Friday, February 19, 2016

The Cat Saga Continues

It's been several days now since we were awakened in the middle of the night with the sound of a cat meowing in our bedroom.  Now i repeat - WE DO NOT HAVE A CAT!  So to be awakened at 3 a.m. to the sound of a cat meowing in our room was disconcerting to say the least. Monday night we didn't hear anything at all, but Tuesday night he was back.  Again it sounded like it was in our bedroom, but this time the meowing was soft and plaintive. I was having trouble falling asleep Tuesday night and so this certainly didn't help. However, when we awoke there was again no sign of him and no presents left on the floor!

We decided on Wednesday that perhaps we should try to capture the cat so we borrowed a live animal trap from a friend.  We set it up in our laundry room with some food and went to bed.  In the middle of the night we were again awakened to hear the cat meowing and moving around the house. Again it appeared to come into our bedroom and we could hear it quite clearly.  Hubby and I were both awake and lay still just listening.  It sounded like it was moving off to the laundry room, but it did not go into the trap.  Another night of being awakened, hearing a cat, and finding nothing. First thing in the morning my dear hubby was crawling around with a flashlight looking in every nook and cranny, under and behind every piece of furniture, and in every closet but could find no cat.  There was not even any evidence of anything being disturbed by a cat's movement or presence.

Yesterday was Thursday and we are getting desperate to find the cat.  Since Wednesday's trap yielded nothing, we can began to look for other options. We had lots of suggestions from Facebook friends who responded to my posts about our dilemma. My son suggested that maybe it wasn't in the house (although that doesn't explain the pile on the floor) but under the house or even in the duct work.  Now for those that don't know me, we live in a double wide mobile home so it is possible for animals to get under the house, but unless there is a hole somewhere I am not sure how they could get into the ducts. That would make sense in that we are hearing the cat as if it is in the room but not able to find any trace of him. Last night was the first that we heard him earlier in the evening. I was sitting in my recliner in our living room, watching TV when the sound of meowing began.  It sounded like it was coming from under the sofa, but there was no movement or appearance.  What began as low plaintive mews became louder meows - at one point there was a really loud "outburst" of a meow, all seemed to be coming from the same area. This went on for about 15 minutes and then all was quiet.  I suppose the duct is a possible theory because there is one right under the sofa where the sound was coming from.  I thought perhaps that was it for the night, but alas in the middle of the night we heard him again as though he was in the room with us. We had moved the trap to the dining room, but again we were unsuccessful in trapping him.  

So here it is Friday.  This has been going on all week.  5 nights of interrupted sleep is beginning to take its toll on me.  I am exhausted and I must admit somewhat "freaked out" by all that has been going on. I think tonight we will put a litter box and water as well as the trap with the food next to one of the vents.  We'll take the cover off the vent and see if he will come out.  I surely hope so.  It that doesn't work, I don't know what we'll try next. 

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