Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: scared
  • Music: Counting Crows, "Murder of One."

Oh sweet Great Pumpkin cats are hard on the heart.

Thomas can open doors.

Thomas has been able to open doors for a while now.

Thomas has never previously opened the front door. So this was new.

I got up to get ready for bed and discovered the front door of the house standing open, and an utter absence of cats. This, naturally, triggered INSTANT HYSTERIA, and lots of frenzied cat-calling, which probably frightened the neighbors.

Lilly came immediately, looking faintly ashamed of herself, and limping slightly. Thomas was in the yard, sniffing things, and came when called. I closed the door and turned to inspect Lilly's paw...during which pause Thomas OPENED THE DOOR again and let himself back outside.

I retrieved Thomas, called my mother, put on trousers, went outside, locked the door, and began searching the neighborhood for Alice. I found her halfway down the block, investigating someone's garden. I got her to come by clanging a can of wet food with a fork. She's mad now because she didn't get treats. I'm mad because, well. ESCAPING ISN'T COOL. Poor Vixy got me calling her in hysterics, wailing about how they got out.

All three cats are fine and uninjured. I cannot sleep. I have notified work that I'm going to be in late tomorrow, because there's no way I'm sleeping in the next hour. And from now on, the front door is locked even when I'm in the house.

Stupid cats.
Tags: alice, cats, freaking out, lilly, thomas
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  • 220 comments
...go 2 levels up... Expand

sysrae

June 23 2011, 11:04:13 UTC 6 years ago

OK, that makes sense. Australia (or the UK for that matter) has no natural predators capable of bothering a cat; in fact, apart from the rare dingo or stray dog, they're pretty much top of the food chain. Also, what constitutes a 'big road' in Oz and the UK probably differs drastically from the US equivalent.

Also, we're not so much with the gun-toting assholes.

Thanks for explaining - I'd be genuinely wondering :)

Australian indoor-only cat owner here ...

davidcook

June 23 2011, 14:41:35 UTC 6 years ago

I live in suburban Melbourne, and we've seen foxes in our yard a couple of times. And the occasional stray dog down the street. And possums - some of them are bigger than a full-grown cat, and our two are only 7 months old.
So ... indoor cats they will be, with supervised outdoor excursions only (which usually means retrieving them from someone's garden halfway down the street if we turn our backs for just a moment :-) )
... anyway, we built a cat run, and just need to install the cat-flap for them to access it ...

... and vaguely on topic, ours haven't yet worked out how to open doors (all round door handles here), or break into the cat food. I'm sure it's only a matter of time, though.