My wife had an appointment to get her nails done yesterday but I was parked behind her so I had to leave with her to move my car. I went out the door first and then Rose followed right behind me. As she was walking out the door Frankie slipped past her and ran outside. I tried to catch him but he ran under a nearby van where he knows I can’t reach him.
Knowing Rose was waiting for me I walked back to my car so I could get it out of her way. As I go close Rose said to me, “You need to be more careful when you walk out the door.” I guess that officially made it my fault.
After I moved my car I went to check on Frankie.
He was rolling around under that van as if to say, “Na na na na na, you can’t catch me!”
I walked back to the house and sat on the steps in the hot sun waiting for him to make his next move. After about ten minutes he walked toward our neighbor’s house and I quietly followed him. I saw him poke his head into a small opening leading under the house and I didn’t want him to go there so I backed off. But then I thought the hole was too small to fit through so I advanced again. I was wrong and under the house he went.
There was nothing I could do so I went home and set a ten-minute timer. I have ADD and its hard for me to stay focused on a task if I have distractions so I worried that I would forget about him. It happened a week ago when Chris ran out the door as I was bringing laundry out. I decided to let him eat grass while I put the clothes in the washing machine. Unfortunately, my thoughts went from Chris to the laundry and never returned to Chris like they would for a person with a normal brain. I think it was a half-hour later, or more, when I went out to check the laundry and saw Chris lying there. That was scarry thinking about what might have happened because of my irresponsibility.
After ten minutes I looked for Frankie with no luck. I continued to look for him every ten or fifteen minutes for about an hour and then drove around the neighborhood looking for him but saw no sign of him. We got our other two boys microchipped recently and we were planning on having Frankie microchipped next but I cursed myself for not having him done first.
Rose returned about an hour and a half after she left and she drove around looking too before coming home. After a little while I decided to drive around again. It was around 6:45 and the sun was getting low. I didn’t want to be out looking for him at night.
Before getting in the car I stepped out onto the front sidewalk to scan the area. There was a woman to the left walking her dog and beyond the woman coming towards us on the sidewalk was a small gold figure. I focused my eyes and saw it was Frankie. What a relief.
I walked that way and stopped to pay attention to the small dog that was interested in me and told the lady about my bad cat. She turned to see him coming and I walked a few more paces and then scooped him up. She was happy, I was happy, and I think Frankie was happy to be home.
Once inside Chris and Floki had a smell fest and conducted a debriefing.
Bad Cat Chris 
I only lost track of Sammy once…….and David lost track of Teddy once…….it takes at least once for you to be freaked out enough that you just make sure nobody is around you when you go out the door OR in our case when you’re outside with your cats! Sammy went down into the woods as a little kitten and I couldn’t get to him because of the thorny undergrowth (which he could go under as a little guy)…………he came home in an hour while I sat crying my eyes out in a chair at the edge of the woods waiting!!! Teddy simply chased a squirrel into a neighbor’s yard and David wasn’t fast enough to keep up with him. LOL We all have our “crosses to bear” when it comes to our cats and their seemingly innate ability to be SNEAKY!
Pam
They are like our children. We just worry.
Yes – David and I are both like that!
Frankie, you rascal! Yes, the smell fest and debriefing…..cracks me up that cats do that. I have two of mine microchipped but not the third. You make me realize I should do that even if mine are indoor cats. They could sneak out in a heartbeat and I would be devastated.
I worry most about Floki because he has never been out and could easily get lost plus he is the most timid and hard to catch. Actually, he is the hardest to hold on to once caught.
You must have been really worried of Frankie, I know that feeling and nice to read the happy ending in this escape story.
Thanks. It always has a happy ending but there is no guarantee next time won’t be different.
I got mine microchipped from the shelter. And the tom was chipped then, too (he came a few years earlier, when they only did tattoos). It is obligatory here in Germany to have your cat chipped if it is an outdoor cat. Mine is not (the tom died 2017), but I still think better safe than sorry.
The shelter where I volunteer microchips all their cats before adoption.
We’re glad Frankie came out and you were able to get him back into the house.
It was such a relief seeing him.
He needs to be shut in another room before a door ever opens, he’s Houdini reincarnated!
I sometimes do that if I have a lot of groceries to bring in the house or something like that but if I’m leaving I don’t want to shut him in a room. We built a screened room in our other house and that was a perfect buffer zone but we can’t do that here.
That’s scary.when was young, we had an indoor/outdoor cat (That’s the way it was done then). She lived to be 16, but I always worried when she was gone for a while.
If I lived in a rural area I think I would do that but there are rules against outdoor cats here for one thing. I also don’t trust that drivers are watching where they’re going. If that’s not bad enough there are reports of coyotes in the area.
Same here.
Back before my time when Dad had a door where the cats could sneak out when he came in he got the squirty bottle and would give anyone near the door a shot if he was going out or coming in. In no time everyone got the message and the door became a no-cat zone. Now we have a vestibule out front which is super and out back we have a cat yard fence (huge) that we all enjoy.
That must be nice. I wish we had something like that.
I am familiar with the debriefing. I’m glad that they had the opportunity.
You and me both. 🙂
I’m glad Frankie came back in, he is an escape artist indeed!
I thought Chris was bad in his prime but Frankie might be worse. At least Chris didn’t disappear for 2 hours at a time.
(was found and captured and carried back in)
Carrying back in is right. I’m not sure if he would have come in on his own but maybe.
Ours occasionally manage to sneak past someone and it’s always a sudden panic, but usually they’re a bit shell shocked to be out the front of the house and while they’re stood there getting their bearings, you can scoop them up.
Glad yours are all safe 😺
You are lucky they are easy to catch. Perhaps if they make escaping a habit it won’t be so easy in the future. Frankie is an old pro.
I think you need to rename the blog, Bad Cat Frankie.
I think you are right. Frankie has taken over the bad cat duties. Chris is just annoying now. I suppose I could call it annoying cat Chris. 😁
That must have been scary for a while! My human watches doors like a hawk, and is always making adjustments to my harness.
It’s good that your mom takes you outside. That way you can get used to all the sites and smells around your house so that if you ever do get out without a harness you won’t get lost.
Frankie! OMG! Stay home and be good. All us furries know home is the best place to be!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I think he knows that too which is why he always comes back but I fear something bad might happen to him while he’s away.
My Ollie likes to sneak out now and again. Luckily, he doesn’t go far. He is such an inside kitty, he stays close.
You are lucky. Chris stays close too when I let him out, usually, but I still need to watch him.
Curious kitties. Good thing they have nine lives…
I think they need them with their irresponsible behavior.
Officially is was your fault…you open the door and didn’t back out, he saw the break in the fence and flew past me!
I know. I already got the official report. 🙂
Nice blog
Thanks.
dood….ya knead ta stop…..otherwize yur mom N dad will bee puttin like a GPS on ya !!!! we iz glad ya came bak home ♥♥♥ 🙂
Frankie is getting a microchip tomorrow morning.
Perish and banish the thought if Frankie had stay outside overnight. 🙂
Yes, it’s not something I want to think about.