I had this all done yesterday then didn't see it. I guess I never finished it and when I didn't finish it, I didn't submit it and therefore, it wasn't there.
So.
Rocky has taken up residence in the garage. Not a problem, it's quiet out there, only two other kitties stay out there on a regular basis. Gracie Anne (Georgie's sister) and Autumn (or Belle or Honey or whatever she seems to respond to at the moment). He knows the cat door, how to go out, how to come in. And he also knows how to pull the flap toward him when it's set to "in" only. When he does this, he can get out. Uh, yeah. No.
Instead of putting the baby gate an an angle in front of the door, which worked for keeping the resident cats from pulling this stunt, I placed the gate flat against the door at night. Rocky pulled the gate away from the door. And was able to pull the cat door in and get out. Fine. I'll show him. I put a thirty-two pound container of cat litter in front of the baby gate. Ball's in your court, Rocky.
House is quiet, watching television late, sound down, I hear noises in the garage. I go out to check. I'll be damned. I look at him. I look at the container of cat litter that's been pulled out over an inch from the gate. Yeah, he's workin' on it. He wants out.
I do something that really makes him unhappy. I get one of my Scaaats, one of those battery operated things that shoots a blast of air when the sensor is crossed, by cat or shadow. I aim it across the litter container.
I hear nothing for the rest of the night from the garage. The next day, I can't find Rocky. Doing a small search, I find him hiding behind a storage container. Scaat 1, Rocky 0.
I coax him out of his hiding place. I show him he can still go outside, the air monster is gone. He went out when the door was propped open and even then was very, very cautious when he came back in. Air blast is not a fun thing for a kitty. Harmless, but not pleasant. I put the air in place for about a week and then didn't put it there any more. He realized this and tried to get out. Air turned back on.
So, earlier this week I see him out an about during the day inside the house. He actually went out one of the sliding doors when it was held open for him. Okay, this is good. He was hanging out on the cement pad outside of the garage with the other cats on Monday, on the patio yesterday. This is good, the other cats aren't scared of him and no one is challenging him. This is very good.
Last night, I went to bed around eleven. Brian was watching Sin City on cable and I was just really tired (still recuperating from the weekend flareup). I woke up around 12:30 and just couldn't get back to sleep. I started thinking about the Disney shirts I've made that I'm going to try selling in my online store later this summer. After an hour of just laying there, thinking, I got up and went into the family room. Laid down on the loveseat since the sofa was covered in cats. Played Candy Crush until I ran out of lives. Turned off the tablet and tried getting back to sleep.
I think I'd just nodded off when I heard scratching. You know what that's like. You hear a noise that wakes you up and you just lay there, listening, trying to figure out what it is. Was it a cat in the litterbox? Didn't sound like that, it went on too long. It almost sounded like Lorelei when she used to scratch at the screen doors. It went on long enough that I got up to check it out. So did Brian, who had been sleeping in the bedroom.
Rocky! Rocky was at the screen door in the living room, scratching at it trying to get out. I told him "nice try, buddy, but cats do not go out at night, best you learn that" and I shut the patio door. Rocky went back into the garage and I went to bed.
I'm really tired.
(really? they have 
I can cut with my Silhouette? cool!).
