Cat?

Cat likes going to the basement and hiding sometimes, which is not a big deal normally. She usually comes out when Ellie gets home and calls her so I don't think to much about it.

Well, today, Cat is officially banned from the basement forever. Why you may ask?

Well, today Ellie came home and went down to get her and she never responded. She does this occasionally. So Ellie comes upstairs to get a few chores done before heading out for the weekend then while in the kitchen starts freaking out.

"MOM!! There is something in the wall!!!"

"What? Quit goofing around!"

"I swear to God Mom, there is something in the wall behind the stove, you can hear it loud and clear."

So I go into the kitchen and sure enough you can hear something in the wall, it almost sounds like it's in the cupboard above the stove but you can hear it walking back and forth over the vent for the hood exhaust.

So, I go over there and tell Ellie there must be a really big squirrel in the wall (there is an opening in the siding on the second floor and I've seen squirrels going in there) so I figured it was a just a matter of time before they found their way into the walls.

I told Ellie I would call the landlord to have something done and to go get Cat from the basement. She goes back downstairs and starts calling Cat and then I hear it.

"Meow"

"CRAP!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"WHAT MOM? What is it?"

"IT'S CAT! SHE IS IN THE WALL!! JUST GREAT!"

So we start taking the hood down, hoping we can pull the vent out far enough that she can squeeze through and get out. Just as I get the last screw out to pull it out, no more noise. Nothing.

"Mom, where is she?"

"I don't know, start calling her again."

We called her for another 10 minutes with no response. Now mind you she's only been in the basement/wall for a couple of hours so I'm not overly concerned about starvation or dehydration but if she lost her footing and fell down or got stabbed by a nail or did encounter a squirrel and got into a fight................

"CAT!!! KIT CAT!!! PATTY WACK!!!"

"CAT!!!"

"mew"

"I hear her MOM!"

"WHERE?"

"It's very faint, it sounds like it's above us."

"No, NO, NO!!! She moved upstairs!"

Now, we live in the downstairs of a two story house, the upstairs is vacant, has been for a few months and there is a lock box on the door to the upstairs since the house is up for sale.

But, we have a connecting door to the stairs that go upstairs and luckily there is only a chain lock on it, which I can get undone. I get the door open and head upstairs.

We start calling her again and sure enough I can hear her in the walls between the kitchen and bathroom upstairs. Lovely.

BUT WAIT!!!

"ELLIE! BRING ME A PHILIPS HEAD SCREWDRIVER, NOW!!!!"

There is a panel in the wall where at one time they had to get into the pipes for the tub. There are two screws holding it in and I can hear her near that.

I told Ellie to keep talking to her so she didn't head out again as I frantically started unscrewing the screws.

Finally get the second one and remove the panel and "CAT!!!"

There she is, a little dusty but otherwise no worse for wear.

She wouldn't let Ellie hold her right away, turns out she really needed the litter box and thankfully didn't go in the walls!

So she is safe and sound once again and I set up a hook system on the inside of the basement door so we can close it behind us (it doesn't have a latch like a regular door, just a slide lock on the dining room side) and not have to worry about Cat going to the basement EVER AGAIN!

Deannda
On the upside I did manage to capture this picture tonight:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31244096&l=64a59a8...