I was busy drafting another letter this morning when I decided to do a quick check on Riley upstairs. So I went upstairs to her usual spot behind the TV but she wasn’t there. I looked in all the other possible hiding places in her room but she wasn’t in any them. Our bedroom door was closed, but I went in to check and Riley also wasn’t accidentally locked in.
Then I went downstairs and checked under the sofas and in every nook and cranny I could think of and no, she wasn’t in any of them.
Jayden was taking a nap, so I called out to Riley (not so loudly, but then again, the house isn’t that big and a cat’s hearing is 40 times more sensitive than ours, so she should be able to hear me). Riley did not come out.
By now, I was getting into a panic mode. I texted my husband and also my daughter-in-law, Sihui. The only time anyone else used the front door apart from me was when my husband went to work early this morning (but I was there to feed Samantha) and when Sihui brought Jayden. Sihui said she did not notice Riley anywhere at all when she came into the house.
I thought maybe Riley slipped out when the front door was open and nobody noticed her.
Like a totally insane person, I went around to every room and every nook and cranny again to look for Riley. By then, thoughts of her having escaped slowly sank in. I sent telepathic messages (this just means thoughts, not that I have any capability of “sending telepathic messages”) to Riley urging her to come home. I even sent messages to Samantha with hopes that she will bring Riley over for the next meal.
I asked Tabs where Riley was, but Tabs did not quite respond. She merely looked out of the window. Oh no…Riley must have escaped. She’s gone out of the window.
I thought perhaps Riley did have a home somewhere and she has now escaped and gone home. If that had really happened, it is okay, as long as she is happy.
By now, Jayden had woken up. I told Jayden we’d go for a walk. So I carried Jayden (he is almost 9kg now) and walked all the way down the road to the house which I’ve seen Riley at months ago. That house also has two more cats with markings like Riley’s. But granted, Riley is of a rather common colour (grey-black striped tabby like Rey and Robin) so maybe those two cats are not related to Riley. Jayden and I reached there and I called for Riley. There were no cats in their porch at that time.
So we walked back. Or rather, I walked back carrying all 9kg of Jayden! By the way, Jayden cannot walk on his own yet.
We came home and I looked for Riley again. She was nowhere to be found.
Where could she be??? I thought I should do the Kitchen God scissors-on-pot routine, or should I engage an animal communicator to help look for Riley? When Jayden and I walked to and from our house, I didn’t see any street cats around. Otherwise, I would have asked them to help.
If Riley had indeed escaped, it had to be only through the front door because there are no openings anywhere else in the house. I checked all the windows and nettings. Everything was intact.
It was totally mysterious.
I was resigned to the fact that my only hope was Samantha. I hoped Samantha would bring Riley back for meals.
Jayden started playing by the TV rack downstairs so I was there with him making sure he does not climb onto the rack.
Suddenly, I heard the slightest sound. I wasn’t quite sure what sound that was, but it was a sound.
And the next thing I knew, Riley’s little head popped out from between the two chairs.
Earlier on, I had looked “everywhere”….except under this chair, because I had already blocked the underneath entrance to this spot using cardboard. Silly me, of course Riley could have just walked on the mattress and climbed into this hole, and go underneath the chair. How extremely silly of me!
But I was SO incredibly glad that Riley was in the house all the time and had not escaped, after all. Before I could take a photo of Riley popping her head out, she fled upstairs back to her room.
Here, behind her TV again. Her safe spot.
This afternoon, Ginger came into the house from the catio and unknown to me, he quietly went upstairs to Riley’s room.
And what did Ginger do? Well, what else? He sprayed urine onto Riley’s TV! So Riley has now migrated out to under our king-sized bed in our bedroom. She hasn’t gone back to her spot behind the TV in her room even though I had wiped off the urine thoroughly.
A cat’s sense of smell is 40 times stronger than ours, so I’m sure Riley can still smell Ginger’s urine and she is not happy.
But I’m so glad Riley is safe and sound!
I thought my ordeal of looking for her took hours but when I checked my phone just now….it only lasted a full 30 minutes.
Why did the 30 minutes feel like 3 hours??