As some of you may know because I know I occasionally mention it on Twitter/Facebook, we have cats. At one time, we had five, but one (a gorgeous black cat with the most wonderful personality) went missing a few months ago (sadly). Today, we darn near lost another, but it’s almost as funny a story as it is harrowing.
My husband rented a truck this weekend to move some furniture. He still had it for a few hours today and there was a bunch of stuff we needed to take to the dump. He opened the truck this morning and loaded it, then closed it up and we drove to the dump to pitch everything out. Shortly after we got to the dump pad and started unloading, we caught sight of something running away from the truck. It was one of our cats—Pumpkin Patch, a tiny little calico. Obviously, she climbed into the back of the truck when my husband wasn’t looking and got shut in.
So, there we were, watching in horror as she ran away from us right toward all the huge, noisy dump trucks and big rigs. The poor thing had to be terrified! I’m sure she was wondering where she was, not to mention how on earth she’d gotten there.
I jumped down off the truck and called her, but I had absolutely NO confidence she’d come to me in that situation. (Plus, I was pretty sure this cat has used up all her nine lives and then some, as she has stayed out overnight far too times because she refuses to come in at dinner time.) I had visions of having to tell my children she’d been squashed by a tractor or simply run away from us.
To my utter amazement, however, she turned and came toward me—slowly, tentatively, but close enough that I was able to lean down and nab her. Phew!
We got her into the cab of the truck, and then one of the dump workers pointed out a pet taxi that had been dumped by someone before us. It was perfectly serviceable, and although I have some worries about the possibility that it was discarded because the previous occupant had some sort of contagious illness, we took it and put her in it. Driving home with a loose, terrified cat in the cab of the truck didn’t seem like such a good idea.
Needless to say, she’s home now, safe and sound (actually, she’s sleeping on top the monitor right in front of me), but that was a close call!
That was a good trick on her part. She should be in Meankitty’s Gallery 🙂
So glad she’s ok hon! We used to have a cat that loved sitting on the dash board while we drove. Oddball.