Of all our pets, Milo is the biggest troublemaker. He has always loved to dart out the door. Usually it's just the back door when we let the dogs out and he doesn't get past the porch before we scoop him up and put him back in the house. But Sunday around midnight, Milo snuck past when Johnny was coming in the front door. It wasn't until later in the day that we noticed he had gotten out. And it was exactly 6 years to the day from the last time Milo had gone missing on October 4, 2020 when we found him under the shed at the high school 55 hours after he'd gotten out.
Sunday night Johnny and I walked the yard and went up and down the street. Johnny drove around the area to see if he could see Milo's eyes shining...which is how he found him last time. We looked under bushes and porches that we could get to without having to open any of the neighbor's gates...because he really likes to hide under things. We used to let the cats out in the back yard until Milo started jumping the fence and going under the neighbor's porch. The first time Milo went missing was in April 2020 and I found him under the neighbor's shed with his belly all covered in mud. But when the new neighbors moved in, they put a fence/gate up. Since it was so late, we didn't want to knock on their door and wake up their baby. I also walked over to the high school and looked under the shed over there but had no luck.
I wasn't able to sleep much at all Sunday night. Most nights for the last month or two, Milo has been cuddling with me before he falls asleep on the pillow behind mine. He'll stretch out across my shoulder or lay across my back if I'm laying on my stomach. So it was a lot more noticeable that he was missing. I went to bed about 5am and then woke up again at 8:30am. I watched the cameras while I was awake and kept walking outside to look around. I put my shirt on the porch and the second night I put his bed out there. I put the a couple of the Propel boxes he sleeps in with some catnip that he loves in them. Then I also posted that he was missing on local FB groups, the Ring app, PawBoost, Petco Love Lost, etc. Monday afternoon, our neighbor right next door had posted a photo of a cat their dogs had chased into their tree in a local FB group that I wasn't in. I had several people send me her post as well as comment on her post that it was indeed our cat. Our neighbor realized it was us and came over to let us know that Milo had been in their tree since Sunday afternoon but when they tried to get him out of the tree, he darted off into their garage and then they couldn't find him. But I felt so much better knowing he was hopefully still in the area. I was also so irritated with myself because I spent so much time looking under things where he's hidden in the past...I didn't even think to look in the trees! And Milo made no sound and didn't move at all when we were walking around below him and calling his name (which is typical when indoor cats are scared and hiding).
Monday night after Johnny got off work, we were able to look in the neighbor's backyard...but no luck. I think it was just her husband home with the baby that night...we asked about looking in the garage and he went in but said he wasn't in there. Johnny and I ran over to Lowes to grab some much better flashlights plus I realized that we had thrown away our old duffle-size cat carrier so we ran over to Walmart and grabbed a new one. Then we grabbed the dogs (Nova is amazing at sniffing out critters) and walked around our entire neighborhood shining the flashlight in trees, under porches, around the pond...everywhere. We even went back to the school again just in case. But...we didn't have any luck. I ended up being so tired that I fell asleep around 1am and slept until 10am.
Then Tuesday afternoon, the neighbor sends me a message saying that they found Milo in their garage. He was tucked way in to the back corner of their garage behind a cabinet. I took the carrier and some treats...but he was wedged back there too far for me to grab him and he was completely uninterested in the treats. He was so scared that he didn't move at all. So I decided to call Animal Control to see if they would be able to get him out from behind the cabinet. I'd forgotten my phone on the coffee table, so I came home to get it and called. But as I was walking back, the neighbor said that Milo had darted out from behind the cabinet and was hiding behind their big plastic tub full of dog food. So luckily I was able to grab him by his scruff and put him in the cat carrier. FINALLY!
So after being missing for 64 hours...Milo is finally home safe and sound. I decided to take him back into my office away from the dogs to get him out of the carrier. He ended up going into our bedroom and hiding under the bed for a little while. I got him a bowl of water and he was really interested in the squeezy tuna treat. After a little while, he went downstairs where their food and litterbox is. He spent the evening lounging on the couch downstairs but then came upstairs while I was packaging my orders to take out to the mailbox. I wasn't sure if he'd come back into the bedroom to sleep on his pillow since the dogs were in there...but after I went and laid down he came in and laid across my back. He was digging his nails into my back so I ended up turning around and laying on my back. He cuddled on my shoulder for awhile and then he went up to his pillow to fall asleep. Johnny said it was so good to see Milo sleeping peacefully on his pillow this morning. :)
He seems to be doing well. He lost quite a bit of weight, but he's been eating and drinking fine. He's pretty much spent the entire day sleeping in my office and then in the evening he moved back downstairs to sleep on the couch down there.
Hopefully Milo has learned his lesson and won't be trying to escape again any time soon. :P
Also on Sunday...my phone broke. I was washing dishes and I had my phone in my hoodie pocket and when I bent down to put a plate in the dishwasher, it fell out of my pocket onto the floor. I've dropped my phone SO many times...but apparently this time was the last straw. AT&T still accepts trade-ins for broken phones...you just don't get as much of a discount. So I traded in my S23 Ultra for the S26 Ultra. I was get the "Ultra" version because they have a better camera. I ordered the new phone online Sunday and then picked it up at the local retail store on Monday. In between looking for Milo, I worked on setting up my new phone.
So...that's how my weekend went. :P