate his curiosity and expend his energy (read: detract him from busting up ever more of my stuff), we decided we'd go ahead and let him out.
Armed with an orange safety collar and nametag, and some flea meds, he quickly warmed up and set off about his adventure on Saturday and stayed out for three or four hours before returning home. Actually, he returned home three times, but just wouldn't stop playing.
Sunday morning, he was begging me to go out, and out of respect for Sunday-Morning-The-Way-You-Like-It (which is how I live MY Sunday mornings), I obliged. Off like a bullet he went.
He stayed away all morning, all afternoon, all evening, and by then we started getting worried. There are some busy streets and a train nearby--all hazards we'd considered before, but in the silence of a Philo-free home, the danger in our minds mounted and we were sad. We cried. We hoped that at feeding time he'd come home. He didn't. We checked outside about every hour last night with very little sleep and very, very heavy hearts.
So at 6:45a the phone rings. Cheeks wet and stomach in knots, I answer. Nothing at first. Same damn 7am caller! But suddenly then a woman says, "I have a cat here named Philo." I was so overjoyed! It was one of the sisters at the convent next door. He had apparently been roaming their grounds and fell into one of their window wells. Sometime in the middle of the night one of the nuns was awakened by none other than the very screams that wake us each night--for once his big mouth was useful.
And so it was that we lost our cat, and the Holy Sisters returned him. We have our baby back--thank God and Philo's big mouth.
1 comment:
Oh Tra! ::HUGS:: Im so sorry that you had to endure this sickening experience but am SO GLAD that he was returned by our heavenly sisters. So what's the game plan from here? Did he scare you too much to let him out again?
I was talking to my former roommate (cat lady extraordinare) and was relaying your probelms with the screaming and the broken stuffs and before I could even finish, she interrupts with "Clearly, they need another cat to keep him busy." Her multiple cats keep each other occupied (you know what they say about idle hands... or paws!) and she says this is the only reason they are able to live with any of them. She also mentioned the brief hating each other period that occured with the introduction of each kitty but how they now all love each other.
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