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I agreed to feed a friend's two kitties while she's away. I did it recently - very recently, as a matter of fact - and she was very pleased.
So. I went to her place on Sunday, my first day of the new feeding gig.
Her bedroom door was closed. The kitchen/living room window was open at the top (it opens at an angle). No kitties were to be seen. I opened the bedroom door, and her old kitty came out, looking pissed off. He went right for the food. The bedroom window was open. My guess is that a draft caused the door to slam shut.
The other kitty was not to be seen.
Monday? Same.
My friend suggested that I rattle the bag of food in the window. The window faces a courtyard that is completely enclosed. She told me that this kitty couldn't possibly get out of it, but I know what escape artists cats can be. I rattled the bag of food, and no response. I looked into the courtyard and saw nothing.
This is a building complex that was constructed about ten years ago, maybe a little more, and was built to be entirely enclosed. There are no doors from people's apartments leading into the courtyard - if there were, they would have to have stairs, because it's a sunken courtyard. Her kitty likes to wander along the window ledges.
Finally, after freaking out for four days, I followed my friend's advice and went around the block to talk to the guard in the garage. He locked up his cubicle and took me into the courtyard. He opened the door to the building and propped it open, telling me to just use that exit when I was done. Then he went back to his cubicle.
The courtyard is nothing to sing about. A few benches here and there, a few low bushes that look nasty to get into, and some scrubby grass. I walked around, calling the kitty, and then put my bag on a bench next to a stand of bushes. I got on my hands and knees, looking into the bush, and called her again.
There was a meow. Then another, then a little face appeared in the bush.
Out she came! I saw a plastic container in the bush, which makes me wonder if someone had been feeding her. If they had, kudos to them. It's also been hellishly hot, so I hope she was getting water somehow.
I brought her inside, and she went right for the food. The windows are closed, and a certain little girl is most emphatically GROUNDED.
And that's how this week went much better than I had thought it would.
So. I went to her place on Sunday, my first day of the new feeding gig.
Her bedroom door was closed. The kitchen/living room window was open at the top (it opens at an angle). No kitties were to be seen. I opened the bedroom door, and her old kitty came out, looking pissed off. He went right for the food. The bedroom window was open. My guess is that a draft caused the door to slam shut.
The other kitty was not to be seen.
Monday? Same.
My friend suggested that I rattle the bag of food in the window. The window faces a courtyard that is completely enclosed. She told me that this kitty couldn't possibly get out of it, but I know what escape artists cats can be. I rattled the bag of food, and no response. I looked into the courtyard and saw nothing.
This is a building complex that was constructed about ten years ago, maybe a little more, and was built to be entirely enclosed. There are no doors from people's apartments leading into the courtyard - if there were, they would have to have stairs, because it's a sunken courtyard. Her kitty likes to wander along the window ledges.
Finally, after freaking out for four days, I followed my friend's advice and went around the block to talk to the guard in the garage. He locked up his cubicle and took me into the courtyard. He opened the door to the building and propped it open, telling me to just use that exit when I was done. Then he went back to his cubicle.
The courtyard is nothing to sing about. A few benches here and there, a few low bushes that look nasty to get into, and some scrubby grass. I walked around, calling the kitty, and then put my bag on a bench next to a stand of bushes. I got on my hands and knees, looking into the bush, and called her again.
There was a meow. Then another, then a little face appeared in the bush.
Out she came! I saw a plastic container in the bush, which makes me wonder if someone had been feeding her. If they had, kudos to them. It's also been hellishly hot, so I hope she was getting water somehow.
I brought her inside, and she went right for the food. The windows are closed, and a certain little girl is most emphatically GROUNDED.
And that's how this week went much better than I had thought it would.
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