In The Wind...

Cat McCannon

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At the end of the month, we're driving Serenity (our motorhome) to Moab to take a family rafting trip on the Colorado River. Rather than leave Belle home alone for three days, we plan to take her with us. I bought a Kitty Holster harness & leash in bright green with reflective stripes. We've also got a cat carrier.

To get Belle ready for the trip, I've been getting her familiar with the carrier & harness and have been taking her out to spend time in Serenity. We've kept her indoors since we took her in and don't let her out. After harnessing her up a few times indoors, I took her outside to see how she'd do. I carried her down to the corrals to meet the horses and cattle, then to see the free ranging chickens & rabbits. She was on high alert but calm.

I took her back to the yard and set her down in the grass. She nibbled a couple of blades, then bolted through the open back door and into the house. I let her wander around the house a bit, then took her outside again. She again ran inside the house. I thought this was going well, so I took her outside for one last trial run. This time she bolted faster than I could follow, hit the end of the leash and twisted around and backed out of the harness before I could reel her in. She didn't run back into the house, but around the side, over the unmown grass in long, graceful leaps. I sat watching, thinking how beautiful and graceful she looked as she moved. She bounded around the front of the house and was gone.

I went to find her. She'd tried to get under the motorhome earlier that day and I hoped she'd taken shelter there. No such luck. Belle was in the wind. I grabbed a flashlight, her favorite wand toy and a bag of treats and combed the area for her. The property is on a farm with sheds, low barns, drainage pipes, thickets, old cars, abandoned threshers and a million other dark places for a cat to hide- or get trapped in. There are also foxes, coyotes, hawks and owls.

I printed up a bunch of flyers ("LOST CAT!! WE LOVE HER AND MISS HER!!! REWARD!!!!) and knocked on all the doors in the ritzy neighborhood across the street. (It's amazing how many homes there have the exact same doorbell ringtone! It's almost Stepford creepy.) It wasn't before the neighborhood kids were zooming about on bicycles & scooters clutching "LOST CAT" flyers in their hot little hands.

I left the doors to the house open in case Belle returned while I searched the farm. I searched brushpiles, outbuildings, ditches, gullies, the open fields, old cars, the chicken coop- I even went down to the pond to see if she was there. Nothing. No, I wasn't crying. My eyes were streaming tears because of all the pollen I kicked up tramping through the grasses, weeds, flowers & hay barn. Don't give me that look. It was allergies.

"Don't worry," the landlord said. "I'm sure she's still on the farm. She was out here for two months before getting trapped." Last summer, he put out a live trap because feral cats were after his chickens & rabbits. We took Belle in when she was caught.

When SWAMBO got home from work, I had to tell her I lost Belle. She wasn't happy, but instead of giving me the cussing I deserved and boxing my ears, she grabbed her flashlight and helped me search. We searched until sundown, then reluctantly went inside to eat. Well, I tried to eat.

After dinner, I went out & searched again. I walked the farm, searching until the flashlight dimmed, then swapped it for one in the charger. I swept the house each time to see if she snuck in while I was away, then went out to search again.

Once, I caught the glow of her eyes far across a field, hiding near the abandoned thresher. But she was gone before I could get to her. Too exhausted to search further, I set out plates of her favorite food that would lead her to the back door, which we left open for her and went to bed. It was almost 3 in the morning. As tired as I was, it seemed like a long time before I fell into a fitful asleep. I had strange dreams about facing execution in the temple of a bizarre cult somewhere deep in Asia. Just as the cultists were going to cut the tops of our skulls off, my wife shook me awake. It was 4:55 am. I'd only gotten a couple hours of sleep and I was groggy and the dream slow to fade. It took me a moment to figure out what my wife was telling me.

"Belle just came back! I gave her some food and she's in the kitchen eating."

I bolted from bed and had to force myself to not run to the kitchen. I was worried she'd still be frightened and skittish after a night of evading cunning foxes, marauding coyotes and silent as death owls. That was the worst- imagining an owl swooping down to carry Belle off, her lifeless body in its cruel talons.

I carefully peaked around the doorway. There was Belle, calmly eating at her dish as if nothing had happened.



Except when she was done eating, she demanded to be petted, something she rarely does and demanded to be petted for much longer than usual. I was happy to accommodate her and her scolding was affectionate.

