Random Fact #616

If you don't follow me on Twitter you may not have known that for about 24 hours my cat Ronnie went totally unaccounted for. On Friday we moved our furniture and critters (one toy poodle, two kitties) into the new apartment. On Saturday, Ronnie was finally exploring, and on Sunday morning we realized we hadn't seen him since the previous evening.

We looked everywhere. Closets, behind and inside of furniture, closets, the washer/dryer, inside cabinets. Everywhere. We couldn't find him.

Panic ensued. Charlie put on his shoes and took the treat canister and went building to building, shaking the treats and calling out to Ronnie. He worried he had accidentally let Ronnie out the door while taking out his pup on Saturday night. Maybe Ronnie had darted out? He is little and fast. Maybe he had snuck out while I was getting things from my car?

We looked for four hours straight. I cried so much my eyes were practically swollen shut. I did some other things to occupy my mind, trying not to think that my cat, my best friend for the past 8+ years, was gone. I set up the TV in the living room, and then I started cooking noodles for a late lunch.

Out of exasperation I sat down on the kitchen floor, feeling totally defeated. And then I heard a rustling from the cabinets. I opened all the cabinet doors again to make sure he wasn't hiding in a dark corner, but still didn't see him. I called out to Charlie that I had heard something rustle in the cabinets. He examined all of the baseboards under the cabinets and found a space just large enough for a cat to squeeze through. He put his hand in the hole and felt a small, wet nose.

Ronnie had crawled into a whole between the baseboards that lead to a space in the corner of space behind the cabinets. That jerk.

It took a few more hours for him to come out of the cabinets. We saw him again when he came out into the living room while I was watching COSMOS and putting together a shoe organizer. I felt a kitty rub up against my elbow and turned expecting to see Mayor Charles, but it was my little grey-furred punk Ronnie. Cuddling like nothing happened.

Ronnie on Charlie's lap, post LOST period

So the lesson learned on week 1 in the new apartment: Cats will force you to learn all of the nooks and crannies of your new apartment.