Well, today got off to a great start. I woke up around four this morning and got up and opened the door so the cats could get out. I noticed the back door was already open. Great. We had our utility company out last month to do free energy saving stuff, like new light bulbs, and one of the things he did was to add weatherstripping around the doors to the outside. This has caused a problem with the back door staying closed, unless it's slammed shut. Which obviously wasn't done last night. So, it was open this morning.
I go back to bed, doze off, when I hear the startings of a cat fight. I get out of bed, throw on a teeshirt, grab a flashlight and go outside. It was Ronnie and Pancho up on the bank. Pancho was on the doghouse and Ronnie was stalking him. I yelled at Ronnie to knock it off, he took off and Pancho ran behind Brian's workshop. I go back there to let him know everything's okay and he runs from me. This is strange. I try a few more times and he runs. I'm not liking this.
Then it dawns on me. Remember from years ago the cat Notwally? A cat who I thought was Wally, but was not? We have a Notpancho. Great.
I go back inside, tell Brian we have a Notpancho and he said "oh, great", gets out of bed. I went back into the yard and made a decision. I came back in and said "not right now. We'll wait until the sun is up". Because coyotes. (Have I ever mentioned how much I hate coyotes? I'm sure I have. Once or twice.) I leave the sliding door open and don't hear anymore fighting from the back.
We got up a little after six, Brian got the trash out (Tuesday trash day!) and got all of the cats in, blocking the doors, so even the tricky Rocky can't leave. Since the doors from the house that open to the backyard were either blocked by cats or something else, I went out front to walk around the side (I'd grabbed some treats for Notpancho, who was hiding under the pool pump). Brian was waiting for me to come back outside so he hadn't opened the gates.
I had to go back inside and tell him what the plan was. He hurried over to one of the gates and opened that up. I went into the back and waited until the other gate was wide open and walked back to the pool pump. I got down on my hands and knees and tossed a treat to Notpancho. He moved, then, as I was getting another treat, he ran to the right of me, and out to the pool. I guess he ran up the stairs to the yard and behind the shop. Brian told me where he was so I walked back there and before I'd reached the fence, Brian yelled "he's gone!".
Out the gate, up the bank and up the street. Safe and sound.
We opened up the house and let the cats out. Spot was one of the first to the back, doing a lot of sniffing. I'm sure whoever gets under the pool pump will enjoy the treats.
I don't think this was a feral cat. He looked way too clean. I wish people would keep their cats in. At least from sundown to sunup. It's a whole lot safer for them.
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