The Domino Effect

If it's not one thing, it's another...

Friday, some guys came over to the house to replace our bathroom floor and do some stuff to our shower. They got there around ten am with a key they picked up from the realtor we rent from. They were there all day and didn't leave until sometime after five. As soon as they were gone, Mike and I got ready to head over to my parent's house for game night with some family members and pizza. We didn't end up getting home until almost two. Usually when I come home after being gone for so long, both of the animals, Zoe and Mable, greet me. After being home for about twenty minutes, Mable was nowhere to be found.

I went around to her usual hiding places (in the windows, under beds, under couches) and she wasn't there. Mike and I searched the entire house room by room, ruling each one out. She was nowhere to be found. We then went looking outside for about an hour and a half trying to find her. We called her name, brought her toys that make noise, and even left out food. Nothing.

We had a lot going on Saturday for the wedding and needed to get to sleep, so around 4:30, we finally turned in.

Apart of me hoped that when we woke up, she would be waiting on the front steps....but no. We were gone for several hours, and came home to no cat, again. However, the food we left out had been eaten, but didn't know by who. I continued to check outside, sometimes sitting out there for long periods calling her name. We finally left the front and back door open in case she wondered back.

By the time we went to bed Saturday night, she still wasn't home. I feared she might never make it back and my heart hurt- just coming off of the death of Hershey.

On Sunday, we went over to my parents again to celebrate Ryan's birthday. We were practically gone all day, so we weren't able to keep an eye out for her. We finally come home around 9ish. As we pulled up into the driveway, I noticed eyes staring at me. Underneath the windows in the front of our house are these grates that see into the crawl space under our house. Perched on a ledge and peering out the grate: Mable. Mike and I ran inside the house to get proper cat catching tools, flash lights, kennel, keys to the lock on the door to the crawl space, proper shoes and attire, and a can of tuna.

We got underneath the house (one of my biggest fears) and at first you can stand completely straight up....but as you get further down you have to lean over and eventually crawl. We looked all around but couldn't see her anywhere. We called her name and made clicking tongue sounds for about twenty minutes and nothing. We left the opened can of tuna in case she was hungry, and left. We checked outside of the house to see if there was any kind of exist she could take, but found nothing.

We went back inside for two hours and tried again. This time, Mike found her in a corner neither of us could get to. We again tried calling her name but she wouldn't come. She looked terrified. Long story short, after being down there for about an hour this time and Mike and I both having to over come some fears (me: being under the house and him: spiders) we finally got her. Mike managed to crawl to the perch where I originally saw her from the outside and where she had now slinked into. I went back into the house and grabbed some pillow cases. Even though we brought Zoe's kennel with us...Mike was on the other side of the space and I couldn't get it to him, and he couldn't carry her out on his hands and knees. So, I got two pillowcases, and Mike gently put her into one, and double bagged her with the other and carried her out like Santa's bag of toys.

We finally got out of the underworld and inside the house. I unwrapped her and cuddled her to pieces and even Zoe came over and gave her kisses. After running away from us, exploring the house, and drinking some water she wouldn't leave my side and purred the entire night away.

I had just come to the realization that I would never see her again...but we found her! The scary part is, if I hadn't of seen her in the grate there, who knows how long she would have been down there unnoticed. She could have died down there.

So, great...that's over with. I didn't lose two animals in two days.

But, I have the worst luck ever. Today, I went to the post office to get stamps for our wedding invites. On my way into the parking lot, I popped a curb. When I came outside, my car wouldn't start. I had to call Jef to come get me, and now I have to wait and see if it can be fixed.

Ugh.