You may ask me, after hearing this story, "How can you POSSIBLY LOSE two out of three cats in TWO DAYS?!?!?". Well, my friends. It's not probable. But it is possible. And it was true.
I arrived at A&S's place tonight to feed their cats and clean the litter boxes. S's mom is seriously sick and they are together in Harbin (northern China, home of the Ice Festival I attended the past two years), and A went up to stay with them for an extended weekend. I, being the excellent friend that I am, told them it was no problem to take care of the three rascals while he was away. No worries. De nada.
Day 1 found no issues (other than the terribly involved feeding process for their little cat Arza... spelled Erzi in pinyin Chinese) and I thought to myself, "Hey, there's nothing to this do-gooder thing."
Day 2 was even easier... the cats seemed to be friendlier and more curious and I got the routine for feeding Erzi down to a smooth process. I aired out the place a bit, opening up the windows, cleaned the litter boxes, refilled bowls and all was well.
Day 3 was strange. I walked in with my friend TL who loves cats and wanted some cuddle time. Looking at the state of bowls in the living room, I was struck by something... their food dishes were full. As were the water dishes.
Now, I know cats are finicky. And I knew that the little cat Erzi only ate wet food provided by me upon arrival. TL thought it odd, but also mentioned the fact that cats can be moody and cantankerous and it shouldn't be something to worry about.
But the strangeness kept on going. The past two nights, the other cats (Mia and Peter) had checked me out with some serious curiosity and uncertainty while I was feeding Erzi in the kitchen. Tonight... no visit. No appearance. Nothing.
Well, it turns out that A&S's cats are super athletic and were able to jump, climb through the 3 inch gap in the skylight and out onto the roof. 2 cats gone. Out of 3. That's a 33% success rate. And an epic fail. But how was I supposed to know?
After some serious searching, a bit of finding, and a whole lot of coaxing (which turned into me literally reaching my hand into a dark hole and pulling out this scared-witless cat), we were back to a passing grade of 67%, or 2/3 cats. But really... are A&S gonna forgive the loss of one pet within 3 days of me housesitting? Uhhh... it's unlikely.
After numerous phone calls, tonnes of food-bag shaking, some beckoning from balconies and a whole lot of prayers, no 3rd cat was located. Not on the roof (it seems roofs for me are particularly important in China... Halloween last year I had another rooftop escapade), not on the patios, not in the neighbours apartments. Nothing. I couldn't find him. So, there's a bowl of food and water on the patio and a whole lot of wishing rising to the heavens tonight for Peter to safely return to A&S's place.
For now, it's time to attempt to sleep while dreaming about accidentally killing my friends' animals while they are on vacay. Worst. Petsitter. Ever.
T
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