I came home from work this afternoon and as I was pulling up to the garage, I glanced up toward my bedroom window to see who might be sitting there waiting for me to come home. (Or so I tell myself. More likely they are just watching for birds or something.) Much to my shock, I see Kaela and Ollie Bear on the roof.
Yikes!
How the *#%*#% did they get up there?
Then I notice a hole in the window screen just big enough for a squirmy and determined cat body to get through.
I park the car in the garage, dash in the house, toss my purse on the counter, drop my coat on the couch on the way by, and run up the stairs.
I get to the bedroom and see several cats on the bed and window sill. No doubt they were discussing amongst themselves if going out to the roof was a good idea. I shooed them away from the window, then took off the screen and called to the cats on the roof.
Ollie, sweetheart that he is (he loves his lisa-mom), came right over and jumped up to the window. Good boy! Kaela came over, looked at me, and left. Bad cat! I call to her some more, but like any cat who doesn’t want to do what she is asked, she ignored me.
I closed the window so no other cats could make their escape and went downstairs. I hollered to Ken, “we have a problem!” and explained we had a cat on the roof. Or maybe more than one cat on the roof. I was doing a head count as I walked, but I was feeling a little stressed and more concerned about at least getting Kaela before I launched a full accounting of the furry family.
We went to the garage and retrieved the six foot ladder, which I put up next to the house. I climbed up to the top and stood there calling Kaela. She came within about four feet of the edge of the roof, then went back up. While she was doing this, I spotted Ariane walking along the roof ridge over the shop. Okay, two cats on the roof.
I called. They ignored. I called some more. They explored the roof.
Ken went in the house and got a piece of leftover pork roast. He started tossing pieces of it on the roof, in hopes of luring them close enough to the edge that I could grab them. After a bit, Kaela decided pork roast was worth it and I grabbed her. Ariane wasn’t nearly as interested in cold pork as she was in exploring the entire lower roof. (Luckily nobody went up on the higher part of our two story house — they confined their adventure to the one story portion over the cat room, garage, and shop.)
Ken went back in the garage and got out another ladder, which he carried around to the back of the garage. Next thing I knew, he was on the roof, attempting to herd Ariane over to me. That worked, sorta. She came over by me, but too high up for me to grab.
Finally, I went back in the house. I chased all the cats out of our bedroom and closed the door. I opened the window again and left the room to get a can of cat food. (Ariane LOVES wet food.) As I was getting the can, I heard Ken yell for me. Ariane had jumped back into the bedroom. I quickly closed the window.
A full head count ensued, checking to make sure nobody else was running amuck outside or on the roof. All safe and sound. Whew! Just in time for it to start snowing — wouldn’t have wanted Ken or them to be up on the roof in the snow.
This weekend we’ll repair the screen with pet screen so they can’t get through it again. Yes, I do leave my bedroom windows open almost all the time, so the screen has to be fixed soon — even if it is just mid-February.







































