Hallo everybody,
It's already past midday here in Germany. A hot sunny day and I was planning to go outside - scrub out one of the XXL cat litter boxes, take photos of wild flowers (weeds) growing in my small overgrown garden and get some colour on my pasty legs while reading the Book of the Month!
But - one of the cats (Woolly Bear), went missing! I spend far too much time making sure that my 4 cats are safe and sound before I leave the house, go to bed or simply go outside. Why? Well, perhaps I'm simply neurotic.
My cats are kept indoors only and have6 7 hideouts in the living room plus 2 carriers and a tunnel where they sometimes choose to sleep. There are black bucket chairs - camourflage for the 2 black cats, Mogi and Katy, and beige throws and pillows on which, or under which, Woolly Bear can disappear. A bedroom cupboard is always left open just in case one of them desperately wants to get away from the rest, and, of course, rooms with closed doors (laundry, bathrooms, storage rooms) where they can get shut in. I check on Mogi and Katy - since they are senior and handicapped respectively - and Woolly Bear, because she loves to get into any open cupboard, fridge or follows me into the laundry and makes herself comfortable on the machines or in a washing basket.
Today I went to count - Emily was asleep as usual on a dining-room chair, Mogi was lying in the sun next to the window - 2 were missing. I eventually found Katy looking at me with her one eye out of the depths of a hideout on the cat tree. But, Woolly Bear was nowhere to be found.
I looked in the laundry - in the washing machines and driers, in the storage rooms where I had been to get something out of the freezer, on the bookshelves in the small bedroom, in the hall, on the stairs - no Woolly Bear. I opened all the kitchen cupboards, dishwasher ........ nothing! I was then reduced to my final trick - I shook the tin of kibble (which they are only given as a snack before bedtime). I shook it in the living room - no WB and then again in the hall. Finally I bent down to prise the tin open to give Mogi a few pieces. She had at least reacted and needed her reward. No sooner had Mogi got her head down to eat the treats when WB appeared, out of thin air, from direction of the living room.
Question:
Do you regularly spend (waste?) time searching for your cats? It's a habit I would love to rid myself of.
By the way, I'm not talking about emergencies such as searching for injured animals with floodlights after an accident. Just routine checking to make sure all is right with your cats.
Have a nice day!
It's already past midday here in Germany. A hot sunny day and I was planning to go outside - scrub out one of the XXL cat litter boxes, take photos of wild flowers (weeds) growing in my small overgrown garden and get some colour on my pasty legs while reading the Book of the Month!
But - one of the cats (Woolly Bear), went missing! I spend far too much time making sure that my 4 cats are safe and sound before I leave the house, go to bed or simply go outside. Why? Well, perhaps I'm simply neurotic.
My cats are kept indoors only and have
Today I went to count - Emily was asleep as usual on a dining-room chair, Mogi was lying in the sun next to the window - 2 were missing. I eventually found Katy looking at me with her one eye out of the depths of a hideout on the cat tree. But, Woolly Bear was nowhere to be found.
I looked in the laundry - in the washing machines and driers, in the storage rooms where I had been to get something out of the freezer, on the bookshelves in the small bedroom, in the hall, on the stairs - no Woolly Bear. I opened all the kitchen cupboards, dishwasher ........ nothing! I was then reduced to my final trick - I shook the tin of kibble (which they are only given as a snack before bedtime). I shook it in the living room - no WB and then again in the hall. Finally I bent down to prise the tin open to give Mogi a few pieces. She had at least reacted and needed her reward. No sooner had Mogi got her head down to eat the treats when WB appeared, out of thin air, from direction of the living room.
Now that I've searched for her again (I'm truly neurotic) I've had to correct my text - she is here:
Hideout number 7! Did I miss this one out while searching for her the first time?
Hideout number 7! Did I miss this one out while searching for her the first time?
Question:
Do you regularly spend (waste?) time searching for your cats? It's a habit I would love to rid myself of.
By the way, I'm not talking about emergencies such as searching for injured animals with floodlights after an accident. Just routine checking to make sure all is right with your cats.
Have a nice day!