Feral Cat STRIKES AGAIN!

This is NOT feral cat. I love taking pictures of random cats I see when I am on trips, why is it they seem so content? They must have secret. OH! I know what it is, they take lots of naps! This cat is in Dublin, Ireland. 

It had been a particularly stressful week. I was run down after trying to get rid of this dumb cold that won't disappear and a sore leg. However, the show must go on! So on Wednesday I raced to pick up the kids from their Dad's house. I picked up Aydan from scouts and then we headed to drop Ells off at gymnastics and I head across the street to my work out. (Which I am limited to only do upper body and OH how I miss running. I can't even tell you.) We came home where I whipped up a meal that has been in my Mom's dinner rotations for YEARS. Hawaiian Meatball's. They are super yummy. I cooked the rice, made the meatballs, sauce, and broccoli. We sat down to eat FINALLY around 7:30. We cleaned up, I made lunches and we all flopped into bed around 9:00. I read quietly for a bit and then dozed peacefully to sleep. 

Until 1:30 AM. 

When I heard this racket that was Aydan screaming down the hall. Incoherently, I jumped out of bed..WHA?! What's going on? He flips on the light in my room and I am blinded. MOOOOOOOOOM! MOOOOOOM! Mom! MOM! MOOOOM! There is a cat in my room!!!!!!!!

It wasn't this cat either. This is a cat that was sunning itself in Spain at the Monastery where Christopher Columbus started his LIFE JOURNEY. Now, this cat is SORT of a closer resemblance to the cat that was in our house, but A LOT CUTER. 

ME: What? A cat?!?!

Aydan: MOOOOOOOM. MOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hear it meowing. I promise there is a cat in my room. 

ME: Okay. I will go check it out.

Aydan stays behind me as I walk down the hall to the entrance of his room. Where I hear, Reow, Meow, meeeeeoow. 

GREAT! GREAT. I think what am I going to do. First of all I can barely walk, I have this blood clot in my leg which has left me to hobble around all the time. Second of all what if the cat has DISEASES? I mean, real diseases AND FLEAS. UGHHH. Then I catch of glimpse of FERAL CAT. 

NOW. This is a very close likeness of FERAL CAT. I drew it for the kids in my class as I was telling them the story...because this is a story that 4th graders HAVE to hear. They just have to. 

When I see feral cat, I realize it is the SAME cat that has been sneaking into my house through my TEENSY TINSY doggie door. 

Which, you may remember my summer time mystery post when I found CLUMPS of WHITE hair ON MY COUCH!!!!! and at the bottom of the DOGGIE DOOR! Why was the doggie door open you might be asking? Especially if we KNOW there is a special visitor that that has made my house its own?

Because of this little guy. Louie, a very much beloved family pet in the Burt household. The family dog. He loves everybody and my family was at the beach all week while I had to come home to work. So of course, Louie came to stay at my house. I have a doggie door just his size, PERFECT!!! 

Except of course. When I forget to LOCK the doggie door after Louie comes home and FERAL CAT makes its appearance. 

At this point Ellie wakes up from all the racket. I just have to say WHY did the cat pick Aydan's room? The boy who is allergic to cats. OF COURSE. We all run downstairs, I am realizing that I have to be the brave adult in this situation, however I have NOTHING. No great ideas, no courage to get that thing out of the house. So, all I can think to do is go upstairs and close the door to Aydan's room. Here is out 1:30 AM think tank session of HOW in the HECK are we going to get the cat out of the house.

This is Ellie. Throwing her head back and laughing at the situation.

Here we are. Still no great idea's. 

I think OK what would my DAD do. So I walk up the stairs and YELL at the cat SCRAM in my most intimidating Paul Burt voice I can muster. The cat just meowed back at me. I am apparently, not very intimidating. 

I walk back down the stairs and the kids are thinking of making all kinds of contraptions to get the cat out. When I decide to call the NON Emergency police line. I thought, "WELL maybe they have an animal control unit for this time of night that can come and get crazy cats out of peoples houses?" I don't know!?!! ALL I know is I AM NOT GOING NEAR FERAL CAT AND FERAL CAT CANNOT SPEND THE NIGHT POOPING/PEEING/COUGHING UP HAIR BALLS/ FLINGING ITS FLEAS ALL OVER AYDAN'S ROOM. 

Dispatcher: Hello Non Emergency Police line how can I help you?

Me: I have a WILD feral cat in my house that I cannot get out myself.

Dispatcher: Excuse me? You have a cat in your house?

Me: YES. A FERAL CAT. 

In my sons room, under his bed. 

Dispatcher: Have you tried to lure it out with Tuna Fish. 

Me: No. I am not going near that cat. It is meowing at us from under the bed. 

Dispatcher: The cat is wild?

Me: WILD. YES. 

Dispatcher: Is the cat hissing at you.

Me: No. It is meowing at us. And....here is the thing. I am a single Mom with a blood clot in my leg so I am not really in the position to be chasing a cat out of my house right now I can barely walk. Plus, other cats sort of freak me out. You know, cats that aren't mine. 

Dispatcher: I see. So you can't try some tuna? 

ME: I GUESS I could try tuna but won't the cat decide that it like sit here? And want to stay? And what if the cat bites me? I don't really want to go near the scary cat. 

Dispatcher: Ok. Well. I will see if there is anyone who has a moment to help you tonight.

ME; Thank you so much I would REALLY appreciate it.

At this point I decide it would probably be a good idea to not be in JUST my UNDERWEAR in case someone shows up. This was a good decision because as soon as I throw on my super sexy transformers t shirt there is a rumble outside behind my house. 

I would say that this is a VERY close likeness as to what I would have looked like except with out the beach. 

There is a knock at the door and when I open it:

Yes, my friends. 

Feral cat has given me a gift. 

The gift of 8 handsome firemen, in uniform. 

This is approximately when I realize how DUMB this whole situation is and that I am wearing REALLY tight workout pants and a transformers t shirt. Sigh. Oh well. 

Six of the eight go up the stairs all in a row. Two stay down to talk to me. When I hear one of them call, WE CAN HEAR THE CAT....WE JUST CAN'T SEE THE CAT. I yell...WELL MAYBE LOOK IN THE CLOSET. When I head up the stairs to help with Ellie trailing behind me and Aydan looking on from down the stairs. I reach the top of the stairs when I hear...........

OH! I found it!

and see a WHITE FLASH ZOOM out of Aydan's room and down the stairs with two shiny black eyes looking at me. It blows past Ellie on the landing WHO HAPPENS to put her foot down on its tail. As it WHIPS it's tail out from under her foot BOTH her FEET ARE FLIPPED INTO THE AIR AND SHE  lands FLAT on her back. I have never seen such a thing in real life. ONLY cartoons. I am laughing hysterically at this point when I hear AYDAN. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It touched me! It touched my leg! and then the flap, flap, flap of the doggie door. The firemen go home. I lock the doggie door. The kids are so freaked out they all pile into my bed where I soothe them back to sleep. 

Friday evening.

We get home late. 

The lights are out and it is totally dark. 

We head to the stairs where I realize the stairway lights have burned out. I can sense Aydan's anxiety as he starts up the stairs, in fact I can tell he wants me to go first. When I say, meow! and he jumps about five feet in the air and I am laughing so hard I can hardly contain myself. 

FERAL CAT. STRIKES AGAIN. 

May your life be as fun as mine is. 

The Sunny D-XOXO