#Microblog Mondays: The new routine

It started with Jaxson running away from home. More specifically, sneaking out the front door. I didn't realize he was missing until 3 am when Daisy was calling for the birds without him joining her in a duet of meowing.

20 hours later I was curled up on the couch, sobbing uncontrollably while Daisy tried to calm me down and Grey gently consoled me. I was convinced my beloved cat of 15+ years was dead, eaten by a coyote/bit by a rattlesnake and somewhere in a ditch.

10 minutes later I would find him trying to sneak a meal from the cat food I left out for him on the front stoop, creeping low so as not to attract any attention from us. Happy, smelling of earth and no regrets.

Made my mother cry. No fucks given.

She was so happy to have him back. Then she spent the rest of the night beating him up for leaving without her.

The result from this incident was 2 elderly cats who decided that their days as indoor-exclusive animals were over and, hence, began a 5 am campaign to be let outside. After 16 years, they've both become skilled at maximizing the acoustics from a housing structure, allowing their howls to carry in a manner that mirrors surround sound.  This combined with years of stress, a new home setting that was generally peaceful, a backyard with a 7 ft fence, and an invasion of birds into said backyard led to a drastic decision I never expected to make.

I let them out.

And now, for 2 hours every morning, there's amazing silence. Combined with insanely happy felines. Grey and I can't remember the last time we slept this well.

Where's the sleeping kitty?

It hasn't been all sunshine and roses. Jaxson is far too large to get on top of the fence, but Daisy is another story. She's taken to fence walking every morning, teasing all the neighborhood dogs in the process, which has made me a bit unpopular with the neighbors. She's also decided roofs are pretty cool, especially for this purpose of dog-torture.

The only downside is that my mornings now start at 5 am. Like clockwork, the yowling starts with the promise that the pain ends the second I open the door. In addition, the bird invasion hasn't ceased since Daisy has been outside (if' nothing, they seem to know these two are too well fed to be a real threat), but Jaxson has been ridding the neighborhood of the mouse population and Daisy has been redeeming herself with the neighbors by shifting her attention to a local family of squirrels (who have been surprisingly destructive!!!)

In short we after so many years, we finally have found a routine that has brought peace, quiet, and a complete end to door dashing.