Magical Disappearing Cats: Zazzles & Alex's Vanishing Acts

Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction to learn more about me and meet my five hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.

I don’t know about you, but some of my cats are magic.

It’s one thing for cats that go outside to seem to vanish off the face of the earth from time to time, only to appear again in time for dinner, but when your completely indoor feline pulls off a vanishing act on a regular basis, you can’t help but suspect there are mystical forces at work.

Not long ago, we had some friends come to stay with us, and they were all too aware of how strict we are about letting our cats outside. One afternoon, I came home from work and the pair of them were sitting in our lounge room looking incredibly sheepish.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, wondering who’d broken what.

“We can’t find Alex,” came the reply.

“Oh! Is that all? You had me worried for a minute. Don’t stress, this is just what Alex does. He vanishes.”

But they wouldn’t relax until I had proceeded to turn the house upside down in search of our ginger ninja. And just as I knew he would, Alex magically appeared in the middle of the kitchen floor at precisely the time we had finished searching every square inch of the house. There he sat, calmly licking his paws, pretending to be oblivious to the furniture that had been rearranged during our game of hide-and-seek.

“But where was he?” came the perplexed question.

“That” I said, “is for Alex to know, and us never to find out.”

Whilst Alex would give Mr Mistoffelees a run for his money, Zazzles has proven herself to be equally committed to hiding, but somewhat less skilled at vanishing completely. It has taken me several years, but I believe I have finally mapped out her favorite hiding spots, of which she has five, one of which we recently destroyed by swapping our ottoman bed for a regular slatted arrangement. Prior to this, Zazzles had a rather impressive technique of opening the drawers under the bed just enough to ooze inside, then somehow close it behind her. Or perhaps she had an accomplice; I never witnessed this for myself.

Sully, the cat who joined me in the UK, all the way from Australia, was also skilled in the art of invisibility. Like Alex, she would always finish her disappearing act with a sudden, stealthy reappearance in the center of a room, looking as though she had been sitting there all along. And this is where the magic comes in.

Our house is of a reasonable size, but it is not enormous. We have systematically checked every drawer, cupboard, nook, cranny, basket, and bread bin. We have searched under sofas and checked above the fridge, and never come up with the goods. Although I am not a superstitious person, nor one who believes in the supernatural, the only conclusion I can reach is that I have a magical disappearing cat. Or, more correctly, a magical reappearing cat!

Perhaps next time I’ll get one that can make my bills disappear.