How Do You Lose a 15 Pound Cat?

This is.....well, I don't know the cat's name because there were men involved in her transport who don't think or care about those things. I call her Sweetheart or Fatty because, well, she's a pretty massive cat. Suyom is a svelte 8 pounds, pocket-size really, in comparison to this 15 pound giant.

We took in the unnamed cat for a few days for a sailor who just arrived here in Korea. Since you spend your first few days (or sometimes weeks) living in the Dragon Hill Lodge on base before moving into a new home, people with pets either have to put them into a kennel or have other people look after them. Luckily when we arrived, we were able to drop off Suyom at the Bartlett's house (our friends who gave us Suyom in the first place) so we knew she was in good hands.

So long story short, a new sailor arrived, she needed a new place for her massive cat to stay and the LPO (lead petty officer) asked us if we could take in the cat for a few days since he knew we already had a cat and because we live right by him, thus making the transfer of the cat that much easier.

The unnamed cat (because my husband didn't ask and the LPO didn't know anyway) arrived sometime after 9pm. We got her settled in, listened to a little hissing and snarling between Suyom and the other cat (Suyom hates other cats....she eventually learns to tolerate them but she's an unpleasant ball of fur for the first few days a new cat is in her vicinity), David and I thought the cats would be fine and settled in to watch a little TV.

Halfway through the newest episode of How I Met Your Mother, I hadn't seen or heard from the new cat for a little while and I went to find her.

And she had simply vanished.

We turned our whole house upside down looking for the cat, pulling out cushions and beds and finding tiny crevices and hiding places I never knew existed. Now I've seen some cats get into some pretty interesting places, but not a massive 15 pound one. I could not fathom where she could have gone. We even looked outside although there was about a 5% chance she could have made it to the outside world. The thought of her wandering the twisted streets of Huam-dong alone on her first night in Korea made me want to cry.

After more than an hour of searching, David and I had exhausted all the options. We felt pretty certain that she was in the house somewhere, but might just be stuck or in hiding. We couldn't hear her however.

I picked up Suyom, who was much happier now that the new cat had disappeared, and went into the kitchen with her in my arms. As I neared the laundry room, she immediately started hissing and growling and leapt out of my arms and ran away. Now we'd already searched all the little crevices behind the washer and dryer, in the cupboards and behind the oven. But convinced that the cat was in that room, I tore out all the contents of the cupboard under the sink and discovered a furry patch peeping out of a hole in the bottom of the shelf. Somehow, this 15 pound cat had wedged herself between the bottom of the shelf and the floor underneath the sink and gotten stuck.

We were eventually able to wrest her free and pet her and calm her down. Poor thing. She's a very sweet cat. She's now set up camp underneath the bed in the guest room, while Suyom is taking surveillance from under the dining room table.

It's going to be an interesting week with these two cats in the house...I just hope we don't lose a 15 pound cat again. Sheesh.