Hours of Daylight – 9:45
Even though i’d never heard the sound before i immediately knew what it was. I was on the apron of the garage, or actually i was walking into the garage, heading for the inside door when i heard it. See, my stupid motorcycle battery was basically dead and i was frustrated. I was heading for the inside door with thoughts of spending money at the local BMW dealer. How much would the "BMW" brand charger cost? $175? $275?

Thud!

I spun around, frozen on the spot. The white Volvo had stopped just past our hedge line. I forced my feet to move. I made it to the edge of the apron, the driver and passenger were getting out. The two women looked at each other over the roof of the car, then they turned to me.

"She ran right out in front of me… i couldn’t stop!!"

"We didn’t go over her… she ran toward the back of that garage…" the woman pointed at our neighbor, Fern’s, garage.

"I couldn’t stop… she just shot out!" the driver repeated with increasing fear.

They helped me look for a while, but i said they should go… it was an accident, they were driving slowly (much slower than most on this very residential block), they were clearly shaken, and i know she did just shoot out in front of them.

They apologized over and over…. but eventually got back in their car and drove on. I went back to the back yard looking for what i assumed would be a dead or dying cat.

I squeaked like an 8-year old girl when i saw two eyes shining under the deck. I squeaked again when i saw she was clearly moving her head around, was sitting normally, and seemed alert.

I called her quietly for about 5 minutes, but she wouldn’t budge. I got up and sat on the deck for a while, trying to hear if she was shuffling toward me. Nothing.

I got up and walked to the sliding door. The door makes a pretty distinctive noise when opened that frequently gets the attention of both cats. I opened the door, went inside, and closed it behind me. No sooner did i close the door than Isa came trotting out from under the deck looking eager to get inside. I opened the door, she hopped in and went straight for her food dish and proceeded to crunch on dry food for a while. All like nothing had happened.

While she was eating i called the local vet. "My cat was just hit by a car, but was not actually run over. She ran from the scene… and now is inside… eating dry food like nothing happened."

"Well, i’d say that’s one lucky cat."

"What should i look for?"

The woman told me to push and prod her hind quarters… basically see if she yelps. Nope, she purred until i started to bother her and she did her scary noise and scampered away.

"Watch her for at least 24 hours… make sure she pees and has at least one bowel movement in that time."

And that was that.

Isa is asleep in the living room at the moment. I keep getting up to make sure she’s still breathing. She has stood on her hind legs, has trotted up and down the stairs, and has performed her usual contortionist cleaning ritual. She appears, in all ways i can use, to be ok and not even dazed by the impact of a 2000 pound automobile.

Now the question: will she learn from this experience? Shortly after coming in she immediately wanted to go by out again, so she’s clearly not equating "out" with "danger."

In so many ways i admire cats. First and foremost i admire the way they live totally in the moment. Everyday is "today" for a cat. They also live by fairly strict behavioral patterns. Barring some interesting event to distract them cats will frequently settle into a pattern of activity, eating, sleeping that they will repeat on a regular basis. In nature cats are largely nocturnal as anybody who has had kittens can attest. Everybody knows kittens tend to go nuts once the sun goes down. Our girls often sleep through the night but every now and then something will wake them up and they’ll go into prowl mode.

Also, cats are self-regulating regarding food. Provided with adequate enrichment in their day cats will not eat more than little bits at time, leaving food in their dish and returning throughout the day to nibble. They’re also incredibly flexible, able to squeeze into very small spaces and low crawl though tight gaps. Isa, more than Mora, can go into what i call "2-dimensional mode" to traverse tight spots between our kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. It’ fun to watch.

8 lives left? I’ll keep checking her…. i hope she’s ok… but at the same time i hope she remembers "road = danger."