Lost Cat!

As if there hadn't been enough drama in my life lately, in the middle of moving, I lost a cat.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have two cats, Mia and Brianne (Brie). They are both scaredy cats, quite literally. Most of my friends and family have seen only glimpses of them. Repair people never see them. They love me, but they really don't like other people. So they hide. Under beds. In closets. Anywhere they believe they won't be seen.

Moving day was, I'm sure, a very stressful day for cats who prefer things left alone. Most cats are not fond of change. As a general rule, cats prefer life to be very routine and comfortable. It's one of the reasons that I have people come to my hosue to feed them if I travel, rather than taking them to a kennel or something. They would rather be alone for days on end, and only fed once a day, than be uprooted. So change is not their thing.

And moving requires monumental change. First, the house had been devolving for a couple of weeks. Boxes everywhere. Paths across spaces were no longer available as boxes multiplied. Closets were being emptied, which meant not only were comfortable spots being taken away, but there were less places to hide. Quite a few strange people had come to the house to give estimates for various move-related things and to fix last-minute things that needed fixing. Lots of change. Lots of new people. Life was definitely not normal and routine.

On top of that, I was home all day. Well, most of each day. That too was change, but change they could get behind. My cats, after all, do love me. The more of me, the better.

So June 5 was move day. The movers came about 9 am, and we spent 3-1/2 hours getting everything I owned into the truck to move to the new house. The front and back doors were open for most of that time, of course. At one point, I did go looking for the cats and found them both in closets upstairs. Empty closets, but I guess still protection from the big, bad movers.

The movers and I got in our respective vehicles and traveled across town to unpack in the new place. Another 3-1/2 hours later, all was settled in. Since I wasn't really the owner of the house yet, I had only an agreement to move my stuff into the house. The cats and I were not allowed to stay there. So I had booked us a hotel for a few nights until I actually closed on the new house.

I was debating about going to the old house and getting the cats that Saturday night. I was thinking that it might be better for them to just stay where they were, even if there was no furniture to speak of in the house, just because it was familiar. While I debated, I went to get something to eat. I decided that, at a minimum, I had to go feed the cats. While I was eating, though, I got a wave of homesickness. Since I didn't have a home right then, I figured the best way to cure my homesickness was to at least have my furry kids with me. So I headed over to the old house to pick them up and take them back to the hotel.

Brie greeted me - crying of course - at the front door. One cat in carrier. Whew!

Mia was hiding. Big surprise. Mia is always hiding. Especially during the day. I had thought that, since it was dinner time, she might come out if I pretended to feed her. So I shook a food bag and popped open a can of food. Still no Mia.

Then I went looking.

Upstairs closets. Empty. Under the vanity. Empty. Tub. Empty. Downstairs bathroom. Empty. Now, that's really all the spaces for a cat to hide in the house. Except...behind the furnace.

Behind the furnace is actually one of Mia's favorite places in the whole world. She would sit outside the laundry room door and dry to get into that room - just so she could hide behind the furnace. In another blog entry, I talked about trying to leave for a flight to California, and Mia getting behind the furnace and not coming out for an hour or so. So once I couldn't find her in any of the closets or other rooms, I figured that must be where she was. I couldn't hear her, but if she was traumatized enough, she wouldn't be "talking". She would be very mad at me for all the commotion. Stubborn tortie.

So I left food in the laundry room and, panicking more than a little, left the house. I called my parents, crying about my missing cat. My mom drove down from Maryland to stay with me, and we formed a plan to go back to the house late that night and see if we could get Mia to come out. There was some advice, too, that if she had gotten outside - I didn't think she would have gone out, but had to be realistic about the options - that she would show up in the middle of the night. There was also a thought that she might have been packed up with the last-minute boxes. So I went to the new house and torn open every box that I hadn't packed myself. No Mia. But at the same time, I did get a blanket that would smell like me and the cats to try to lure Mia out.

Saturday night, Mom and I headed over to the house about 11 pm. We hung out on the front stairs (one of only a couple of places to sit) and just chatted amiably for a little while. I wanted to at least hear a cry from Mia. Just to know she was inside. Even if she was hiding. I went into the laundry room and called and called for her. No Mia. I thought I heard a cry a couple of times. But nothing confirmed.

I wouldn't say I slept much that night. Mom, Brie, and I were pretty restless. Brie, I'm sure, missed her sister. I was miserable thinking Mia was outside and scared out of her mind. I was thinking about how to reconcile myself to never seeing her again. To having only one cat. It was a horrible thought, but I had to be realistic. If Mia had gotten out, to a place she had never been before, there was a real possibility that she would never make it back. Or be killed by a car. Or a raccoon or fox or some other wild animal. And I would never know what happened. Also, all the information online about lost animals said it could take weeks for them to show up again. Well, this wasn't going to be my home anymore after another couple of days. I couldn't sit on the front steps in the middle of the night for a week and hope that Mia showed up.

Sunday morning, we got up early and went over to the house to see if the food had been eaten. Or the litter used. No sign that either had been touched. No crying cat. No Mia anywhere.

We went to the new house and printed up Lost Cat flyers. We posted them around the neighborhood and told everyone who was outside about the lost cat. Then Mom went home, having done all she could do to help me.

I was despondent, but still convinced that the cat was in the house. On Monday, I had an appointment at the new house, and was going to need to take Brie with me as I was changing hotels. So I went to the pet store to get a collar and leash for her, and optimistically, bought one for Mia too. While there, I talked to my animal rescue friends, and they agreed that Mia was probably inside the house somewhere. I heard lots of stories about lost cats showing up inside of homes, having been hidden in the strangest places. I called my real estate agents and told them that, at closing, the new owner may get more than just a house. She might inherit a house with a cat in it too.

Sunday night, I went back to the house and hung out in the living room. Just me and the computer, listening to some music, playing some games, and reading a book. I thought that, if I made noise like I was just hanging out, Mia would come out to see me. After a couple of hours, no Mia. I left.

But I had talked to my niece and had decided that maybe I needed to spend the night there. I went to my niece's house to get an air mattress, pillows, and blankets to camp out on the living room floor.

When I got back to the house, I heard a cry. Crying cat. But it wasn't coming from behind the furnace. It was coming from the kitchen. But we had opened every cabinet door! And then I heard it again. And I moved the fridge. And out came a cat. A very scared cat.

I grabbed her and put her in the carrier. There would be time for kisses later. I wasn't taking any more chances.

I called everyone who had helped with the search. I posted on Facebook to let everyone know Mia had finally come out.

Drama over. Sisters reunited. Lost cat found.