The Tale of the Mysterious Lake Ave East Cat

Steve’s voice on the third floor became excited yesterday as he screamed,

 

“Something with a tail just walked by the door here.”

 

I immediately panicked as I hoped it wasn’t a squirrel or a raccoon. We have a varied amount of wildlife on this old property that call my home “their home”. After hearing those words my blood pressure shot up a notch or two.

 

“I’ll go get the trap!” I said frantically hoping that it was still in the garage. (Please note it is just a catch and release trap)

 

Sure enough it was still there, so I hauled it upstairs along with a bag of peanuts. If it was a squirrel it should be an easy task– but how in the heck did anything get in here. We had been gone for the weekend, but maybe whatever it was had entered the house when the garage door opened. One thing was for sure–if I saw poop– I  could pretty well figure out what it was.

So peanuts laid out in a trail we sat back to wait. If the peanuts didn’t scare IT maybe the zombies playing Twister would. Hours went by and nothing. Not a tail– not a noise–not a darn thing. Steve began to vacuum the second floor TV room -yes the same room our neighbours watch (see story here) and all of a sudden this “grey being” ran by me and it had a long tail.

 

“It’s a cat!” we both screamed in unison.

 

We couldn’t figure out if it had gone downstairs–or where it went.  I emphatically said (being Miss-Know-it-All) that I would have heard it if it had. So one by one bedroom rooms were shut off and the vacuum entered. I manned the first floor with a mop-in-hand after shutting first floor doors and opening the front door that somehow had opened –it never ever opens. Nothing.

 

When all was clear on the second floor we began our search on the Main floor. I opened the solarium door and bingo– there was the tabby cat that frequents our yard, and the very same cat that I once questioned about his possible role in eating baby chipmunk Pip. We looked at each other eye to eye and he said,

 

“Meow”

 

I screamed, “Stevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve”!

 

If I was a normal person I would have gone in and tried to catch him, but I am deathly allergic to cats. So Steve went into the “battlezone” and came out tenderly holding the cat and talking softly to it. If it was a perfect world he would own a 100 cats- I on the other hand would stop breathing.  Unfortunately, it’s  just that kind of world. So, released on the front lawn the cat never budged-and instead he rolled around in the grass and lay in the sunlight. He was in no hurry to get home.

 

So the mystery remains– whose cat was it, and how the heck did he get in? I got my answer this morning. It was Tommy Tonic’s cat from just down the street. He wrote:
Hi Linda,

I see my kitty Michael did a break and enter in at your home today..so sorry 😞 He is safe and sound now and thanks so much for posting on Facebook on the Carleton Place Social Scene.  I couldn’t believe that I was scrolling down and then there is a picture of Michael.   Michael likes to go and visit Kim & Kev and their cats, so I guess he took a side tour of your place–thanks again.

 

If cats could talk they wouldn’t– so what went on in my home stays in my home with Michael— As for me–well, I’m not a cat am I ?:)

 

 

Steve and Michael a few months ago in our yard

 

Related reading

Just Another Day in Fawlty Towers

Buy Linda Secaspina’s Books— Flashbacks of Little Miss Flash Cadilac– Tilting the Kilt-Vintage Whispers of Carleton Place and 4 others on Amazon or Amazon Canada or Wisteria at 62 Bridge Street in Carleton Place