Escape!

At around 8:30 last night we asked, "Where are the cats?" A quick investigation revealed that Blue was upstairs on the bed but Tama was nowhere to be found. I went out on the porch and shook the jar of cat treats -- it's always a surefire way of getting the cats to come home. No Tama. I went back inside.

An hour later, I tried again -- this time it was raining. No Tama. Weird. I went outside with the jar and circled the perimeter of the house. I couldn't see anything and it's not like we live on a compound -- if there's a cat outside, we'll see him. Worry started to set in.

Iain joined me outside and we began wandering around the neighborhood, calling his name and shaking the jar. The neighbors must've loved us. I was going up to people's garages and calling his name in case he'd gotten trapped. We theorized that Tama's collar had fallen off and he'd run into the nature reserve behind our house and was busy exploring and smelling his way around,no intention of coming home any time soon. This was our best case scenario. The reserve is safe. NZ doesn't have wild animals (just possums and rabbits), so there was no risk of a raccoon or a fox hurting him. We also speculated that he might've been hiding in the bushes right by the house - he's been known to do that.

Defeated, we went inside, dried off and watched some more TV. I was trying not to freak out. Right before bed, I went back outside and repeated the calling and jar shaking. By now I was quite worried and panic was seeping in. Our cats have never escaped or been gone this long. I kept telling myself that I should be used to this -- growing up, our cats were outdoor cats (no invisible fence) and they'd sometimes take off for days. But I also remember lying awake, night after night, crying and wondering where my cat was. It's no fun.

Iain suggested we turn off the electric perimeter. In case Tama still had his collar on but had managed to get out, he might not be able to get through if the invisible fence was on. We turned it off and put the cat door to "in only" so Blue couldn't get outside.

We went to bed. Iain suggested I take an Ambien but I said no. Instead I laid in bed listening intently to every single sound, at one point mistaking Blue's snoring with a cat cry. Eventually I fell asleep -- sort of. Around midnight I got up and went downstairs, intending to go back outside with the jar. When I went into the kitchen, a soaking wet kitty greeted me with a small meow. Tama! I dried him off, carried him to the bedroom where Blue gave him a little wash, and we all went to sleep.

In true cat fashion, we have no idea where he was.