I'm losing control. And the problem with that is I'm really not all that upset about it. The little rascal, shown here "sunning" herself in my warm clothes dryer, is taking over the house. The problem is that I'm letting her. It really doesn't bother me that much but it is a serious problem for the adult male species that shares the house with us.Last night as I peeked my head out the sliding glass door to say goodbye to John as he was leaving for an EMT class, Bobcat skitted past my legs and hauled butt outside. She has always been obsessed with going outside, but since we live on such a busy road, we've forced her to be an indoor cat. I realize this is not natural, but our neighbors have been through about seven cats to our one, so being the doting grandmother that I am to this one, I have become very protective. Her favorite escape place is under our front porch. It is the type that has a 3-foot crawl space under it, so there is just enough room for an adult to squeeze under, but not enough room to navigate without banging body parts all over the place.
Picture last night for instance--it is 30 degrees outside, it is pitch dark, the cat has escaped from the house and is prowling under our front porch. A sane person would wait inside until the cat decided it was too chilly and begged to be let back in. Apparently when it comes to this cat, I am not sane. I sent my 8-year-old daughter out with a favorite cat toy to entice Bobcat back into the house. Caroline had no luck and since she was starting to fret about Bobcat spending the night outside, I joined her in the mission of rescue. Under the porch I go, flashlight in hand, whacking my head all the way. Dizzy from all the head-banging, I saw glowing green eyeballs dart past me as Bobcat realized I was about to catch her. My snatch at the tail missed and I hollered for Caroline to head her off at the end of the porch. Bobcat darted through the stairs, got on the porch and back under at the other end, all within about 15 seconds. My second pass at trying to catch her elicited a whiny meow from her, as she gets very annoyed whenever she isn't in charge.
Luckily, I caught on after 10 minutes or so and told Caroline to stand watch at the door. Bobcat likes being in control of her own agenda and I was hoping she would choose to re-enter the house. As luck would have it, the fourth time I chased her back on to the porch, she went to the door where Caroline was not. Caroline was able to sneak in the front door and head over to the sliding door where Bobcat sat waiting with a look that said "what's the matter with ya'll? I've been waiting to get in. But you'll have to wait for crazy woman. She's still hanging out under the front porch. I don't think she's cold yet."
Luckily this will work out great for Caroline who announced yesterday after school that she and Tiana (in Caroline's 3rd grade class) were going into business together when they are grown. Caroline has been aspiring to be a veterinarian and Tiana has decided to open a pet shelter. She has agreed to hire Caroline as the vet for the shelter, so Caroline already has chalked up her first experience at cat rescue. Fortunately, I've had a bit more experience with Bobcat, although this was the first winter rescue we've done so far.
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- Debbie Stewart