I should have known. The day hadn't started out well anyway. I got to bed kind of late and then woke up in the middle of the night with a migraine then later woke up with bad stomach that kept me awake for 45 minutes. So when the alarm went off at 5:30 AM I wasn't too inclined to get up. But it was necessary. Two of my cats were scheduled to go to the vet to get fixed and that meant I had to catch them. You see, these cats were rescued and are still pretty wild. Picking them up is the tricky part. Once you are holding them, they calm down. Lately they've been hiding inside the couch just under the springs and so it's difficult to reach them. When I got up I went to the back porch and one of the cats was back there so I shut that door to trap him in the there. A few minutes later the other one came out from under the couch and I managed to chase him into the bathroom where I shut the door. I breathed a sigh of relief as I had imagined that to be the worst part of catching them.
First I tackled Rena. I managed to kind of trap him in a corner, and, wearing welding gloves, I picked him up spitting and clawing and biting and dumped him quickly into the cat carrier and quickly shut the door. Ah, life is good. One down, one to go. I took a break and sat and drank some coffee and watched the news. I'd catch the other cat, take a shower and be on my way.
I prepared myself with gloves and carefully going into the bathroom and shutting the door behind me. Shawn was there, hiding behind the toilet. I advanced and heard the hissing and as I put my hand close, the claws came out. He batted my fingers again and again. I was chasing him back and forth and so I tried to get him in a corner but it was no go. Then he jumped in the bathtub looking for a way out and I had him. I picked him up, holding him with both hands and I realized that I had forgotten my 3rd hand so I could get the door open again. So carefully with one gloved finger I got the doorknob turned without letting go the cat.
I went into the back porch and again the third hand would have been handy for I needed to pull that door shut behind me. I moved it as far as I could and thought 'oh, I just have to put him in the carrier so he shouldn't get away' Famous last words. Since he was still biting, I didn't want to hold him next to my body, I put him down with a hand on him to hold him while I opened the cat carrier. Oops, he got a grip on the carpet and he was struggling and got loose. As he ran around me to the open door I spun around, getting rug burns on the tops of my feet and my knee and he was gone. Back under the couch and I knew he wasn't coming out for any reason.
I cried. Since I live alone, there was no one to help me, no one that could easily come over and help that time of the morning and I had to go pick up my kids for school and get to work.
I picked myself up and got in the shower and got ready and as I got dressed I decided I had had it. The cat was coming out. I took all the cushions off the couch, tipped it on it's side and shook it and banged on it. One cat came out but it wasn't the right one. I looked inside the ripped backing and saw little cat eyes staring out at me. That's it! I grabbed my scissors and quickly snipped away the whole bottom backing of the couch. (the couch was used and free when I got it so that didn't bother me) And there he was, lurking. I grabbed him and went to the back porch, pulled the door shut with my toes and making sure he didn't get too close to floor, I kneeled down to open the cat carrier. My gloves made my fingers to clumsy to open it so I had to slip off the glove. Success! He had calmed down a bit from me holding him closer to my body and he went right in the carrier. I got the couch back in order and made it to work on time. Too much excitement in my life.
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