I shouldn't have worried, I guess. She came back five minutes before my alarm was set to go off, knowing I'd soon wake up to fix her breakfast.

Damn cat!
 

abyeb

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I’m so glad to hear that Belle got back safely! I can’t even imagine how scary that situation must have been.

She is a very pretty cat, by the way. :lovecat2:
 

rubysmama

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I was worried as I was reading, but relieved when I got to the part that Belle was safe and sound.

However, the ordeal makes me think it might be wise to leave Belle home for the 3 days you're on your trip. Is there a family member, friend, or neighbour who could check on her / feed her while you're gone. With the speed and ease with how she escaped the harness, it could be catastrophic if the same thing happened far from home.
 
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Cat McCannon

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There will be no family to leave her with. They'll be going on the trip as well. If we take her, she'll only go out of the motorhome in her carrier. If I can afford it, I'll get one of those cat backpacks.
 

rubysmama

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I'm a worrier, so I'll just say, please make sure everyone knows to be extra careful when opening doors to the motorhome that your beautiful Belle doesn't somehow manage to sneak out. And, of course, have a good trip.
 

susanm9006

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Really, the safest place for her is home, If you are only gone three or four days you can use a timer feeder and leave her at home. I used to have to travel some workdays and I would just set out a huge bowl of kibble and two bowls of water the the cats did fine. A video cam would also let you see her.
 
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Cat McCannon

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She is a very pretty cat, by the way. :lovecat2:
Thank you. Belle is the most beautiful cat I've ever seen. However, I've been told I'm biased.
 
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Caspers Human

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Go ahead and take her on your trip if you like but I really, really, really suggest getting her microchipped if she isn't, already.

If she gets lost, through no fault of your own, if she is found and she has a microchip, the authorities can arrange for you to be contacted so you can come pick her up. If she has no chip, she goes to a shelter in hopes that her owner will call. But how do you know which shelter to call or whether she was even picked up? Without a chip, it's a crap shoot.

Every vet, animal shelter and animal control department in the United States is supposed to have a chip scanner and they are required to scan every "unknown" animal in case they have a microchip.

Also, if you subscribe to a service from a pet locating company, part of that service often includes paying for part or all of the cost to transport her home again.

Casper is a 100% indoor cat and, even though he's been outdoors for less than fifteen minutes of total time since we adopted him, we STILL have him microchipped. Plus, every other year, when Casper goes to get his rabies shots, the vet checks to be sure his chip is still working.

If Casper ever escapes, gets lost or is stolen, his chip will help make sure he comes back to us.
 

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Wow! That was a great read! For such a short trip, I would seriously consider leaving Belle at home since others will be with you & the chances of inadvertent escape will be much higher. Besides, if unforseen delays happen while you are away having adventure, Belle won't be locked up in a hot RV nor engaged in an activity that might not be to her liking. I definitely would want her microchipped. Before making the big decision, I would get the backpack and try her out in it, first around the farm (sounds like a wonderful place!) and then in other settings nearby, like family parks as well as short hikes. If she is too stressed, she might develop health issues but then, again, she might be an adventure cat inside. It sounds like she did enjoy her night of viking ;)
 
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Cat McCannon

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Belle was microchipped her first visit to the vet and her chip registered. I've had experience with a door dasher in the past. Belle isn't a door dasher, but we wanted her chipped and tagged just in case. So far, we haven't been able to keep a collar on her for more than a day or two.

My cousin lost her cat for two weeks and it was found two cities over. The only reason she got her cat back is because the people who found it checked for a microchip.

Yesterday, I took Belle for a short ride in the motorhome to the gas station. She climbed up on the dash and watched the world go by through the huge windscreen. She didn't yowl or run all over the place or just hide, but she wasn't completely comfortable with it yet. We're going set up her homebase in the RV and spend a couple of nights this weekend with her to see how she does.
 
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zoes

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That was a rollercoaster of a read! Glad she made it home safe and sound :)

But, I would echo the rest and encourage you to leave her home. Maybe one of the older kids from the ritzy neighbourhood could come by and love her and check up on her while you're away? It's one thing for a cat to take off near the home they're accustomed to, but if she did that while in a completely foreign area, I'm worried you might never find her. She might also prefer to stay home; most housecats are not terribly adventurous and are more comfortable on their own turf, even if they're alone for a few days.
 
