A Huge Ordeal

That's what I've been dealing with since Monday night. A quick rundown of the events...Monday I came home from the gym, let the animals outside, talked with Chris, let the animals inside, went to the grocery store and came home. At this point I was going to start making dinner because it was already pretty late but Hawkins was dying for more play time outside. It was still light outside so I let him out and started dinner. It was almost dark so I decided to call him in and he didn't come. This isn't much of a surprise really, sometimes I have to call him a few times and shake his treat container for him to come. But still, nothing. Sometimes he can be really stubborn so I decided to just go inside and wait a little while and try again. He also comes to the door and scratches by himself, so I still wasn't too worried.

Hawkins at the door a few weeks ago. Please excuse my dirty glass door, the animals are constantly getting it dirty and I've pretty much given up.But he still didn't come home, it was getting pretty late and he'd never spent a night outside. I decided to nap on the couch for a while, waiting for him to scratch at the door, but still nothing. I slept on the couch all night long and that morning when he still hadn't come home, I really started to worry. So much in fact that I skipped work that day, worked from home as best I could, and spent the majority of the day doing my rounds of the neighborhood on either my bike or in my car. Later in the afternoon I even made some signs (really crappy looking ones b/c we don't have a printer at home) and hung them up around the neighborhood.

After a second night on the couch, I decided that I had to go to work yesterday. As much as I could barely force myself away from the house, I decided to put food and water out and just hope for the best. My dad came to check the backyard around noon and still nothing, so after work I headed home for another round, this time set with color posters. Oh, and I had to tell Chris that night. He had been out training on some boats and was incommunicado so he had no idea what was going on. It broke my heart to tell him that his cat was missing, this cat is as close to a child as he's ever known. But I refused to give up the entire time and once again last night after my usual rounds I camped out on the couch for the third night. I'm sure some people think I'm crazy for the couch, but it's right by the back door and I wanted to guarantee I could hear him. I am an incredibly sound sleeper, so I needed all the help I could get! At about 3am I woke up and looked outside and noticed that the food bowl I'd put on the table was moved. I got up and saw that the food bowl was empty. I couldn't get myself too excited because the food could have easily been consumed by another cat or bird. I looked outside, didn't see anything, and went back to the couch.

All of sudden I was woken up to the sounds of scratching at my door! I bolted off the couch and saw our precious kitty at the door, standing on his hind legs and scratching with the front two. I literally ran to the door, slipped on the tile and fell right on my left elbow (that story is for another post) and let him inside. I couldn't believe that he had come back, after more than 52 hours of being gone. He still had his collar on, was totally unharmed, and pretty much acted like nothing ever happened. I of course was sooo relieved. Apparently our little guy was pretty tired from his adventure because he crawled in his bed for a little bit of sleep.

I really wish he could tell me where he'd been all that time, but I'm just glad to have him back safe and sound. I think he'll be staying inside for the next few days, or at least under some close supervision in the backyard!