A funny thing happened when Randy and I were working on Mom and Dad's powder room: One day I was waiting for Randy to help me measure the walls (it's a 2-person job). I was sitting in the living room looking out the window, and I see this snaking through the flower beds onto the front porch, and nearly had a heart attack.
For those of you who have known me a long time, you understand. For those who don't, this back is the spitting image of my first cat, Van Gogh, who passed away a few days before Randy and I were engaged, and is buried in the back yard. Before you get to thinking this is a zombie tale (tail, ha ha), I saw her face. Definitely not Van Gogh. Phew!
She walked up to the front door and started pawing at it. Who is this cat? Do Mom and Dad know her? So I did what any other pet owner would do, I went out on the front porch to see what was going on.
The cat's name is Ursula, and she had a number, but no address on her collar. I figured she was scared and lost, so I got her some food, and Randy called the number.
Randy talked to the man, whom we call "Ursula's Dad".
Randy told him where we were, and Ursula's dad came and got her. I was holding her in the kitchen, thinking she might get scared and run away before her dad came to get her. He came, I handed her over, he says, "Ursula wanders, but she's never walked into anyone's house before..." Ooops. She didn't come in, I carried her in because I thought she was an indoor cat that got out! Ursula is an outdoor cat! He put her down on the porch, and walked home. Ursula followed him like she was on a leash.
So a couple days later, I get a call from my brother, Bryan. The first thing he says is not "hello", or "hey, it's Bryan", it's "So I hear you met Ursula." Bryan did the SAME THING I did, was over at Mom and Dad's checking in on the house, and he met Ursula. He called Ursula's dad, and said he had his cat. So Ursula's dad says, "I think I talked to your brother or dad or someone last week." Ha! Randy was so offended that the guy thought he might be Bryan's dad! So Ursula's dad says she'll come home on her own.
A couple days later over the next weekend, I see Ursula sunbathing on the front porch.
I open the door to say hello, and Ursula walks into the house! Like she lived there! She goes into the kitchen, looks all around, walks into the dining room and into the living room, and jumps up into the window through which I first saw her. Of course I understand this is completely my fault. I should have recognized that she was an indoor/outdoor cat, but I didn't because my cats are indoor cats, and none of Mom and Dad's immediate neighbors have outdoor cats.
I knew Mom and Dad's cats, Tango and Foxtrot, would be upset if they came home to a new cat smell in the house, so I wrangled Ursula and gently took her outside. I slid shut the rolling screen door, and with one flick of her paw, Ursula snapped it right open again and walked right through. I didn't like doing it, but she's not our cat, and she has a good home, so I had to put her back out and shut the front door.
I walked by again, she was still there. I walked by again a little while later, and she was gone. Whew!
Until we went out back to use the miter saw on the back porch, and she was drinking out of the pool! She got through the fence! So we e-mailed Mom and Dad, and told them all about Ursula, how friendly she is, that she's a wanderer, but she has a good home, etc. Mom was excited to meet Ursula, but since they got home, we haven't seen her since! Has this ever happened to anyone else - you think you're helping out a lost pet, and you find out they're outdoor pets? Better to be willing to help someone who doesn't need your help, than to not be willing to help someone who needs it, right?
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