Bibette was at the patio door all evening - peering out the side window into the dark; jumping onto the arm of the bench we have there, straining to see what was outside; poking her head behind the shade on the door window. The only thing that gets her that worked up is a critter on her property . Turned the spot light on and looked out myself - nothing moving and no new paw prints in the slowly disappearing snow. Then we learned that the neighbor next door was moving out - landlord let another neighbor know the renter was to be out by today (3/9).

The neighbor (who lives directly across from the house in question) reported seeing the people who were moving out the furniture take two cats. Now we are wondering if Puff was one of them.

So - who's Puff? She a member of that household, but she's the one who was let out daily - or probably insisted on going out (insisted as only a cat can ). I discovered her roaming around my large garden that is our backyard last summer. She came up to me on the deck and was looking for pets and attention. She came up to me readily and let me pick her up. Not sure if she was supposed to be outdoors, I carried her up to the house next door and knocked. The young woman who answered said, yes she was hers and cat's name was Puff (she never did give me her name) and that she had two others but they were indoor cats. She took charge of the little ragamuffin and that was that.

Over the summer I would find Puff in the yard, sleeping on the sunny side of the Arborvitae or hanging out on our deck. She would come to me and enjoyed a pet or two. My furballs were on the other side of the windows carrying on, hissing and making a general nuisance of themslves as they made clear their feelings about this interloper!! One morning I realized that Puff had been closed inside our garage for the night - I had left the door open when I went out - noticed the light was on when I returned (automatic door opener with a sensor at the base of the door that turns the light on if someone or something crosses the laser beam). Didn't think anything of it until the next morning when I became aware of my overnight guest. She came in once or twice more but I've been more careful not to leave the door open. Little Puff paw prints have appeared in the snow (when we've had some ). But now I wonder - did they collect her and take her with them last night or is she out there somewhere looking for her Mom?

She's a little disheveled domestic medium hair tabby with quite a purrr. We've discussed (B&L's Mom1 and I) if she is still hanging out, should we try to bring her into our fold? I'm afraid that Lulu, our senior member who has an "attitude" may give her a hard time or turn a cold shoulder on us; and Bibette, the youngster, will either go into complete retreat or the two of them will end up in fisticuffs. No good place in the house to set up a "time out" room. But our other option is to take her to the local shelter where our two came from, and give her a chance at finding a furever home.

So, keep Puff in your prayers - whether she's hanging out in our yard or is checking out territory in a new home - I'll miss her little fuzzy face peering into the window if its the latter .

B&L's Mom2