You know what I’m talking about. When a cat goes missing and you know they’re around somewhere? Yet they aren’t in any of the normal hiding spots?
We’ve had record heat here. I’ve been shutting up the house in the morning before it gets real hot outside, to keep it cool. A couple of days, I even ran the air conditioner.
Saturday was miserable. It didn’t cool off until late, late into the evening. I usually open up the house when the sun goes behind the hill, because it cools considerably once there’s no sun. Saturday wasn’t like that. There was only a small window when I opened the house up to get the cats in. Almost all the cats were in, a few remained outside. Unfortunately, one of those cats was Little Bit.
I tried to get her in, corralling her if you will, but it didn’t work. Brian stood guard at the door, and bless his heart, he’s good at opening the door to let a cat run in, but he doesn’t have the knack of not letting cats out. Twice he opened the door and twice Little Bit avoided the door and each time a cat got out. I finally said “the hell with it, she can stay outside”. And I got the remaining cats in for the night.
I saw her early yesterday morning. I don’t remember if it was when I opened the doors to let the cats out or later. But I do remember seeing her and I do remember opening all the doors earlier than usual and I do remember going back to bed. I don’t remember seeing her the rest of the day.
Of course, it was a hot day, the house was closed up. But mid-afternoon I started to look for her with no luck. Brian had left early for the property (to change out the pump on the windmill) and when he called around 7:30, I told him I couldn’t find her.
Now, I was 99.5% sure she was still in the yard or in the house. I was worried, but I wasn’t scared, if you can understand the difference. I wasn’t in panic mode, I just wanted to get a visual of her. But Little Bit is called Little Bit because she’s so, well, little. And she can be places and climb places that the other cats can’t because she’s so small and lightweight. I’ve seen her in trees that the other cats have no chance of climbing. She could fit through the openings on the original fence modification. She’s just a tiny cat.
I left the door open for her. And the other cats took advantage of this, they liked being outside in the cool night air. Not something they usually get to do.
Brian got home and he went outside and looked around. I said “it’s your opinion she’s still here? She didn’t leave?” and he said “she’s stil here someplace, you know how cats are, one minute they’re there, the next minute they’re gone. She’s just got a new hiding place.”
I kept going out with the flashlight and looked in the places I’d already looked. Finally, around 12:30 this morning, I saw her. She went into the doghouse on the bank. I came inside and laid on the sofa, dozed off for about fifteen minutes, then went back outside. I climbed up on the bank and looked in the doghouse. No Little Bit. Came in the house and she was inside. So, I got the other cats in and finally went to bed at one this morning.
I got up around five, opened the doors to let the cats out, then went back to bed.
And now, I can’t find Little Bit.