My cat, Lois Lane, is an inside cat. Recently, she found her way outside. She was gone for 3 days and refused to return. She started hanging out with 2 other neighborhood cats. One of them is a cat I’ve never liked. He looks like thug! The cat has stripes and one of those stripes looks like a bandana wrapped around his head. That miserable cat likes to come around my trash can outside and, if he sees an opening, gets in the can and typically drags out as much garbage as he can. When I catch him in the act, he kinda just looks at me as if to say, “I’m not doing anything wrong, ese’.” Then, he’ll usually, nonchalantly, jump off the can and walk away with his tail in the air. The other cat is a much smaller cat and seems to be second hand to “Bandana”. I think he’s actually the look out. “Look Out” always stands alert as “Bandana” does his thing with the neighborhood trash cans. When I’ve caught them both in the act, Look Out is the one that always takes off running fist, leaving Bandana to his own affairs.
Lois spent those 3 days running around with those punks. I tried all that I could to get her to come back. I would set out water and food, at my front door, every day, to try to get near enough to grab her. Every time I would open the door, she would take off running to the neighbor’s house, where she would duck under a car, where the other 2 misfits were waiting. I couldn’t get close to the car without them taking off. On one occasion, Lois made a dash to the neighbor’s car again, after I had come out of my front door. She immediately jumped onto my front yard fence and stopped for a brief moment and turned around to look at me, as if to say, “I’m not ready to come back. I’m having too much fun out here.” She would then jump off the fence and take off to parts unknown. Of course, with Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb in tow.
During those 3 days, I felt betrayed. I’ve raised Lois for an entire year, and in that time, I’ve put her needs in front of mine. She’s always had fresh water and food in her bowls and a clean litter to go to. When I get home, I typically talk to her about my day and she’ll typically talk (meow) back. We understand each other. If she is not in the social mood, she’ll simply stay away and that’s okay with me. I’m not that social anyway. At night, we have our routine. If I am in any other part of the house, she’ll wait with me there until I’m ready to go to bed, at which point, she’ll follow me into the bedroom and will lie down with me to call it a day. In the morning, we’ll go through another routine. By 6am, she’s usually hungry and will try waking me by meowing up a storm. I’ll get up, complain to her, “Ay, calm down! It’s too early to eat anyway!”, feed her, then head back to my “Unemployment” bed. We’ve never fought. There hasn’t been a time that I remember when she’s done anything to upset me. But, this running away thing? Yeah, that’s got me reeling!
She never did come home on her own accord. I actually had to corner her in a bush to get her back. For the first time, Lois actually hissed at me! For 2 days after I got her back, she seemed distant and mean. She no longer went through our daily routine. Yeah, I was sad about it for a while, but I was a lot more angry about it. She ignored me, but I wasn’t in any mood to carry on as usual with her either! For 2 days, it went that way. Eventually, she got back into our routine, but I was still mad. It actually took me longer to get back to normal than it took her.
A few weeks later, she managed to get outside again. This time, through an open window that had a loose screen. I didn’t go looking for her this time around. I didn’t even put food and water out for her. If she thought she could have a better life out there without me, let her try to find it. I’m not a person to be stepped on.
She came back the next morning. She walked up to the back door, meowing up a storm, like she does when she’s hungry. I let her in and ignored her again for a few days. If she’s not going to appreciate me, I’m not going to put in an effort either. I don’t know what’s she’s been up to out there with Bandana and Look Out, but I’m sure it’s not good. Now, I fear the worst. I think she might be pregnant. I just hope that if she is, her kids won’t one day, take her for granted too. But then again, life has a funny way of showing you that “What comes around, goes around…”
Comedian Omar Tarango 