Meese
Yesterday around 9:30 a.m. my cat wanted out into the back yard. It is fenced and she can’t get out the gates, because they are latticed to close any gaps. I left the back screen door open, and the inner door slightly ajar so she could push it to come back inside the house. Then I came downstairs to my den, worked on emails and edited a book chapter. At 11:00 a.m. I went upstairs, surprised that she hadn’t come back inside. I called her. No answer. I noticed that my ex had been here to move the van out of the carport, and wondered if my cat, Meese, had gone into the lane when the carport door opened. I phoned my ex’s house, left a message. Later, my ex came over and we looked together for her. I made posters which we put up around the neighbourhood, and we each went in separate directions calling and asking neighbours for information. She still hasn’t come home this morning. It’s possible she got out if/when a meter-reader came into the yard and left the gate open. It’s possible she got out when the carport door opened. It’s possible that she wiggled under a gate because the sidewalk may have shifted with all the snow and ice this winter. At any rate, she’s gone. I will stay home more the next few days, in case the signs turn up info or the Animal Services department or the Humane Society or the nearest vet phone me back to say she’s been turned in. I’ll visit the Humane Society within 4 days, to see if she’s there, but I’m not hopeful. We sometimes have coyotes in the city. Although I haven’t seen any around, who knows? There’s lots of traffic on the streets, even in this neighbourhood. She could be lying somewhere too hurt to return. She could have wandered off and became disoriented, unable to find her way home. She could have eaten snow mold and become sick and wandered off to die. Who knows? I don’t know. At this point, I can only wait and pray.
My priorities have shifted.
As of April 23, 10 days later, my cat still has neither returned nor been located. I’ve picked up the list of actions that owners of lost cats can take. I’ve followed them all. I worry and I walk the neighbourhood in the early hours and in the evenings. No sign of Meese. I’ve come to know the neighbourhood in a new way as I walk up front steps to drop Missing Cat flyers in mailboxes. I’ve had real conversations with real people, mostly caring pet-owners, on my walkabouts. I’ve learned more about loss. I miss her.
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