Manic: Waking to muffled meows and knowing that something wasn’t right. Sure enough, our cat was missing!
Managed: Telling the family to work together to search our home to find our missing feline family member.
I’ve got a pet story that I’ve got to share with you, because it is funny, but it also reminds us to pay attention to our pet’s normal routine, beause any changes to that routine may be a sign of trouble.
That is what happened this morning when our orange cat, Stan disappeared in thin air. Thank goodness I didn’t just shrug it off and assume he was off napping somewhere and that he would come out in his own good time, like so many cats do. And this cat does that too, but never first thing in the morning. Never. I paid attention because I knew that this was completely out of character for him…and for his schedule.
Here is the story. This is Stanley:
Stan likes to get up on high things, like the back of this chair...
....or the computer hard drive...
....and he likes to get IN things, like this bathroom sink.
So this morning, when we couldn’t find him, we knew he was either ON or IN something, but we never expected to find him where we did!
Every morning, like clockwork, Stanley gently pats my face to wake me. The only reason I don’t mind this is because he politely waits until the alarm clock is about to go off. I don’t know how his little internal clock knows the time, but every AM at exactly 6:25 am, five minutes before our set alarm time, he rouses me with his little white paw.
So, as expected, I woke to the pitter pat of little paws at 6:25 am, but since I didn’t have to be up as early today, I rolled over to avoid his pats. And back to sleep I went.
But then, ten minutes later, I woke to the muffled sounds of his meows. He didn’t sound distressed, but I figured he was stuck somewhere in our bedroom. I also figured that he would find his way out, the second I shook the cat food bag.
This is one cat who never misses that first morning feeding, no matter what. He races the other cat down the stairs and won’t stop meowing at me until I’ve poured his food. When I detour for coffee or to get the paper, he hounds me, like a bee on honey!
So, I shook the bag, but no Stanley. Now I was worried.
The entire family woke and joined the search. We called his name and shook the cat food and this time we didn’t hear any sounds. Now I was starting to panic a little.
I reemphasized to my anxious family that I was certain that I heard the earlier feline cries from my bedroom/office area. So we all stood there quietly for a few minutes. Then we could once again hear his little muffled meows. I was thankful that he didn’t sound distressed, but where the heck was he?
It was a game of hot and cold. The closer we got to his mystery whereabouts, the clearer we could hear him, but no sign of him anywhere.
At this point, my husband was certain that he had somehow gotten into the wall by the sound of his meows. It sounded like there was a wall between us and our beloved cat! Then my teenage son hushed all of us and said that he could hear him purring, of all things!
So we all crowded around my dresser with our ears to the wall. Something told me to open up my dresser drawers. Sure enough, right there on top of my folded pajamas in my top drawer, was Stanley! As we opened the drawer, he laid on my clothes looking very happy to see us!
I didn’t think to take a picture for this post at the time, because I was so relieved that he was OK, so you will just have to envision it! I don’t dare put him back in the drawer to pose for a picture, because I don’t want him thinking that the drawer is an OK place for him to lounge.
How he got the drawer open, crawled inside and then shut himself in there, is a bit of a mystery to us. But lesson learned, because I know his routine and I pay attention, I knew not to leave for church thinking that he would appear later. Not that cat and not that time of the day. In the morning, he is stuck to me like glue, waiting for me to make my way down the stairs to feed him his favorite cat food.
And very interesting, on this morning, after we found him in the closed drawer, he didn’t rush to his food, like I expected him to do. Instead, he purred and wanted all four of us to hold him, pet him, and I think reassure him, that we weren’t going to leave him in that drawer.
He did finally eat later, but he also knew that his routine had been interrupted by an unplanned journey into a closed dresser drawer. He needed to be reassured that his world was normal again, that his people were present and purring right along with him, that he’d been found!
Then after all of the human/feline affection exchange was done, he slowly (not his usual sprint to the food dish) made his way to eat. Crazy cat…that we love and adore so much!
How does the saying go? Curisoity killed the cat, but they have nine lives?!
What ever the case, know your pets routine and pay attention when they deviate from their daily schedule, because this cat mom was right when I told my family this morning, “stop what you’re doing and help me find Stan, because something isn’t right.”
I can tell you that Stanley was a very grateful kitty when that drawer opened and he peeked out to see his entire family there to rescue him!
….Well, almost the entire family. His cat brother, Tucker, was busy downstairs helping himself to Stan’s food, since it hadn’t been claimed!
