TONIGHT I AM GRATEFUL FOR A COMMUNITY OF NEIGHBOURS

Yesterday I made a very big mistake. I had the plumber in to replace a pipe, and accidentally let our playful, athletic, contrarian two year old cat run out the front door. I followed her cautiously, because she likes to run away, and hoped for a squirrel to attract her attention, but she just kept crossing lawns. I thought she would circle back, and indeed she did only to move further than I had ever seen her go, and I thought I'd best let her circle back again. Unfortunately, by the time the plumber left, I saw no sign of her. I was still hoping right up until I had to pick up my daughter from the bus. She was no where to be found, and I had to break the news that her precious kitty was on the loose, and she went through all the emotions you would expect a kid going through loss would exhibit. We talked about hope and how she was likely hiding from us. We called around the neighbourhood before supper and ran doorbells looking for anyone who had seen her, but no one had. So we went to bed with heavy hearts.

This morning, she was feeling understandable sad when she went to school. My other cat seemed unbothered by her absence, but I was careful to keep a close eye that she too didn't escape!

In the interim, I called public security, because that's how a neighbour had found her dog, but they don't worry about cats in this neck of the woods. I found out that a local SPCA posts lost animals on Facebook and messaged them. I also found a site that is called petluck.ca and had a helpful email exchange there after being able to search the neighbourhood for any found cats (none were calico). In the meantime, a very useful article on how to get your cat back buoyed my enthusiasm. The gist of it is that food water and litter should be put out, and that after dark, you call your cat at the neighbourhood's quietest moment every night until they come home.

So while my daughter was at school, I  made posters, and put food and water out. When school was over, we taped posters all over the neighbourhood, asking anyone we saw whether or not they had seen a Calico cat. We were home printing out more when our neighbour rang our doorbell breathless, saying they had our cat! Elation was the first word that comes to mind!

Our neighbour heard a meow from a big evergreen tree on a visit to other neighbour's, and,  sure enough, this silly kitten had climbed up above the rooftops, and was making her way precariously to the smallest part of the branch. Two neighbours were already at the foot of the tree, tracking her progress. Another brought a ladder, while the neighbour who found her returned with a harness and gear to rope around the tree, and a backpack to catch her in. We had brought treats, and we camped out below with a blanket and plans for a fireman's catch if she ever fell. It took quite a while to convince her not to climb further out or up, and even more time to climb into the backpack full of treats, but she did it. She was lowered down, zippered in and writhing. By the time we caught her in the air (the backpack was being lowered by a rope ), she was sending off all sorts of musky warning signals and she sounded angry! I thought a shot with the hero was due, but it became clear that going home, and letting the cat out of the bag was the best course of action!

My daughter and I were so energized we went around to collect the posters, and were surprised to find that already many people had taken the number, presumably to call in case they saw her! As we rounded the corner home, we were met by friends who were out walking in search of her too!

At home, she was calm and smelled amazing, like a pine tree! She has a little sap in her fur and dirt in her paws, but she already found a soft place to curl up to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Home sweet home! Sweet dreams Calico! Sweet dreams angel girl!

In jeopardy

Neighbourhood hero