A single-handed stealth operation (Samantha is back upstairs)

I woke up at 2am to check on Samantha.

And I tell you, cats can read minds, for sure.

They can read minds and they will cooperate if they want to. Or, they will also try to tell you what they want (but are we smart enough to discern it – that is the question).

Yesterday we had new security windows installed upstairs. Once and for all, no more experimenting with various types of screens, just opt for one type for the long term. It is mosquito proof and cat escape proof. Hopefully, burglar proof too.

That is also partly the reason why Samantha had to live in Bunny’s cage. The installation involved drilling and the noise would have been very disturbing.

But I also had plans to take Samantha back upstairs (and yes, give Bunny’s cage back to Indy) after the new windows were installed. I only thought that by then, Samantha would have already delivered and it would be taking Sam and her family upstairs.

Well, no. She still has not delivered and I’m more than convinced now that I’ve got it all wrong.

It wasn’t Gerald who impregnated her. They mated multiple times on 6th December, but it probably did not take. Sam must have later mated with other tomcats in the neighbourhood and that resulted in this pregnancy.

This means that the day I caught Gerald and Creamy (6th December), I should have also attempted to catch Sam as well and got her spayed and all would be nice and dandy. I didn’t attempt to catch Sam because I thought that mating had resulted in pregnancy. Also, truth be told, Sam could not be caught. There was absolutely no way I could have caught her.

But that’s water under the bridge now. What’s done (or in this case, not done) is done.

We just have to move on.

So, back to this morning.

It was 2am. I went to check on Sam and she had made a complete mess of the cage. Now, this had never happened in the last 6 days. And this time, she was mewing, definitely telling me something and I discerned it as “Let me out!!”.

Or more accurately, “Let me out!! I know you want to take me back upstairs and give this cage back to Indy. I’ve tolerated being caged up for 6 days now because you wanted to fix the windows, so it’s time to take me back upstairs now. That’s what you planned, isn’t it? Can you please do it already?” 

Ok, ok, ok.

But how was I going to “take” Samantha back up? It isn’t as easy as just catching her and putting her in the carrier, right?  All hell would break lose.

Aha..but I already had a plan last night. It’s a very simple plan, actually (the best plans are the simplest). Take out the box at the bottom platform, replace it with the carrier, wait for her to go in, close the door, and that’s it, just carry her up in the carrier after she has gone in.

But will she go in?

We won’t know until we try, right?

So that’s what I did.

What do you know…she went in immediately and stayed in the carrier.

“Ok, take me up now”, she said.

I couldn’t believe it, but yes, she went into the carrier all by herself immediately and waited.

So I took cat-in-carrier up back to her room. Then I made a few trips and brought up all her litter boxes, her bowls and baskets and we’re done!

All done so quietly and stealthily that hubby was fast asleep and didn’t know what was going on.

Then I washed Bunny’s cage and gave it back to Indy, as promised.

These are our new security windows from Panther Protect. It’s stainless steel netting. No more grilles! Much safer for fire escape too. We are doing downstairs as well so it’s going to be another noisy day today, but the noise will only be downstairs.

I still don’t see the drop in the belly. So yes, I got it all wrong and blamed Gerald wrongly. Sorry, old boy. My apologies.

Bunny’s cage all clean now.

You are the sole inheritor of Bunny’s Cage, Indy. It is all yours now. Thank you very much for lending it to Samantha when we needed it. It’s awfully considerate of you, sir.

Indy: Hmmmmph… I have not charged you for rental yet.