Monday, April 23, 2007

Gandalf's Big Adventure

"Me sorry, Mom..."
Oh. My. Stars.
I leave from my backdoor nearly everytime I leave the apartment, and come in from the front when I come home. And everytime, Gandalf plays a game - runs to the door, and won't let me leave until I rub his belly.
Only today, he slipped out. And I didn't notice.
Until I came home.
"Where's your brother?" - Me
"I dunno..." - Atticus
"What, he's not here?" - Mae
I looked everywhere in the apartment - under the bed, in the bathroom, the closets, even the fridge - he was nowhere to be found. But I did hear a faint little "meow..." coming from somewhere. Outside.

I looked out, and there he was, huddled under a little table on the deck. In a wet little ball.
For the first time in my life, I think my heart stopped beating. He was outside all. day. Alone. And we had a thunderstorm earlier.
I feel AWFUL. Poor little guy! :( But, he's fine. Hungry, and pretty much back to normal. He doesn't seem to have been affected by his little adventure, although I don't think I've recovered yet.
My mind hasn't stopped racing about what could have happened. My neighbour's dog...the raccoons...other cats...cars...non-cat people...
I need a stiff drink.

16 comments:

Cynthia said...

Thank goodness you got him back! That's enough adventure for a lifetime.

I'm always worried about Emy getting out. Even though she was a feral cat originally, it's been over 2 years since she's been outside. Since she's so timid, I'd be afraid that she'd be too scared to let me know where she was out there.

Gandalf, don't go scaring Mommy like that!

Lorraine said...

Bridge- Chow has done that too- I'd be devastated if something happened to him.
Gandalf is a tough little critter, but you'll have to read him the riot act.

Lucky he was okay. Maybe he'll think twice about going outside next time.

Anonymous said...

Gandalf! Bad kitty, scaring your mummy like that! Poor baby though, out in the cold. No sneaking outside! Boy cats.

Scary, isn't it? I hate Hez being out and she's barely been an indoor cat again for a year.

Anonymous said...

I dunno. I think he's got more of a 'gosh I'm sleepy from all that excitement. Wonder when I'll be able to do it again' than a 'me sorry' look about him...

Nicole said...

Ack! What a thing to come home to! And yet, I suppose it's better to have been unaware than to have known (somehow) that he was out and that he would have to stay out until you got back home. Yikes.

Gandalf, I think that maybe that's not the best game to play. You scare your mommy too much with that game. (And don't go giving my Suzy any ideas!)

~Nicole

Chris said...

Yikes!!! I am SO glad that he stayed close.

I feel faint just reading this, and he's not my kitty!!

Brenda said...

I'm so glad Gandalf is OK! Maybe he'll be scared to go out again. Has he been micro-chipped? My sister-in-law, a vet, highly recommends that for naughty kitties.

Gandalf, there's nothing outside you need to see! Try to follow Mae's and Atticus' example.

Anonymous said...

Bad Kitty! I wonder if he had any adventures while outside?

One night my Caelee, got out somehow when my hubby left for an evening out. I didn't notice until it was time for the before bed treats -- our other cat Muffin came to the rattle of the bag, but Caelee didn't. I opened the front door and noticed the cat paw tracks in the snow -- I rattled the bag and in she came!

When hubby came home he said "You should see all of the prints out there -- right down to the road and back, all around the front porch, everywhere!" He was surprised when I told him it was our escaping Caelee cat -- she's never done it since! Thank goodness!

Hope you enjoyed your drink LOL!

BTW, I don't know if I'll ever do anything in Mosaic knitting, but it was fun to give it a try -- I think it would be ok in a larger gauge -- but in Spindrift? I don't think so!

Victoria said...

oh my word i would have had a cow...one of my kitties got out of the apartment and then hid under the building...and the bf had to crawl into the crawl-space to get her......i about lost it....and then my doggy ran out and ran out into a busy street and i almost had a heart attack...i know how you feel!

Marina said...

Naughty, naughty Gandalf! You shouldn't scare your mother like that. A little different wasn't it?

But you should leave it to us inside/outside cats!

Belly rub to you,

Orange Pennsyl-vania

Anonymous said...

Poor Gandalf! Poor YOU! Glad he is okay. I'd die if Meems did something like that.

AnneB said...

Horrors! I ran downstairs and snatched Miss Boots the Cat out of her quilt lined basket in the sun and gave her a huge hug. We live in the woods in Maine and have owls, coyotes, fishers, loose dogs, etc. Our four adoptees from the shelter didn't ever go out. We're down to just Miss Boots (old age on the rest). her excitement for the day is the 8-9 red squirrels who come to the bird feeders. Glad it worked out okay.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh - poor little boy! I'm so glad that you got him back and that he's fine!

Anonymous said...

Awwwww, poor baby. He's quite the adventurer, isn't he the one that went for the ride down the stairs with you too?

Anonymous said...

Poor you. I know the feeling. So good you got him back.

Anonymous said...

Nothing makes the heart stop faster than realizing they are not where they are supposed to be. Charlie escaped about two years ago, and was missing for 24 hours, and it was the worst day of my entire life. We found him under the porch and perhaps he'd been there overnight, but I didn't know that...I thought that he'd gone out to the road or the woods and I was a sobbing mess. Especially since he has to have daily medicine. So please know I know *exactly* how you feel and you have my complete sympathies!!