At first he would just sit by the window, pawing at it and crying. Then he would lay by the door, in the same fashion. With nice summer air outside, we started leaving our door open and he would lay in the doorway - but if anything stirred or startled him, he would book it inside. Laying in the doorway turned in to laying on the porch, which turned into the bushes, which turned into the lawn, which turned into a mystery. He would leave and then come back in an hour's time (sometimes longer), but he would always come home before too long. One early early morning, a few days ago, Puppy had an upset stomach, so I let him out around 4AM. Kitty followed. And left. And didn't come back.
Once 24 hours hit, we began to really worry (I say really worry because we were normal worried after one night). We reported him to the 24 hour pet watch, since he has a registered microchip, we created Craigslist ads, posted it on facebook, and looked around our neighborhood. Oh, and prayed. A LOT.
After 2 days, I made some "Lost Kitty" posters and Ben and I made a plan to put them up after work. My whole drive home I spent praying that he would come home tonight. I got home at 11PM and as soon as I walked in the door, I told Ben excitedly, "He's coming home tonight! I just KNOW it!". We set out with Puppy (off-leash... yay training!), a hammer, nails, flashlight, duct-tape, and high hopes. Every time we nailed up a poster, we looked around, called his name, and made kiss noises. 18 posters down and 2 more to go. About 6 blocks away from our block (across from a high traffic road), while Ben was nailing in one of our last posters, we heard a soft "meow". We looked at each other with wide eyes (PS. it is now 1:30 in the morning). I don't know what Ben was thinking, but I recognized that meow. I turned Puppy watch over to Ben and took off across the street with the flashlight. When Kitty is scared, he meows constantly. Meow. meow. meow. meow. I used that as a tracking beacon and found him. It was him. It was HIM! I called over to Ben to triangulate around the other side of the house. He ran over just as Kitty jumped over a high fence into a back yard. Lucky for us, the house was vacant (for rent) and the backyard fence was unlocked.
They had a big patio, about 6 inches off the ground, with only 2 exits. After Ben rushed home to swap Puppy for Kitty's food dish, we spend the next HOUR in that small back yard trying to coax him out. Meowing constantly, he did come out slightly twice, but as soon as we moved... at all... he would freak out, and terrified, run back under the deck. Tired of being freezing, laying in the mud, still having homework to do and after saying many prayers, we turned up the aggression. We tried the gentle "come her kitty... kiss kiss kiss" and now it was time to bring him home. We knew he wanted to, and was hungry, but after 3 days on his own, was scared half to death. We used flower pots and boxes in the back yard to close off one of the two exits. I hunched down over the 2nd exit and Ben turned on the hose. With in about 5 min, he crept out, I death griped the scruff of his neck and he was caught. We carefully loaded him in the car, and as soon as he stepped into the warm house (after scarfing down LOTS of food), he was back to normal, cuddly and happy as ever. Where he was and the level of terror he felt - I have little confidence he would have found his way home on his own.
Thank you to all those who prayed for his return, who sent us their best wishes, and for encouraging phone calls. We love you all and are glad our family is back together.
Sorry Kitty, but that was your LAST outside adventure. Hope it was a good one.
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