Thread: Charlie Cat, WHERE ARE YOU?

One of my cats is missing ... and for the life of me, I don't know whether he's fallen ill and is hiding somewhere in my home or whether he somehow got outside.

Of the four cats in my household, Charlie Cat is the most difficult. He refuses to use a litter box. For reasons unknown, he tends to urinate on an old floor pillow. The floor pillow was eventually placed inside a large plastic storage box ... and this is where Charlie relieves his bladder.

His poop is another matter. He poops outside the litter box, but never in it. I've tried using electric self cleaning litter boxes and litter boxes with covers for feline privacy. I've changed litter brands and have incorporated daily litter cleaning into my schedule ... all to no avail. He simply won't go in a litter box.

Charlie has destroyed one carpet (from urine before he settled on the floor pillow), two ferns, a potted bamboo plant, and two displays of artificial flowers. He has also damaged a vintage wingback chair by shredding the fabric with his claws.

Although he sometimes plays with the other cats, Charlie is really quite a loner. He spends hours by himself and if he comes to visit me, it's only when the other cats aren't around.

In the wee hours of the morning when the others are asleep or off pursuing feline nocturnal activities, he'll come into my bedroom and wake me up by loudly meowing his insistence for attention. After scratching him behind the ears and rubbing the underside of his jaw, he'll yawn, climb over one of my legs, and nestle on top of the blankets between my legs.

Despite the fact that the other cats are very cautious of bathtubs, whenever I take a bath, he'll hop onto the rim of the tub and stare at me as though I'm insane for sitting in a pool of water. If my arm is within convenient reach of his tongue, he'll lick me as if to say, "This is how you take a bath."

He also enjoys hiding and his black fur makes it nearly impossible to see him when his figure is shadowed. As I walk by his hiding place, he'll lash out with a paw, claws retracted (thank you very much) and "grin" as if to say, "GOT YOU!"

I am sorry to say that he has also been missing. I haven't seen him since last night.

My home is rather large. Built in 1873, my B&B Inn is three stories tall (not including the basement) and has 8 bedrooms, 2 parlors, 3 dining rooms, 2 kitchens, 2 full sized bathrooms and 6 3/4 sized bathrooms (bathrooms with showers but no tub) and one 1/2 bathroom.

I don't have the foggiest idea as to whether Charlie has gotten sick and crawled off someplace to hide or whether he somehow got out of the inn.

I've been looking for him all day and I'm flying out of here tomorrow to sign contract for a job as director of a culinary arts program in Arizona.

I've put out a large bowl of dried cat food and water on the back porch just in case he is outside.

I've searched the entire inn from the basement to the attic - but truly, he's very good at hiding and the inn is a large place to search.

From time to time, I've heard plaintive wails coming from another room or even another floor. Each time this has happened, I've hurried towards the sound only to find that one of my other cats has been making this noise. It's almost as though the other cats have been wandering through the inn calling, "Charlie Cat, where are you? We miss you!"

At dinner time I followed my customary procedure of tapping a teaspoon against a goblet. The ding-ding-ding of the "dinner bell" always brings the cats running. Dinner time is the only time they get "moist yummies." At dinner this evening, Charlie's spot was empty. I walked through the inn tapping the goblet and felt a bit liked the pied piper since my other three cats followed me up and down the stairs.

I wish I knew where Charlie was. Charlie cat is often a pain in the bohunkus ... but he's my pain and I miss him.

I came very close to canceling my trip to Arizona ... but I need to sign contract for my job and I also need to find a place to live. The school year begins on August 13th and I'm running out of time.

True to form, Charlie chose the most inconvenient time to disappear.

Charlie Cat, WHERE ARE YOU?