Dylan and Brittani came for the weekend, bringing my granddog, Maggie. She is a golden retriever mix with a beautifully patient face. The unforeseen benefit to her presence was that Paddy, the cat in heat, took one look, doubled in size, made haste to the basement and was not seen for the rest of the weekend, except for her middle of the night visits. She would snuggle in close to me sandwiching my hand between two paws, resting her face against my fingers. There was no yowling and squalling and feline pornographic behavior during the bridal shower, which was nice. The fact that we also did not have to worry about her making a break for the door every time it opened during that busy weekend, well, that was good news too.
After everyone headed back to where they now belong, the house descended into quiet once again. I waited patiently for Paddy to re-emerge from the basement. Except that she didn't.
Brianna came inside holding my cat saying, "Hey. You know that mean bobtail cat next door?"
We are not even sure when this happened.