This is a picture of GUS. Gus is the cat of my friends James & Erin Bow. Five or so days ago, Gus managed to pry open the screen on their backyard door and escape into the wild, outisde world.
With James and Erin out of town, and his parents out of town for the weekend, I kept an eye on their place…and an eye out for Gus.
Yesterday, relayed through several messages that seemed to bounce all across Ontario, I was told that a neighbour of James & Erin had Gus trapped in his garage, and was feeding him. I raced there in my car, driving like a bat out of hell…no doubt cursing the fact that I received the message just as I got from from my THIRD patrol around the Bow residence!
Gus was hiding behind a bike in the garage. He was obviously spooked, but he did manage to come to me when I called him…and then, with the help of the neighbour, he was scopped into his carrying case. End of story…walk back to the Bow house…
…but…the story didn’t end there…because the little bugger burst from his case and ran for the backyard shrubs of the townhouse complex!
The chase began. Leaning down, looking under shrubs and fences…seeing flashes of fluffy whiteness and terrified cat glances…and puzzled glances from neighbours, wondering who this very large, very strange man was, and what was he doing, poking his nose into assorted backyards…
Finally, Gus stopped in the middle of a grassy lane between houses. He warily looked at me with my hand out…and then cautiously sauntered over to me, meowing pathetically. With no other option left to me, I picked him up (and I could feel his twitchy nervousness — like a body full of ball bearings) and shoved him back into James’ house via the back door.
Now…all of this would be fine…if it wasn’t for the fact that I am VERY VERY VERY ALLERGIC to cats!
Think about it…I had to pick him up…I allowed him to rub against me for what seemed like an eternity. I even scratched his head when he lay down & took a position that screamed “oh god, PLEASE SHOW ME LOVE!” Judging from the purr-machine he became, it was most appreciated…at least, on his end.
All of this, combined with looking after James’ parents’ cat (I’m not even sure that’s grammatically accurate), left me with cat hair all over my clothes, a massively stuffed nose, and a bloodshot left eye! After taking two baths and downing Claritin as if it were fruit from the tree of life, I was confident I would avoid death…just.
Gus was lonely, frightened, hungry…but home…and I need to stay away from cat hair for a few days…and buy more Claritin!
