An Hour Later, Their Tails are Still Puffy

I can only think of a few heart-pounding adventures that should rightly take place before 7:00 AM, and cat-and-raccoon (or was it a coyote?) tug-of-war isn't one of them.

Just like every other day, I let the cats out first thing in the morning. While it's bright and sunny first thing in the morning in July, it's dark and cold at the same hour in October, so lately I've been a bit nervous letting them out, but I knew it would get light soon, so I let them out. Usually they frolic immediately into the woods, but this morning they sat still on the deck for a few moments and then moved pensively onto the lawn. I didn't give it a second thought.

I sat down sleepily at my laptop, beginning to delve into a few e-mails when -- CRASH! Bailey came careening onto the deck with such force that she crashed into two recycle bins and almost went straight over the railing! She was absolutely terrified, her tail about 3 inches wide and completely puffy, her back arched, and her eyes bugged practically out of her head. I was able to grab Bailey and bring her in the house, but Boo was still outside.

Let me just say, as if it weren't already obvious, that I am a "cat lady" in the most pathetic sense of the word. I adore my kitties and find amazing comfort in their presence, especially these days. I consider them to be a critical component of my sanity, even. (Which might, I am well aware, actually attest to my INsanity.) Plus, they're sweet and cuddly and they love me. It's a very self-centered, ego-centric love affair, but suffice it to say that I need my kitty cats. Both of them.

Seeing that something had absolutely terrified Bailey and knowing that Boo was still outside, I immediately grabbed a flashlight and went to search for... well, I was afraid I was searching for a lifeless body. Either that, or Boo would be nowhere to be found, carried off, bleeding and scared, gripped in some animal's huge teeth. My mind was reeling with horrific images of my poor kitty's death.

I called Boo repeatedly, but the forest was silent. At this point I began to cry, sure that he was gone, killing myself for letting the cats out in the first place -- even though I had let them out each morning for years. I couldn't call him if I was crying, so I put Shasta on a leash and asked her to "find the kitty."

I didn't have high hopes of finding Boo. Whatever scared Bailey so badly must have gotten Boo. Bailey was completely traumatized by, I figured, the sight of Boo being attacked. There I was, a pathetic sobbing cat lady, standing in my jammies in the freezing, dark forest, flashlight in one hand, dog leash in the other, muttering between gulps, "Boooooooo?"

Boo must have thought I was nuts as he nonchalantly rubbed against my heels. What?! Where did he come from? Wasn't he just being carried off in the jowls of a ferocious creature?

"Geeeeze, Ma, I'm right here... calm down, would'ja?" he seemed to say. I scooped Boo into my arms, juggling the flashlight, Shasta's leash and my reading glasses, and running into the house, where he jumped out of my arms. Indeed, his tail was a bit fluffy, indicating that something had scared him, too, in spite of the brave, I'm-not-scared demeanor he'd displayed outside. I can only figure that, while Bailey came running back toward the house, Boo scurried up a tree to escape whatever monster had tried to get them!

Bailey was still cowering under the bed. Whatever they had seen, it had scared Bailey more than Boo, but had obviously frightened both of them. Boo, ever the sweet daddy/brother/husband joined Bailey, licking her affectionately and settling in to comfort her.

And that's where they are now. Tomorrow morning I'm not letting these guys out until it's light... and maybe not even then. I'm a pathetic cat lady and if I lost these guys now, I have a feeling it's not all I'd lose. And I need my sanity these days!