A couple of weeks ago my sister Rosalin, who is also my neighbor, heard a cat screaming in the middle of the night. She said it sounded like it was being eaten alive...a sound that gave her a sick feeling. The next morning Zeke was nowhere to be found. I was saddened and depressed - positive that he had met a horrible death. But after two days Zeke reappeared...but not the Zeke we all know and love. Somehow his personality has changed. He is no longer the neighborhood bully and he no longer wants to prowl around outside all night long. He stays strictly inside the garage and will not go out. Even when the afternoon sun heats up the garage to a toasty 85 degrees, you can always find Zeke in there somewhere.
Yesterday I hauled the poor kitty outside onto the cool grass. He stayed there for a few minutes while I petted him, but when I went to inspect some flowers, he got up, looked nervously around him and made a mad dash for the garage.
It must have been a pretty traumatic experience in the woods that fateful night. And although Zeke doesn't have any physical injuries or scars, he does seem to have some emotional ones. It's been suggested that I take him to a cat psychologist...right.
