Chloe had already been in trouble before because a couple of times she went out in the yard at night, and then she didn't come in, and Mom looked all over inside the house for her, and finally she found Chloe out in the yard. But it's hard to see Chloe in a dark yard because Chloe is gray. So Mom started not letting Chloe go out after dark. But Mom still let Chloe run out just onto the patio in the daytime to nibble a little grass or hunt bugs. At least she let Chloe do that until last Friday, when Mom was bringing her plants in for the winter.
On that day, she left the back door open for a long time, and Chloe and Charlie both went out in the yard some. Charlie didn't go very far because he's a scaredy cat, but Chloe was way out in the middle of the yard, under the ornamental grass, and she got chased back into the house by Nicky. So Mom started worrying about how far Chloe was going, and on Sunday when Mom finished bringing in the rest of her plants, she put Chloe and Charlie in their room upstairs and shut the door. And Jacen had to stay in his crate all the time Mom had the back door open because Mom does not want him to go outside at all, not even a little ways.
Anyway, on Wednesday morning, Mom fed the cats and us dogs, and then she let us dogs go outside right after breakfast, just like she usually does. Then we all came back inside, except for Nicky, who didn't want to come inside because he was busy staring at a squirrel in a tree. So Mom left him out there while she did her email, and after that he came inside. Then Mom took a shower, and when she went back downstairs, she gave us treats. Charlie showed up to get a treat, but Chloe didn't, which was very much not like her.
So after that, Mom went looking everywhere in the house for her, and she couldn't find her. And then she looked everywhere in the yard for her, and she couldn't find her there either. Mom even stood on the patio and called Chloe's name and shook a bag of kitten food, but that didn't bring Chloe home. Then Mom went to the neighbors' houses on both sides of us, and they weren't home, so Mom trespassed into their back yards and looked for Chloe, but she couldn't find her. And after that, she walked all the way around the block and looked for her, but she still couldn't find her. Mom was especially worried because Chloe was the only one of us who didn't have a microchip, and also she wasn't wearing a collar or tags or anything either.
Finally, Mom went to play with dogs at the Humane Society, and she hoped that Chloe would have enough sense to come home all by herself. But when Mom got back, Chloe was not in the back yard or in the front yard either. We dogs went out in the back yard, and Henry, the dog next door, started barking, so Barry and Nicky were barking back at him. Which is something that happens all the time, of course. Then Mom made Barry and Nicky come in the house, but Henry just kept barking in a very excited way, and Mom started wondering if Henry might be barking at a cat. So she went outside and looked over the fence, and sure enough, there was Chloe, hiding in the corner of the neighbors' yard, behind their air-conditioner.
Mom went and rescued Chloe, and after she brought her home, we all sniffed Chloe thoroughly to find out about her Big Adventures, which had lasted for several hours and smelled very interesting. Now Mom has made a new rule which is: No cats outside. Ever. Chloe has not really tried very hard to go out since she had her close encounter with Henry. I could have told her to stay away from that bad dog, but she probably wouldn't have listened to me. Now she has learned the lesson for herself!
Yesterday, Mom took Chloe to Dr. Patricia's office and got her a microchip. Now if she ever goes out for another Adventure and someone finds her, maybe they will be able to figure out that she is our cat and bring her back home to us.
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