Catspiracy Theory.....

Astra's been exploring every inch of the house, including the indoor side platform of the window-mounted cat door. She's shown some fascination with looking out the small clear window bit of the cat door, and so I suppose today was inevitable.

I came home from work and did my standard routine of finding and saying hello to all the (now four) cats as I took my clothes off in preparation for a shower. (Working in non-air-conditioned splendor in summer means that first thing on the agenda when getting home is a cool shower....) About the time I was grabbing a towel and heading into the bathroom I realized that only three cats---three relatively LARGE cats---had checked in.

I did a bit of a fast pass at the house calling Astra, but had to wait until after my shower and getting dressed for a serious kitten-hunt. Of course, since she hadn't responded inside, the odds were pretty good she'd finally explored the cat door, which I hadn't thought she'd try this young. And as soon as I opened the sliding glass door to the back yard, I was greeted by a kitten bounding out from under some of the flowers, yowling her head off, telling mommy about her day.

Now I know she was out there because she got a bit too adventurous. But I still can't help picturing Sarah, Tondra and Morgan banding together:

"Look, you're a kitten. You need to learn things. You have to go to school. Mommy told us to tell you, really. Just go thru that door and wait a couple of minutes, and the school bus will be right by. I promise. Really." (Shove.)

They just didn't look innocent *enough* when I came in, I guess. One of those moments when you wish for a webcam.