Do Missing or Lost Pets Put a Damper on Your Party Plans?

This engaging blog entry reminded me about the terror my husband Marty and I experienced as we were getting ready to celebrate my 60th birthday with friends and family. While the main event was to be held at my favorite Chinese restaurant, everyone was invited to our house for an after-dinner party. And to assure that our guests wouldn’t be covered with cat hair, we hired a professional cleaning service to make our house spotless and in tip top condition.

The cleaning crew arrived early in the morning armed with buckets, brushes, a huge vacuum cleaner, sponges, mops and towels, eager to get to work. However, we were quite concerned that one of the workers might inadvertently leave an outside door open, so we confined our cats to our bedroom.

We instructed the crew to alert us when they were ready to clean the bedroom, so we could move the kitties to another location, keeping them safe.

And clean they did! The kitchen floor was immaculately waxed to a shine, and while the roaring sound of their vacuum cleaner was barely tolerable, the living room was transformed into a decorator’s dream.    

When they were ready to start cleaning our bedroom, I carefully transferred Sir Hubble Pinkerton and Dr. Hush Puppy, our two Oriental shorthairs into Marty’s office. But when I returned to the bedroom to retrieve Mousie Tongue-our seal point Siamese- to my shock and horror, he was nowhere to be found.

While the workers polished off the bedroom, I guarded the door in case Mousie had hidden in a closet. As soon as they were finished I sent them on their merry way and immediately Marty and I embarked on a thorough search for the kitty who went missing.

Marty and I spent hours hunting for Mousie in every closet, dresser drawers, and any hiding place we could think of.  Marty even searched the refrigerator and in the medicine cabinet. We checked the back of the TVs and every suitcase in the closet. We rustled through bookcases and behind the entertainment center and in total desperation, just in case he had escaped, ran up the stairs to the sidewalk, calling his name.  Since Mousie was nowhere to be found, we considered cancelling the party.

But just as we were about to give up and I was ready to call the fire department and animal control, it struck me like a lightning bolt that as a kitten, Mousie’s favorite hiding spot was under our bedroom recliner. We carefully lifted the chair and there he was . . . fast asleep. 

Marty and I will never forget that birthday and since tomorrow is my birthday, housecleaning is not on my agenda.

Have you had similar scary moments with your pets? Tell us about it in a comment.