Scooter's Night Out Could've Been a Nightmare

PetSmart - Margaret Dinchak / For Pets.com
April 24, 2009

I have written articles about "High-Rise Syndrome" in cats, but I never thought I would actually experience it with my own cat.

 Warm weather had arrived and in our home, the first screech of the living room window beckons an awakening of sorts—and his name is Scooter.

 Scooter is a playful and curious fellow, as most self-assured Maine Coons are. Highly intelligent and impressive in size, he commands respect from his fellow feline and human companions alike. Sure-footed and confident, he saunters towards his favorite window with his lion-like “ruff” and bushy, plumed tail. His first breath of fresh air brings a sparkle to his eyes and prompts in me a distant but vivid memory.

 It was a crisp, cool night late last spring. What I shame, I thought, to run the air-conditioning on such a beautiful night. I knew I was taking a risk, but thought that it would be okay - just this once - to sleep with the window open. What I failed to consider that fateful night was not the uninvited menace breaking in, but the unforeseen feline breaking out.

 In the middle of the night I was suddenly awakened to a loud crash, like a sledgehammer hitting the concrete. I grabbed my baseball bat thinking an intruder had broken into our home. I stormed to the living room to find my window missing its screen and my mischievous Maine Coon gone.

 I jumped through that same first floor window and was lucky enough to find him on a neighbor’s patio about 30 minutes later. I still fear what may have been if I hadn’t reacted so quickly or moved from the sixth floor high-rise building I once occupied. Needless to say, I now tightly fasten my window screens to keep my beloved Scooter and his feline friends safe from determined escape attempts or even accidentally falling out of an unsecured window.

For more information about how to keep your cats safe from falls, read “High-Rise Syndrome in Cats”.

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