The pet cat of a good friend of mine named China escaped from her house about a month ago. Linda was pretty much beside herself with worry. And I understand her concern. Our cat, Marty, occasionally races out the door and disappears. Usually, he returns within an hour or so, but we do worry about him nonetheless.

Happily, China recently returned home. Linda sent me a wonderful email of insights and learnings from the experience that I would like to share with her permission.
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I was absolutely obsessed. I consulted a pet detective and worked with the Kattico Cat Rescue.

She was so spooked she ran from everyone, including me.

But, we beat the odds and she’s home.

Here’s what I learned:

~ My neighborhood has several outdoor cats that I never knew about. It is also full of rabbits (which I already knew about)

~ There are Coyotes close by and if you listen carefully at night, you can hear when they make a kill.

~ There are also Owls here.

~ I have really great neighbors who are very willing to help.

It’s amazing that I’ve lived here 10 years and didn’t know these things.

Here’s what I learned from China:

~ Your curiosity may lead you into the unknown.

~ If you panic in the face of the unknown, you may end up lost and afraid.

~ When you’re lost and afraid, silent hiding has some benefits – you don’t alert predators.

~ However, if your need to control your environment leads you to spend most of your time in a tiny sheltered space, you never satisfy your curiosity.

~ You may even spend the rest of your life in that hiding place.

Most important, if you let your fear blind you, you miss seeing the loving hand that is already stretched out to help you.