Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The nightmare begins again...at the break of dawn (but only for 10 mins!)

Pole escaped again...

We thought we had it all figured out?

No, Pole is always one step ahead. And she's smart and devious, too.

This morning, everyone had breakfast and Pole had hers in the cage. After that, I cleaned her litter-box and let her out to stretch.

Last night, when I let her out, she went to the sidegate and looked at the gap and the gate at what we thought was her escape route, or rather, what she wanted us to think.

But we were all fooled.

That was not her escape route.

This morning, Pole walked nonchalantly to the sidegate, stretched herself, scratched at the bench and seemed contented.

Then, she walked back towards the room. I thought she was going inside the room and was happy to let her hang out with the rest of the clan.

But that was just a diversion.

Suddenly, she made a bee-line for the pantry counter and before I knew it (because this was totally unexpected), she jumped onto the ledge and as quick as lightning, she dashed for the hole at the gutter (as discovered by Cleo earlier), and before I could do anything, Pole disappeared.

Oh no, please...not again.  Not again!

I called my husband's hp and called the housephone (since everyone was still asleep), but no one woke up.

I had to follow Pole. She trotted along the roof, and went to the side, and that's when I dashed upstairs to wake my husband up.

By the time I got down again, there was no sign of Pole anymore.

Sigh....okay, what to do? It's happening all over again, my nightmare at dawn.

The psychic's words rang in my ears - she's trying to get back to the old house, he said. But we doubt this as even yesterday, she only hung around a certain radius from Bunny's Place, not daring to go far.

But once I have been told, I would never disregard any possibility. Maybe today is the day she would attempt the long and hazardous journey "home" to our old neighbourhood. Maybe she's had it with being caged already. NO MORE, she says. I'm going home.

Even so, what to do?  Have to just hope she would come back. There was no sign of her at all. I thought she would have gone to that niche on the neighbour's roof again. HOPEFULLY that's where she went. At least I know (and hope!) by evening, she will come back again. She just had a big breakfast and won't be hungry till evening.

So I sat down, calmed myself and started writing this post to tell everyone that I've been fooled by Pole again. What an idiot I am. A real idiot deserving of being called an "idiot", really.

Five minutes into writing this post, my husband opened the door and there was Pole, in his arms!!

Apparently, Pole had gone from the side roof to the front roof this time and mewed at him when he was in the bathroom.

Ah...she's exploring the front now.

From the bathroom window, my husband stretched his arms out and grabbed her. Anyway, I think she did want to get in, that's why she mewed from the front roof.

So, my nightmare ended after about 10 minutes of a heart-attack and several days off my lifespan.


 Staring at the gap (the small hole in the netting), making me think that would be her next route of escape.



 Cleo looking out. You're not thinking of escaping too, are you? Please, no.


Then, the Houdini-styled escape happened (as described above) right before my eyes.


After 10 minutes, my husband brought her back into the room.


He said he should not be the one placing her in the cage or she would never trust him again. Absolutely true. We can't lose her trust in him. I'll be the bad person and the one who will cage her when he is not around so that she won't associate being caged with him at all. Only with me.



 Look at that innocent face...




 


 You wouldn't think she'd be this devious, would you?



 She's not happy inside the room, so I had to place her back into the cage.




 


 She's not happy in the cage either. For the last 15 minutes, it's been non-stop trying to look for a way out of the cage. Pole is very determined now and this scares me.


Will she still be here when I get home from work today? I cannot find a way how she can possibly escape from this cage, but with Pole, you'll never know.


Will Cleo escape next, since Cleo too discovered the gutter route a few days ago? I don't know. We think Cleo is a bit too big to squeeze through the gutter hole and that's what prevented her from going out that day. But again, who knows?


The only next thing I can do is to tie ribbons on the cage-door to secure it. I don't know what else to do already.


Pole, if you escape again, PLEASE be safe and please be well, and please come back for food. You already know the entrances on the roof. Please do not attempt to go back to the old house, Pole. There is nothing there for you.


I have also considered the possibility that IF Pole really wants to be in the old neighbourhood so much, we could take her back there when my parents move into my old house next week. But I don't know if she would come back to my old house for food. I could buy food for my mum to feed her, but will she go back there?  Or would she try to come back to us, which is a nightmare in equal, if not worse, proportions, right?


