i think we're down to three

if you had asked me four hours ago if i would be coming and writing this post, i would have said "no way". in my head the words were necessarily going to have to come out different. i am glad i was wrong.

it all started around 3:30 am when marko came in to wake me up (he is a night owl and is often still awake at this time), he wanted to know where galena was. this is a very strange thing for him to ask, the whereabouts of our cat being a neither here nor there issue for him, and so i sat up to listen. i wasn't sure where she was, and this is the part where i admit that i leave the cat door unlocked all the time giving her complete freedom to come and go as she pleases. last night, it turns out, she had made the decision to go, and was outside at large. normally i wouldn't think much of this, she has been known to go out in the evening and sit on the deck or under the front hedge and then she comes back in and nestles herself in some corner. the look on marko's face told me i should maybe be worried though.

only moments before he had heard some ominous snarly and gnashing of teeth out the front of the house, "i think it was in the yard, just in front of that hedge", he said. the it, i soon found out, was two coyotes, possibly three. he saw something run out of the front yard but he couldn't be sure if it was a third coyote, a cat, or a coyote with a cat in it's mouth, as he was too stunned by the fact that there were coyotes in our yard to compute. he did see two linger in the street though, and then they were gone. after relaying the story to me he went into the street with a flashlight to see if he could see anything, clues as to what might have happened, but there was nothing there.

i was worried, but still optimistic, and after shaking the box of treats and calling her name to no avail i decided to go back to bed and assess things in the morning. when i awoke i went out to look and there they were, right in front of the hedge where marko heard the gnarling, three large chunks of white and black hair. my heart sank. i decided to put on a sweater and make the trek around the neighbourhood. i went to the end of the block to scour the park, up the alleys, and through people's yards, but there was nothing to be found. i tried to listen to my instinct and all it was saying was that she was gone, that they got her. she isn't exactly skinny, there is no way she could outrun a coyote. i was resolved, and so i came home, plopped myself down on the couch, and cried. i wasn't certain what was making me more sad, the fact that she had died or that she had died in what i imagined to be a horrific way. marko eventually conceded that i was probably right (until this point he felt certain that she would show up since there was no blood in the yard) and we continued about our early morning in relative silence.

it was almost two hours later when i heard the scratch. i thought it was in my head at first, but then it was clear. i rushed to the door, and there she was looking up at me with the widest eyes i have ever seen, fur was missing on her side, but there was no blood, no liimping, and as i gently massaged her all over i encountered no protests. she seems fine, but how? i still don't understand it all, surely she didn't out smart the coyotes? she is a domesticated, somewhat fat and lazy (but loveable) cat after all, but it appears that maybe she did. i hope she continues to seem fine as the day rolls on. so the lock is going on the cat door tonight, and i am here wondering, maybe cats really do have nine lives?


***update***
i went and had another look at her and unfortunately i did find two puncture marks on her back that were obviously made by teeth. it looks like she was picked up and carried, but perhaps because of her weight she was dropped or managed to escape. the wounds look fairly superficial at this point, but of course it is hard to tell and truthfully seems unlikely. i cut some of the hair around the area and rinsed it with warm soapy water and then applied some alcohol to the wounds. i will wait and see for now. our old place was beside the vet, it wasn't such a concern, but now it is a 25 minute bus ride, a bus ride i just can't do with two kids and a cat in a cage. if she worsens i am going to have to find someone to come be with the kids tomorrow. for now though she seems in good spirits and is still eating and grooming. keep your fingers crossed for us.