To Catch A 'Ghost'

1 pm. The trap is set.

The hunt is over. Praise the Lord! I am so happy, I am about beside myself. I did not want that sweet, shy kitty to perish because he was so scared. We had tried everything, and just could not get that kitty to come to us. We had to leave him behind, all alone last night, because we just could not get him to come out. My husband, Louie, borrowed a 'live' trap from a coworker, and I took it over this afternoon and set it up. I removed his food and water at 1am this morning, because I wanted him to be hungry and thirsty so he would come down and find his food and water when it was set in the trap. Louie decided we should wait until after dark to go back over because then the trap would be there for several hours, and things would have been quiet for quite some time, so Ghost would feel safe to come down. We waited until 7pm to go over.

I got to the top of the steps, peeked around the corner, and there was a 'Ghost' in the cage!!!!He started meowing very loudly when he saw me. I talked to him, and he was quite upset. I bent over to pick up the cage to carry him out to the van, and he tried to get out the far end of the cage. He 'yowled' all the way to the van, but once he was inside, he settled down.

Oh, you just cannot imagine how happy Louie and I feel to have saved this kitty's life. I called Nancy and told her we were on our way down with a 'Ghost' because I did not have the carrier, and I knew that if I let him out, I would never get him back in there, nor might I find him for a long time. She was very happy to know we caught him. He rode quietly all the way to his new home, and when I took him out of the van, he got scared again, but once I got him into the apartment, and he saw and smelled all his 'belongings' he quieted right down. I tried to find Sadie so Ghost could see Sadie. I thought he might be less nervous if he saw her. We got the catnip out, and I opened the trap door. I expected him to shoot out like a rocket, but he slowly meandered out. He didn't even run. He just looked around at all the stuff stacked up and I think he smelled all his 'things' and knew he was home.

Sadie finally came out, and she ate some catnip, so I put some down for Ghost, and shut the door so Sadie (the pothead) wouldn't eat that too. When I shut the door, Ghost was locked in the bedroom. I waited a few minutes, then opened the door to see if Ghost had eaten the catnip, and he hadn't, but he was waiting on the other side of the door, and calmly walked out. He and Sadie walked up to each other and touched noses, then laid down on the carpet together. Ghost started his 'motor' up, and was purring quite loudly. He was so happy! I even got to hold him and pet him, which I did NOT expect to be able to do. I told Louie and Nancy that when he was meowing so loudly, he was probably telling me, "YOU LEFT ME! I WAS ALL ALONE! I WAS SCARED!" He just acted so totally different that I expected. I thought once I let him out of the cage, he would hide until Nancy unburied him by emptying boxes. Not so. He is home, and happy! Yay!

Catching Ghost makes Louie's and my heart sing with Joy. We prayed hard for a happy ending, and it happened, Praise God! It would have broken our hearts to not have been able to save this scared kitty.