Some say cats are attracted to the physical house, some say they are attracted to the people. For Pole, which is it?


All these thoughts and possibilities...for all you know, all she wants is to be free to roam around this new house and she is just curious, that's all. No sophisticated plans of going anywhere, I just want to explore. You crazy humans think too much.


Will Pole still be here when I come back from work today?


Will Cleo still be here?


Will anyone still be here?


Squash the crazy thoughts!!


Where is the contractor???  Sigh...that's the thing with these contractors, they don't do small jobs.


8 comments:

Su Ann said...

Just a note of caution... She might be able to escape from the crate as well. I've got a couple of friends who have cats and dogs who learned how to open the latch on the crate and let themselves (and their other pets!!) out.. So what they do now is put a padlock on the latch so that there is absolutely no way the animal would be able to get out.

chankahyein said...

LOL...I won't be surprised if that's the next thing she does. Have tied ribbons for now. The things we do...LOL. Might as well laugh, do the needful rather than moan and lament. How they outsmart us....!!

MasAyu said...

My, KY, your life lately is so full of excitement lah .... :-)

Yes, Pole is looking for her familiar surroundings(your old house), all cats do, but it will be a mistake to send her back there, so please don't.

You see, all cats (or animals, or humans, for that matter) place an attachment to things and people they feel safe and secure with.

Pole has an attachment to your hubby and you (yes, you too, that is why yesterday when she had been on the neighbour's roof all scared and disoriented, when she saw you standing below and calling to her, she had calmed down and rubbed herself on the roof (like she was rubbing against your leg). That rubbing is a gesture of possession. This is a very positive indication that to Pole, your family is her HOME, not the empty house she had left behind. She keeps escaping because the surroundings are unfamiliar to her. But soon, with time, it will all be.

So, KY, Pole (and the others, too) will continue to escape, especially when no one is in. But always search for them the moment you realise they are missing before they venture off further away into unfamiliar territory.

Soon their perimeter of familiar territory in your new house will widen slowly as you help them to return. Every time they escape, they will record the area in their brain through smell, sight and sound. They rub against certain areas to mark their path (but this will get washed away by rain) and through these markings, they are able to trace their way back.

The problem is if you do not catch them back in time and they somehow get frightened and make a dash into a great distance and lose their bearing or their scent trail to come back. They will end up lost, getting back to your old house safely is very slim, considering all the odds and dangers. There are actually very, very few success stories.

So, always look and retrieve them quickly the moment you find they are gone. Good luck, dear!

Yen Ling said...

I know the feeling. Will they be OK? Will they be safe? etc. a zillion questions in mind when we are away from our fur kids and children. I pray and ask God to take care and protect them from all evil, harm and danger.

Wong Yoke Mei said...

I did that ribbon thingy too previously on my cat. That did not prevent her from forcing her way out of the cage. She will paw at the ribbon till it turns to shreds, and then ram her head against the door of the cage and squeeze through the slight opening of the cage door. When you latch the cage door, and try to yank a little at the corners of the cage door, you will see that they may be able to squeeze through whatever space they can manage. So the next thing i did was to use cable ties and tie 4 to 5 of them all round to secure while i went to work. That seems to work lah.

Su Ann said...

Haha, they are very smart!! (Thankfully neither of my dogs are quite that smart, LOL) My friend has a VERY smart, mischievous dog who learned how to open the latch of her crate.. she would let her self out, and then go over to the other dogs' crates and let them out too!! Imagine the shock my friend had when she opened her front door and there were five dogs staring up at her, all out of their crates. She went out to buy a lock straight away, and no more escape trouble after that, haha.

chankahyein said...

My childhood dog, Remirth, could open the latch of the cage too (she does it with her nose), and she would free her partner, Puffin, from his cage as well!

Chen said...

The Pole escapade stories let me see her better. Now I can spot her resemblance with Cow and Bunny in the face. And she's got that stumpy tail that Bunny got too. Strong stumpy tail gene in that family. Oh, and stubborn genes too. Maybe it comes with the stumpy tail gene.