The Hou (me?) dini

It started with an innocent trip to the doctor for my post-op appointment. I had noticed that recently Stabitha seems to have caught on to the logic behind the doggie door and had been self-testing it lately. Several times I had to drag her back through after some experimentation with the great outdoors. Yesterday, I was suspicious she had snuck out as I had not seen her for sometime. This was, metaphorically, the last expression I saw on Houdini's face before leaving for the doctor:

Now you see me....

Unfortunately, I had to make a not so brief stop at the vascular surgeon's office because of the huge swelling in my left knee. Wanting to make sure I didn't have a blood clot, Houdini was given ample time to work her magic while I grinned and bore it in the doctor's office.

Returning home finally, I was faced with a Stabitha free house and a sinking feeling.

Excuse me sir? Have you seen my sister? She was in a box last time I saw her...

Huh? Maybe you should put her on a leash. Har har har.

My concern for outdoor Stabby originates from the fact the she is not, and never has been, an outdoor cat so I have no idea how she is with cars; she is small and timid casting doubt on her ability to defend herself and we have a lot of predators in the neighborhood. After diligent search, my mom and I located her here:

Hi mom!

You cannot see her. Why? Because she is so flippin' high in the tree, she is invisible on the photo. Relieved that I had at least located her, I swung into action. I tried cajoling, begging, pleading, yelling and prostration. Polar Bear tried barking at her. My mom went to the store and bought her tuna and canned kitty junk food. All to no avail. She clearly wanted to come down but was too scared to even consider it.

I called the Fire Dept - after all, what else do they do except sleep all day and eat ice cream while watching DVD's? They would not come out. I called Animal Control. Unfortunately my animal emergency inconveniently didn't fit their hours. I called my vet for any ideas. They told me to wait her out. I knocked on my neighbors' doors trying to find a ladder that just might be long enough. No luck.

So I waited and waited and waited. All through the night. I got up every 4 hours to hobble out to the yard with my lantern to see if she was still there and she was. Still crying pathetically. I left a bowl of water out in case she did come down during the night and the doggie door open in case she decided to help herself back inside. At 0600 hours I got up and lo and behold, two cats stood awaiting me at the top of my stairs. The great Houdini finally used up one of her lives and by the looks of the dirt under the tree, either hurled herself or fell herself right out of the tree.

I crack myself up!