No Escape!

January 2008

Poor Silver! As soon as the door slammed shut, she panicked. She jumped straight up some shelves that were in a corner by the door. Then she started running. Since she had already been in the house before, she wasn't totally lost. But this time, there was no escape.

We had no plan. But fortunately for us, Silver found the upstairs guest bedroom and hid under the bed. Yes! I shut the door, got a litter box ready, food, and water and set up her new home. The weather outside was frigid with snow on the way. Little did she know, but she was one very lucky cat.

I knew if she didn't use the litter box, her indoor days were numbered. But cats are pretty amazing. She knew what to do and evidently felt very comfortable when the door was closed. When I went in to clean the box and feed her, though, she hid under the bed. I talked to her but she didn't have much to say back. She never cried.

Joe Ed is a friend and also a vet. He knew all about our adventures and had lots of advice about catching Silver to bring her in to have her spayed and get her shots. That was another priority.

After many failed attempts, including pills that we thought would sedate her and just trying to flush her out from under the bed so we could grab her, we eventually used a small live trap and caught her. Silver was terrified. I covered it with a towel and took her to see Joe Ed. He has stories about his experience with her when they opened the trap. Once again, she went straight up and almost got behind the ceiling tiles at his clinic. Oh, my! He and the nurse finally caught her and sedated her for the procedures. I came and got her and brought her back home.

So . . . I took Silver back to her private bedroom to recover and that's when I made—

The First Mistake.