Breaking and Entering

The trip back home after our visit to Iowa was long, but our cups were full. We were eager to return to our own little acreage, check in on our animals, and settle back into familiar routines.

Upon our arrival, we began checking on each of our animals. Our dog greeted us enthusiastically at the gate. Our lambs had been dropped off earlier that day and were safe and sound, already tucked inside their shelter for the night. Our birds were none too happy about being cooped up for the week, but all were well. Our eggs sat in lockdown in the incubator, preparing to hatch within days.

Our cats took a little more time to track down. There was Jasper. And Sylvie.

But where was Edie?

We had been most worried about Edie because Edie is solidly an indoor cat. However, as outdoor animal people, we had slowly been introducing Edie to the outside world, helping her acclimate to her new living situation. For this particular trip, we opted to leave her fully outside alongside her fellow feline companions.

Still, we suspected she might attempt to sneak into the house while our friends came and went checking on the incubating eggs.

As we roamed the property checking on animals and unloading the van, we kept an eye out for her, but saw no sign of Edie either inside or outside.

Finally, one of the children spotted her in the house.

I was confused because I had already checked the house rather thoroughly, or so I’d thought.

Then my husband discovered our shower curtain rod had fallen down—and there was cat poop in our shower.

Gross.

Well, that certainly confirmed that Edie had been inside the house.

But how had she gotten into the master bathroom? I was almost positive I had shut all the bedroom doors before we left.

I was stumped.

A little later, as I carried another load of bags into the bedroom, I noticed that the grate to our floor vent had been removed.

Odd.

Surely my husband must have been working on something. But when would he have even had the chance? We had all been busy unloading the van and tending animals since the moment we arrived home.

So I asked him about it.

He stared at me blankly.

He knew nothing about it.

Now we were both confused.

Who had removed the grate then? And when?

Then suddenly, the pieces fell into place.

I had shut the bedroom door. Edie had pooped in the shower. Her favorite place outside was under the house.

No way.

Had this cat seriously crawled through the crawlspace, broken into the A/C ducts beneath the house, climbed up through the floor vent, removed the grate, and proceeded to enjoy free rein of our bedroom while we were gone?

Surely not.

We tossed her outside and waited.

Within minutes, we heard her tiny mews coming from beneath the house. At first, she couldn’t seem to find her way back in, and we briefly wondered if perhaps some other animal had somehow been the culprit after all.

But eventually…

Up came Edie through the floor vent.

The cat burglar herself.

Naughty kitty.

Stay tuned: Meet Spot is coming June 2.