Animal Adventures

Sounds like a title for a new show on Animal Planet, doesn't it? :-) No, it's just the best description of this week at our house.

We are a family that loves all kinds of animals. Through the years we have owned a variety of pets--cats, a dog, rabbits, several dozen mice (never trust a pet store clerk who tells you, "Oh yeah, we're pretty sure those two are both male."), a few fish. Currently we're down to just one cat, who is in big trouble with all of us today. And we're hosting a guest birdie. Indie is an injured mourning dove the kids are trying to nurse back to health after an encounter with a neighbor's cat. I'll tell her story first.

Monday, after helping our neighbor save her cat from the stomach upset of eating yet another bird, Mr. Monkey realized the unfortunate dove was still alive. He set her up in our tree to die in peace and asked me to come look. After watching her for a while, Little Miss Mom became convinced the dove could be saved. She, MM and 4 Eyes begged me to let them try to rescue her. We talked about the slim chance she has of making it--a broken left wing; missing bones; 3 bald, raw spots; lots of bleeding. After swearing to do whatever it takes to save her, I agreed to let them try. We did some research online, prepared a box for her to recuperate in, and cleaned her wounds. She has survived for over 2 days. If she dies now, it will be from infection, and we've done everything we can for her. The kids said at least they'll know she didn't suffer.

So after that drama 2 days ago, I woke up to my alarm this morning and wondered where Gray was. She usually very helpfully wakes me before my alarm. Two or three times. Starting two or three hours before I have to get up. She wants to make sure I don't forget to feed her before I leave for work. But not this morning. Strangely enough, I got a night of sleep uninterrupted by the cat. I figured she was stuck in another room. Nope. I realized she slipped out last night. And she didn't turn up on a quick look outside. I woke up MM and LMM. While I went to work they rounded the block looking for her, printed flyers and posted them around the neighborhood.

We all love this cat. She's about 8 years old, and she's really like one of our family. MM really grieved this morning because he knew chances of her returning weren't great. He was so depressed he decided not to go to the free movie with us. Dozer planned to stay home with him, but LMM and 4 Eyes wanted to forget for a while. As we were just about to walk out the door, guess who comes sauntering in as if she spends every night outside? This is a cat that gets scared by the sight of mice. On the rare occasion she makes it outside, she's frozen with fear of the big, bad world. She ate a very late breakfast and proceeded to take a nap like she had not just put us through gut-wrenching loss.

She got her nap, and we all made it to the free movie. The spoiled rotten little cat seems to be no worse for a night spent under the house, the guest dove is recuperating better than we expected, and the rest of us are exhausted. I cannot be held responsible for what happens to that cat if she wakes me before my alarm tomorrow. Just don't tell the kids it was me.