Boogers? Pansy? No, it's Hazel Lucy Two!!!

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January 25th 2012 9:32 pm
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Dad was giving us our last snackie the other morning before he went to work and noticed that Willie got off his perch but never showed up for his snackie which is NOT like Willie. Dad goes down the basement steps and about 4 steps down he gets a strong whiff of pee. Then he sees Willie under the oil tank and he won't come out. Dad starts freaking out that Willie is having urinary problems again. He hasn't had an issues in well over 4 years. He calls our vet and she is not in that day. Dr. Winter is the only one we like to see even though there are a dozen other docs there. Now he calls Mom and asks her if she saw Willie pee before she left for work. She isn't sure. Dad didn't see Willie pee anywhere on the stairs or struggling but he doesn't know what else to think.

Dad puts Willie in their bedroom area by himself until he can come home for lunch to check on him. He has a bathroom and water and a big clean litter box and blankies and perches so it is not as sad as it sounds. He closes the basement door because he can't figure out what is going on down there. Now I am sniffing all around down there and Pearl and Cindy Lou are acting weird too.

Dad comes home at noon and goes to check on Willie. There is a huge pee in the his litter box so Dad is relieved that everything is okay with him and lets him out of the room. But we are all still freaking out at the basement door to try to get down there. Normally the door is ajar so we can go down to use the box down there. Dad puts a bowl of dry food down there and sprinkles some baby powder around it to see if the food will be eaten and whose footprints will be there. He looks all around with a flashlight and sees nothing. The basement is almost all empty anyway. He glances up the the little window and then he sees it. A huge hiney sitting on the outside under the front porch. He gets a step ladder and stands on it and yep, there are pointy little ears. It's a cat!!! A big stinky outside cat! It was raining so he or she was sitting under the porch to stay out of the rain.

Dad goes outside with a bag of food (he knows he shouldn't 'cause he doesn't want the stinky smell to be in the basement anymore) and there are 2 cats!!! A big tabby and a big black and white tuxedo. The tabby runs around the corner but the other big cat doesn't move. Maybe Boogers came to visit me. Or Pansy! Or, gulp, Princess, although she did not have blonde hair or sunglasses.

He puts a big bowl of food and a bowl of water out under the step and sure enough the big tuxedo comes to eat it. It's kind of dark and raining so he only sees the white part of the cat and knows it is not the tabby. He has to go back to work but he tells Mom not to go in the basement until they are both home. That night, the food is untouched and there are no footprints in the powder. The cats must have peed right outside that window and the smell got inside. But thank goodness, no stray cats got inside the basement.

Yesterday evening, when Dad pulled the car up the driveway, he saw a big blur run across the yard to the same place under the porch. He went to feed him/her again. Today, he went out right as it was getting dark and looked under the porch with a flashlight. No kitties. He put some food out and turned around and guess who is sitting there about 6 feet away? A big beautiful kitty but he's/she's not BLACK and white, he/she is GRAY and white. Then it hits him, this is the kitty that he named Hazel Lucy last summer!!!! He fed him/her quite a bit back then and then didn't see him/her anymore. What a beautiful kitty. Dad doesn't think this cat acts like a feral although he can't get very close. Smart kitty, he knew Dad was going to feed him/her again. No signs of the tabby. Also, thank goodness, the pee smell has completely gone away in the basement. Dad wants to move the feral shelter he made last year somehow closer to the porch. The shelter has been out there and elevated by the shed for 2 years, but it doesn't look like anyone has ever used it. He even cut a hole in the back end so there would be an escape route. Don't know if that was a mistake or not, but no one seems to use the shelter and it is nice and insulated and has straw in it. Will keep you posted. One bright side is that this has been one of the most mild winters we have had in years so far.

The Murrman