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Cat McCannon

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The weekend before the trip, the wife and I stayed in the motorhome with Belle to see how she'd do and to give Serenity a shakedown. We loaded her condo, ripple rug, litterbox and other items to set up basecamp for her. Of course, the motorhome isn't as large as our home, even with the slide out opened. The wife and I lived in it for almost two years and found it quite cozy. But that was without a cat.

Belle did fine. Until about 4:30 the first morning when she commenced meowing and drove my wife crazy. I fed Belle breakfast whereupon she fell silent long enough to eat. I played with her and she settled down a bit, but started meowing again when I stopped. She kept it up until I opened the blinds so she could see out the windows. I thought the big windscreen up front would be enough. Nope. She wanted to be able to look out the side windows as well.

The next night, she did much better. She still wanted breakfast at her usual time of 5 am and meowed when I wanted to sleep in- it was the weekend after all. But after a little play and some breakfast, she was quiet except for the occasional trill while moving restlessly from window to window.

Overall, Belle did fine. The more time she spent in the motorhome, the more settled she became. There were no litterbox issues. She ate her food with all her usual gusto. However, there was one hitch. Weather reports showed temps in Moab to be in the mid 80s and the RV spot we reserved had no shade and the air conditioner had become balky. We were going to be gone for most of the day Saturday and the RV was going to be warm inside. Leaving the windows open wasn't an option because it would have been only too easy for Belle to claw her way through a screen. It was time to consider boarding Belle for the weekend.

An online search showed there was a boarding house in a nearby town with great reviews. Boarding a cat was $20 a night. I had reservations about trusting our cat to the care of a stranger, but it was that or cancel the trip. The boarding house recommended bringing scent items to help the cat settle in more comfortably, which helped ease my mind. I made a reservation.

Come Friday morning, we packed up Belle in the Jeep along with a few items. Things like her Ripple Rug, toys, food, treats, Cat Condo, litterbox, litter, the pillow case I'd been sleeping on stuffed with my shirts that needed laundering- After the fourth or fifth trip carrying stuff out to the Jeep, my wife stopped me and said "There's no more room."

"Nonsense!" I responded. "I'll tie it down to the roof."

"It's just for three nights."

"Belle will get bored if we don't bring enough toys."

"Two cat wands, four red mice, two blue, a red crawfish, three kick bags, a spinner toy with built in scratchpad and a half dozen pairs of earplugs she stole out of your work bag. That's more than enough."

Still, I was worried about leaving Belle at a boarding house. I told my wife "I'll stay with Belle in Serenity and you go on the river trip." She gave me That Look. I sighed. We drove Belle to the boarding house.

The girl at the desk was pretty and nice. We got the paperwork filled out with instructions about feeding, play, Belle's little quirks, contact numbers and so on and I went out to the parking lot to unload the Jeep. As I dragged everything into the lobby, it started to sink in just how much cat gear I brought along. I looked at the girl at the desk, wondering if she thought I was one of those obsessed cat dads. "Is there going to be enough room for it all?"

She waved a hand. "It will all make Belle's stay more comfortable. There's plenty of room."

I knew then Belle was in good hands.

Monday morning after the trip, my wife picked up Belle while I bombarded her with a flurry of texts from work.

How's Belle??

Good. Very lovey-lovey.
Then she ignored the rest of my questions until I got home from work.

Belle was none the worse for her experience. She didn't cry and had no problem leaving her cage to explore the common area. Normally Belle is skittish around strangers but was friendly with the staff. When I got home, Belle was waiting for me at the door. My wife told me Belle started meowing for me when she heard my Jeep pull up but stopped before I opened the door. Of course, Belle demanded to be petted as soon as I walked in but had to wait until I kissed my wife.
 

rubysmama

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I'll be honest, I'm glad Belle spent her weekend vacation at the boarding house, rather than accompanying her humans on the river trip. And it sounds like you found a great place, that truly cared about the cats, and I'm sure Belle had a good weekend. Hope the humans enjoyed their weekend as well.
 
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Cat McCannon

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If Belle had gone to Moab with us, we would NOT have taken her on the river trip. She would have stayed in the motorhome at the RV park.
 
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