We had a little “adventure” with the wee ginger mister last week.

One wet, rainy afternoon, I was off to the vet with Burton and Relic (nothing serious, just vaccinations). When I came back, Lemmy didn’t come out to greet us. Lemmy ALWAYS comes out to greet me when I get home from wherever.

Dave had been napping on the couch, so he wasn’t sure where Lemmy was. I went upstairs to check… no Lemmy. I came back downstairs and checked every nook and cranny – no Lemmy.

I called him. Lemmy ALWAYS comes when he’s called – still no Lemmy.

As I said before, Lemmy hasn’t figured out the cat doors yet. But he has a habit of running out onto the sun porch as soon as we open the door to go in or out. Frequently, we leave him out there so he can watch the birds, etc from the porch. And maybe… just maybe he might figure out how the cat door works… but not yet.

So… I checked the sunporch – no Lemmy. I moved to go out to the catio yard…. and there he was – wet and sitting on the steps!!!

Had he FINALLY figured out how to use the cat doors??? But if so… why was he sitting out in the rain, looking pathetic?

I brought him and discovered the wet wasn’t the worst of it…

It was raining pretty heavy, and with that and the melted snow, there were a couple muddy spots in the yard. And it looks like he found them all!

I put aside the question of “Did he use the cat door or didn’t he?” for a while so I could run him a bath.

It was his second ever bath, and he did not like it anymore than the first.

Although he did seem to enjoy the drying off part much better this time around.

With him cleaned, and mostly dry, it was time to go back to the question of how he got out. Since the incident, he hasn’t used the cat doors at all.

Dave doesn’t remember letting him onto the porch while I was gone, and I don’t think he was out there before I left, but neither of us can say for sure. And the door that leads from the porch to the catio yard doesn’t latch. It was windy that day, and once while Dave was out there, there was a gust strong enough to open it enough that he could have run out. And when it closed again, he couldn’t figure out how to get back in.

That’s our best theory – it’s that or he did figure it out and is so traumatized, he refuses to repeat the feat. Though he’s still running out onto the porch under our feet.