Where, oh Where, did my Little Cat Go…

My handsome Cernunnos

I think I might be down a cat. I have not seen my Cernunnos in about 4 or 5 days and I am worried. I know cats can and will take off for a few days sometimes before coming back home, again, but I have a really bad feeling about this. I usually see Cerny, along with Brucie, almost every morning, while I’m drinking coffee and perusing the garden. I usually give the cats some catnip during this morning ritual.

The day before yesterday, we worked up north, meaning we didn’t get home until somewhat late (8-ish). Brucie came in not long after we got home. He went to jump on the bed but only made it halfway up, landing into the side, grabbing onto the blankets to get the rest of the way up. I thought that was quite curious, since Brucie is such an agile cat, so I kept an eye on him.

When he got ready to jump up from the bed to the cat area we have set up for him and Cerny, we noticed Brucie was holding one of his back legs up, not using it. I picked up Brucie, flipped him on his back, and examined his back leg: a small puncture wound just above what I would call his ankle and a wound across the main foot pad. His foot was swollen to twice its normal size. Damn.

I put Brucie up in the cat area by the food and went to go find the vet ointment we have for just such things. Lance grabbed Brucie from the cat area and held him still so I could slather the ointment on the wounds. This, of course, upset Brucie and he left, tripod style. I would just have to get a better assessment the next day, but at least I was able to get the ointment on.

Yesterday morning, Brucie showed up for his morning catnip. No Cerny. Brucie is consistent about showing up every morning, as if on cue, for the morning nipping, but Cerny has been known to not make an appearance until later, sometimes not at all. I started thinking about whether or not I had seen Cerny the morning before, or the one before that. No. Hmmm…. The fact that Brucie is injured makes Cernunnos’ absence a bit worrisome.

I have trained all the cats I have ever had to come to a whistle I do. It may sound strange, but my cats come running when I whistle their whistle, wherever they may be, so long as they can hear it. Last night, Lance and I walked around the property, whistling for Cerny and Brucie (we hadn’t seen Brucie since the morning and wanted to make sure he came home so I could check his wounds). Nothing. This is when the pre-worry “I’m not going to worry. They are cats” mantra comes in.

A little while later, I found Brucie laying in the cat hallway (this is the area under what would be the bench seat for the table if we hadn’t turned the area into a dog bed. We installed a cat door in one of the outer hatches and this is how they get to it from inside). I checked his back leg, which didn’t seem quite as swollen. Good. We moved the cat dish into the cat hallway so that Brucie didn’t have to jump up to the bed and then the cat area to eat.

This morning, still no Cernunnos. The mantra is gone. I’m worried. I walked around this morning with my coffee, whistling, again, for Cerny. No Cerny. I keep telling myself that I shouldn’t worry, he is a cat, he will show up, but I’m not sure how much of me believes it. I really think I’m down a cat, and I’m really upset about it.

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