Ethel, the Indoor Cat

Recently on the TpT forum, I posted about my cat's near-death experience. Thought maybe I should give an update on Ethel along with her two dog co-conspirators, Maggie and Clooney.

Yes, I said co-conspirators. Ethel has always wanted to be an indoor cat. But wait; let's back up.

Maggie says it stinks getting old.

It was a week before Thanksgiving and Maggie, our Jack Russell Terrier who no longer sees very well, began terrorizing Ethel at night. These two have lived together (outdoors) for 5 years and have always gotten along. We marked it down to our living in the woods and Maggie's eyesight getting Ethel confused with a woods creature (fox, coyote, etc). We left it up to Ethel to arrive on the porch before dark or else sleep on our barn porch. This was working until...

Clooney has arrived.

Thanksgiving, our second eldest brought her dog for us to keep. This dog has major issues, one being he hates cats. Long story short - Clooney and Maggie both begin barking at Ethel. Ethel disappears. We search and search. We assume the creatures or the cold got her. [She had a good life with us (we rescued her from a farmer's gun).] We went on with our life.

"YES, we are rid of the cat."

The Friday before Christmas, our neighbor texted she glimpsed Ethel entering a drainpipe near our house. LONG story short, I carried Ethel to our house to (I thought) die. She was pitiful. My husband said he thought Ethel was hours away from death.

Fast forward one month, Ethel is a healthy indoor cat. She does freak out when the dogs bark and spends most of her time underneath my bed, but she is physically healthy.

Our Christmas Miracle Cat

A seller from the forum said I ought to write a book on bullying. I think I should write a book about a cat and two dogs conspiring to make an outdoor cat an indoor cat.

"My ingenious plan worked!"