By now you all know I have another cat, Piper. She’s been proving to be quite the character. Already a foodie, she often pushes herself past the other cats, each waiting at their respective bowls for yours truly to fill them. Sadly, patience is not Piper’s strong suit.

Having yet to figure out which bowl is hers, or that I feed the cats in order of seniority, Piper is last to eat and is none too happy about it. Old man Oliver goes first but she dives her head into his bowl, promptly receiving a swat that says, “Don’t even think about it.”

Piper then moves on to Fat Jack who in no way looks like a cat who wants to share. Dash could care less and lets her eat but I inevitably place her at her own bowl.

Since I brought her home 5 months ago as a foster kitten, Piper’s been exploring the house more each day. Then, last week she discovered the dog door and suddenly vanished from my “mostly” cat escape-proof backyard, “mostly” being the operative word.

That night I’d been trapping feral kittens and their mom, so when I got home at 8:30 and didn’t see Piper waiting in the window, I knew something was up. I called for her in the back and front yards, yelling her favorite words, “Nummers! Come and get it!” I checked under beds, in closets, behind furniture, and in the shed.

I felt a wave of panic when reality hit. Near tears, I quickly fed my motley crew then walked up and down the block calling Piper’s name to no avail. That night I sat staring out at the patio, waiting until 3:00 a.m for her to saunter in. When she didn’t, I put out food and water then headed to bed heartbroken.

I rose about every hour to call Piper’s name until 7 a.m. when I gave up any notion of sleeping. That morning I called my friend and co-worker Leanne to ask if she’d make some flyers. She’s like Barbara Eden on the TV show, I Dream of Jeannie, who in the blink of an eye made things happen. And just like that, flyers were on my doorstep.

After distributing them, I placed an ad on Nextdoor.com, an online community bulletin board of sorts. In my desperation, I even said a little prayer and did the usual bargaining by promising if she returned, I’d attend church the next Sunday.

Three nights later Piper was still gone when Leanne mentioned it was supposed to rain. I gathered the patio furniture cushions and headed to the shed when I heard something jump onto the fence. Could it be?! I dashed inside for a flashlight, ran back out, and there she was staring back at me like a deer in headlights.

Now don’t get me wrong; it took over an hour to coax Piper back inside with tuna, she was so freaked out. But once back indoors, she quickly inhaled all her food. Then, with a full tummy, she jumped onto my lap, purring like never before, and promptly fell asleep.

The next day I ordered an Apple Airtag pet tracker (just in case). And my neighbors, Paul and Vicki, and I are currently having our old shared fence replaced and then I’ll have my yard cat-escape-proofed since our area has an abundance of coyotes.

Piper returned a week ago Saturday night. So around midnight heading into Sunday I remembered my church promise. Knowing I had a full day ahead, I channel surfed the TV for a Mass and actually found one at 12:30 a.m. So instead of me going to church, I had church come to me.

That still counts, doesn’t it?