Leelee's Place 2

The Adventure's of Athena

As some of you know Athena was missing for about 36 hours.  I just did a post about her "new" haircut about a week ago and how skinny she was looking. I have also posted and said many times we are ready for her to "check-out." I know that is mean, but she is an obnoxious cat. In spite of all that we were still upset that she was missing, just vanished into thin air. The story started last Saturday when we were leaving for a day trip to Lubbock. We were all loaded up and ready to go when I remembered something we left in the house, so I came back in and noticed we had left Athena in too, which is definitely bad, unless we like little surprises when we come home (if you know what I mean.) So I know I put her outside in the back yard with the dogs. We left and had a wonderful time in Lubbock. We picked out a new living room set and are anxious for it to arrive, but we will have to wait a bit as it was special order. We had a nice time visiting with friends and family and after dinner headed for home. We got home about 9:00 PM. I noticed Athena didn't do her usual of dashing in the garage as the door was coming down, making the door go back up, but just assumed she was already in the backyard. Then as we were trying to get everything we had bought in the house, I again noticed she wasn't right under foot like usual, but just thought she must have already run in the house. Then after we got in and got things put down, Kevin said, "Where's Athena?" I said, "I don't know. She didn't come in with the rest of the pets." So we started looking and calling. Kevin got the flashlight and went out in the alley, the front yard, our side yard, our neighbors side yard calling and checking the bushes. No Athena! We were really worried that something dastardly had happened to her as she looks so pathetic. Throughout the night, we would randomly check the garage and the yard calling her name. Yet, she never came. When we went to bed around 1:00 AM we did one more check, but still no Athena. It was very odd because she NEVER leaves the yard. We just knew someone had run over her, or picked her up or even the dog catcher might have caught her in a trap. But it was very odd that she had just vanished. Then next morning when we got up, we again checked the yard and the garage, calling for her, but again, nothing. We went to church, then lunch and as soon as we got home checked again. Nope, still missing. Periodically either Kevin or I would make another patrol, but still no kitty. We had finally decided she was dead, that maybe she had wandered off to die and we would never know what happened to her. It really was troublesome not knowing. I asked God to just let us know what happened to her, even if she was dead, I just wanted to know what happened. I told mom I would rather have found her dead in the yard or garage. At least we would have known what happened to her. I told Kevin we would have to call the vet's office and the pound on Monday morning to see if anyone had called or turned her in. Before that could happened the phone rang at 7:45 AM. I knew immediately it was not anyone that knew us because everyone knows we don't get up that early. I answered the phone and it was a lady's voice. She asked if Kevin Hare was there. I told her he was, but was sleeping, could I take a message. Then she said, "We have your cat Athena." I told her we had been so worried. Then she proceeded to ask where we live, that her young daughter had found Athena on Saturday morning and they had been taking care of her all weekend. She said, "The vet's office said you live in the 4000 block of Ong. Is that on the other side of I-27?" I told her "No. We live in the 2600 block of Ong. Where do you live?" She said, "In the 2600 block of Ong." We figured out we only lived three houses apart. She said they were on the way walking Athena home. I told her I would meet her out front. When we met in the street she said, "I guess your cat wasn't lost." So I asked her daughter where she "found" Athena and she pointed to our front yard! I knew that cat never left the yard! So we exchanged the cat and I thanked them. Then I brought Athena in the house. By this time Kevin was awake as the dogs went crazy when I opened the front door. He asked me"What's going on?" I told him "Athena's home". I told him the whole story. We immediately started in with the morning feeding ritual, but Athena was having none of it. Then I noticed the distant and wild look in her eyes. At first I just thought she was freaked out over the catnapping, but she never started acting right. She wouldn't eat or drink and her "meow" was different. We watched her for the most part of the day. All she did was sleep. We finally decided she must of had some kind of stroke or seizure. She is definitely NOT the same cat. We called the vet to see if we could bring her in. We loaded her in a kennel and off we went. At the vet they took her temperature, which was normal and then he said, "She's just an old cat. She's in pretty good health to be as old as she is. Old cats are just skinny. I will give her a steroid shot and some antibiotics and that should make her feel better." After we got back home she went to sleep and stayed in the laundry for the rest of the night. Again, she refused food and milk. This morning when we got up, Athena actually came in the house by her own and ate a small amount of food and a few laps of milk. She still has that "nobody's home" look in her eyes, but I guess she will be okay. We were wondering how that girl caught her as she is generally a skittish cat, but now we are thinking she had some kind of seizure and was just laying in the yard. I'm sure if I came up on a spaced out, emaciated cat I too would think something was wrong. But I don't think I would have picked it up and carried it home. I'll keep you posted on what happens next.