It’s called ‘how to disappear and throw your people into an absolute panic.’
And she’s REALLY good at it.
It started last week Friday. I headed off to teach my evening class, and had just finished setting up and was just about to welcome my students when my phone started getting text messages. Mr D & I have a rule that he is only to call me when I’m teaching if it’s an emergency.
So I ignored the texts, assuming that he was just asking me to pick up bread on the way home, or something else.
But the texts kept coming, every few minutes. And I started to get worried. Finally I stole a moment to check my phone while all the students were on their machines, happily sewing away.
The first text message said “Did you see Felicity today? Can’t find her anywhere”
The next one: “Are you sure you didn’t lock her outside? She is NOT in the house”
Then:
“Not coming when I call”
“Really starting to panic”
“When did you see her last?”
Cue major panic on my part as I frantically cast my mind back to when I had last seen Felicity.
And then I remembered. I’d seen her just before I left the house, as I locked the back door from the inside. She was sitting by it, giving me the aggrieved look of a cat who has been locked inside and is about to be deserted. She was definitely inside the house.
And Felicity comes when you call when she’s outside. When she’s inside, she doesn’t bother. She knows she’s already where she’s supposed to be, and doesn’t see what all the fuss is about, and it’s not her fault you haven’t noticed her tucked behind a cushion or lying on the floor next the guest bed.
I was just about to call Mr D and tell him this when I got another text message. This one said:
“Found. Shut inside linen closet.”
Inside the linen closet? How is that possible? It wasn’t even open when I left the house, much less shut with her in it.
Now Felicity is notorious for her ability to open doors. She hooks and pushes and bangs until she gets them to open.
But closing doors? That’s a whole ‘nother step!
But I certainly didn’t shut her in the linen closet…
So it was a mystery until yesterday, when I was cooking dinner. I can just see the linen closet door from the stove, and I noticed Felicity stroll down the hall, stop at the linen closet, and begin tugging at the door.
I kept as quiet and unobtrusive as I could while she worked it open just enough to slip in. Then I watched as she disappeared behind the door into the closet. There was the soft sounds of a bit of rummaging around, and then a faint thump as she jumped up to the first shelf.
And then I saw one little white paw reach around the side of the door, and hook it almost shut – so that to a casual glance it would look properly shut.
The little minx!
A few minutes later I crept up and threw open the linen closet door, to expose Felicity, cool as a cucumber, curled up on the sheets. She looked up at me, so innocent butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. “Oh, were you looking for me?”
My cat is too bloody smart for her own good!
Laughed till I cried. I’ve been there, looking desperately EVERYWHERE for one of my cats. Your baby sounds like an Einstein!
My little KoKo hides in the sheets as well…we try to keep the door shut, but she is always vigilant about looking for a way in!
Looking for a private place to have kittens? 🙂
We nipped that in the bud before it had a chance to get started. Rather sadly in some ways, because imagine how adorable Felicity kittens would be!
She’s pure Schrodinger’s, that girl! Have you got Terry Pratchett’s “The Unadulterated Cat”?
If you don’t, Leimomi, get it!
I only get it from the library. 😛 But it’s a favourite in this house, and apparently Father considers Sir PTerry a bit of an authority on cats. 😀
We have just moved to a new apartment, with very high cupboard near the ceiling. Our littlest cat has decided that these make delightful places to hide…for her. For me, it’s a daily test of my heart!
Your cat comes when you call outside? Amazing! I have painfully recent memories of having to get out the stepladder to address the cat on the roof of the garage about the importance of taking her medication. Not the best way to start the day!
linen cupboards are very popular places for kittens. Even if no kitties can come, she still has the nesting instinct. And boy, she is smart.
What a little ratbag!
Uh oh….she’s figured out the opposable thumb thang!
That is so clever!! Glad she was indoors all safe and sound. She probably thinks it is her own room
Nesting or not, cats really love dark, enclosed spaces, and if the part of the space that they’re squeezing their bodies into is a bit snug, that’s a plus so far as they are concerned. Two of Zola’s favorite spots for sleeping in our house is a plush cat bed that’s a size too small and the bottom of a box that a computer power supply came in (it has Styrofoam blocks permanently attached so that the part he can fit himself into is just the width of his body).
Little minx indeed! Cariad has a tendency to stay out all day in summer and we fret when it gets to bed time and she isn’t there. She usually saunters in around midnight with a mouse looking pleased with herself.
She’s a clever wee girl! I remember when I was a kid we once found one of ours in the fridge. On the meat shelf, naturally.
Reminds me of a story. Hubby and I were off on our honeymoon and his siblings were tasked with feeding my cat. They were in an utter panic when they couldn’t find him a few days in to it. How were they going to tell me that they had lost my cat? Had he snuck out when they were in the day before (removing all the labels from my tin cans and short sheeting the bed)? Then one had the brilliant idea of shaking the cat food box. The little devil climbed out from under the sink, cool as a cucumber, having no idea that all the hunting, calling and furniture moving was about him.