Moggy's Unroutine Routine

Moggy's daily routine is fairly...ummm...routine...except when it's not. Even though he has an inside litterbox, every morning he would follow  Bandit outside, do his business, climb a tree, antagonize the neighbor dogs, chase a squirrel, and stalk a bird or lizzard...or three. In no particular order. Some days his morning adventures kept him outside all day. Most days he followed Bandit back inside and they watched as I readied myself for  the upcoming day.  Now he continues his unroutine routine solo. While my morning audience has shrunk, it's still SRO in my bathroom.

Sometimes  Moggy eats his breakfast before going out. Sometimes he waits until he's back inside.  On days when he's especially ravenous, he eats before and after.  

If Moggy is still inside when I head off to work, and he decides at the last minute that he really wants to be an outside cat, he will run  out the front door ahead of me. He has until I cross the threshhold and start locking the door to change his mind.  Occasionally he will decide he will be an inside cat afterall and he darts back in and  returns to bed. Those are the days I envy him most.

His inside/outside unroutine routine continues when I arrive home each evening.  If he's been inside all day, he's usually ready to go outside. And if he's been outside, he often pops out of whatever outside hidey-hole  he's been in, and greets me as I'm exiting the SUV. When I take too long, he hops into the SUV with me.

The first time Moggy entered the SUV of his own volition it shocked me--he doesn't care for riding, and we had recently returned from a several thousand mile road trip. I thought he would be sick of the SUV. Since he hopped in, I decided to drive around the block with him riding free to see how he handled it. Big mistake. One that I have no desire to repeat. We both travel much better when he is confined and listening to a deeply resonate male voice reading an audio book. Yes, he is 100% spoiled.

Once Moggy has eaten his dinner, he's ready to go back outside for a couple hours.  He's usually ready to come back inside and go to bed between 10pm and 2am--whenever I start locking up and  turning out lights. So, that, in a nut shell, is his somewhat unroutine routine

Back to my original post...

Moggy did not greet me when I drove up Friday night after work and a quick stop at the grocery store. Giving him time to come home,  I sat in the SUV a few minutes and caught up some FaceBook. Still no Moggy. I unloaded the groceries and brought them to the door, all the while calling his name softly.  I detected no movement in our "hood." Still, I was not really concerned since he had been couped up in the hotel room for two days during Christmas.  When we arrived home Thursday evening,  he had scooted out the carrier as soon as the cage door was opened wide enough for his body to squeeze through.  He scampered off and spent the day catting around the neighborhood--only returning  for a late dinner in the wee hours of  Friday morning.  But now, I was hoping he would return at his  normal time for his Friday din-din.  

After a long road trip, or any time his free time has been restricted, he fights back by staying out all night.  I get the resistance to being tethered. I've? The same way; however,  I sleep better once he's back home and I know he's okay. The first time he stayed out for and all-nighter, I was sure something bad happened to him.  I scoured the neighborhood and beyond, called the Belton Police Department, and  went to the Shelter the next day to make sure he hadn't been picked up.  Later that day he sauntered in and demanded some petting and food. Not in that order. This time I was marginally less worried.

Of course, there was still the possibility that having heard my SUV drive up, and my voice calling him for dinner, he may have gone to the back door--which is his most used entry door.  I decided I would check the back door as soon as I put the groceries away.  

I continued to scan the neighbohood as I opened the front door. Still no sign of him.  I sighed as I resigned myself to the realization that he would probably stay out until bedtime. Or later.

As soon as the front door was open enough for his little body to scoot out,  the little stinker shot out of the house!  He scared the daylights out of me, and elicited  a girly-girl shriek that could strip the bark off the trees and damage my vocal cords. Moggy had been inside all day.  Evidently he decided he would be an inside kitty, came back inside, and found a quiet place to rest his travel weary bones while I continued to get dressed that morning.

I'm  glad he was inside, out of the elements, while I was away at work.  However, I really need to find his latest hiding places. My nerves and vocal cords can't take surprises like that too often.