ZAZOU is missing again!!! she is BACK HOME !!!!!!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Ignore whatever Bernard says! Does he have any practical ideas of how to deal with her when she is making all that racket because she wants out?

The cruellest thing would have been to keep her cooped up indoors when all the others went out. The fact that she did actually come back means that she hasn't run off.....she may well be wary of Jo and a little more jittery after last week's expedition so seeing him at the door may have spooked her.

The trouble here is that you have a clash of what you want and what Zazou wants - she wants to be outside and you want her to be where you can keep an eye on her. Both totally understandable but it will continue to be a power struggle......I did msn you about a catflap so she can come and go as she pleases - that might be a solution. At the end of the day Zazou is your baby but she is a cat, not an adolescent that you can try to reason with. If she is used to being outside you will have a battle on your hands trying to persuade her otherwise.

In the meantime you have tons of prayers and my total and utter belief that she will be trotting back through the garden at any moment

[critters]

Does he have any practical ideas of how to deal with her when she is making all that racket because she wants out?

I do--earplugs or earmuffs. I'm serious, though; they work.

For a long time a bunch of these hellions were door runners, to the point that I could only come & go by way of a room that exited to the outside. To go out, I would go through the inside door, run everybody out & close it, then go out the outside door, like an airlock (I called it a kittylock. ). At this point nobody tries to escape, and Ari is the only one allowed to wallow amok outside. It's so very unbelievably peaceful not having to deal with all that, and nobody cares that she can go out but they can't.

Years ago I tried leash & harness with Tad, and I found that it fed into his desire for outside and led to worse door running and escaping.

Good luck!!