Little Lost Kitten

A few weekends we had a major scare. One of my greatest fears is one of the animals getting out or running away and I learned it is a fear for a reason. It started off as a normal day for us. Mike ran out to get us starbucks, we relaxed and drank our coffee in bed, I made some breakfast. After a while I thought to myself, "I haven't seen the kitten in a while." This happened a few times in the past, she is a kitten and kittens hide. So I started with all of her normal spots. Then I moved on to some new spots where I thought maybe she would be. As a last resort I shook her food bowl since she always comes running when it's time to eat. When she didn't come running I started to panic. My heart was racing and I just kept repeating to Mike, "The kitten is gone, the kitten is gone."

After checking all the possible places she could be again, we realized she wasn't in the house. We replayed all of the morning events back in our heads. Mike had gone out to get coffee, and come back in the front door. He also ran out quickly to check a paint swatch for his car and came back in. The dogs had gone out in the back yard too, so we weren't even sure which door she escaped from thus our search and rescue mission began.

Mike started walking the neighborhood. I checked around the back yard and alley. I also checked the laundry room and stairwell. Every time I came in the house I expected to see Purrl pop out of a hiding space, but she didn't. I decided to take to the streets too with a little bell toy to shake that usually sends the kitten into a frenzy. I hoped that she would recognize the sound and run out.

About an hour or so later Mike and I ran into each other and I decided to pass the toy off to him and go home and make some flyers. I ended up posting about 25 - 30 of these babies around the neighborhood while sobbing and repeating to myself out loud "the kitten."

After trekking the neighborhood with no luck knowing that dark was approaching I decided to take a break and sit on my porch in the cold and just hope. I also made some calls to PAWS Chicago and animal control to see if anyone had brought her in. Right about this time my neighbor was returning home. Him and his wife just had a baby so I congratulated him and explained to him what I was doing outside. A few minutes later he came down and said "Meet me in the back, I think I found your little guy!" Again, my heart started racing but in an entirely different way. He met me in the stairwell where he moved two giant doors that were just hanging out up there on the second level. Sure enough, crouched in a little ball was a very scared little kitten. I grabbed her and held her as close as I could, then thanked the neighbor over and over again.

I came in and texted Mike. When he returned home I asked him how he wasn't sobbing like me while she was lost. He basically said he was on the inside but had to keep it together. Awwww. We were so happy and relieved to have our kitten back. The next day we went out and bought her a collar and name tag. It's funny because we actually had one before but she did not like it! We thought we were doing her a favor by taking it off but she is out of luck! From here on out the kitten wears her collar!

O, and we did have to go retrieve all those flyers before dark!