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

briargrey

June 23 2011, 14:46:53 UTC 6 years ago

dear gods, pets can give you heart attacks. I remember the day I came home from work to find my military macaw sitting on top of his cage, looking incredibly smug. It was a huge worry for so many reasons -- first, I had a cat at the time and even though he was big enough to *own* the cat, he'd have died from a cat scratch quite possibly (infection ftw), second, he could have flown outside when I opened the front door (wings = clipped /= unable to glide to doom), and third, how the bloody hades did he get out when I had a padlock on the danged door since he had learned how to open it! A padlock *with a key hanging up in another room*. Well, the smart little SOB had UNSCREWED THE DOOR HINGES with his beak and thus the door was hanging by the padlock and log only.

The door spent the rest of its life chained on the hinge side too, until replaced with a much better cage.

And indoor cats + outdoor = bad news usually, so I'm glad you're keeping them in and safe. My elderly cat sort of did both, but as she got more elderly (and she wasn't that bright to begin with), she must have gone to the wrong back door to meow to be let in, and we think someone killed her to shut her up. People suck. Coyotes and owls and other predators suck. Big roads suck. Smart, smart, idiot cats! So glad they are okay.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 15:49:54 UTC 6 years ago

...wow. Go, macaw, go.