"Susan M" wrote in message
...
In the middle of the night, Chester woke up us by suddenly running out of
our bathroom. It sounded weird - like a pair of running shoes was tied to
him - slow and heavy and with a weird thumping sound where you didn't
expect to hear it.

I jumped out of bed but Fred had his earplugs in. I got downstairs to
hear Chester in the basement and some frantic scratching like he was
trying to climb straight up the drywall. I got scared then and ran back
to get Fred, in case I needed a second pair of hands to, at the time I
thought, untangle him. Of course, in that precious minute, he disappeared
into the storage room, which is crammed with things from our renovation.
I spent an hour and a half looking for him to no avail. The fact that he
headed to the storage room meant that he was scared as that is his safe
spot - and there was no way that he was going to give himself up. I
looked in every single nook and cranny and absolutely could not find his
spot. I went back to bed, completely terrified that he had something
wrapped around his foot and circulation was being cut off. Couldn't sleep
at all - just lied there listening for hours.

In the AM, I got up super early and raced downstairs to call him. He
appeared from behind me (mothership teleportation again) and has a bloody
claw but no other obvious physical wounds. He wouldn't come upstairs for
a long time, his ridge was partly up, his pupils dilated, and he was
walking a little funny on his injured paw. After some time, he came up
and had a tiny snack and a few treats. The water is in our bathroom,
where he just won't go, so I put out some water downstairs. He walked
around and sniffed the floor and was brave enough only for the basement
and main floor. Won't go upstairs and is now back in hiding in the
storage room.

What happened? Did some creature (raccoon?) sneak into the house
yesterday afternoon when I was unloading groceries - but the cat food
wasn't touched all night so that doesn't make sense. Did he see a raccoon
in the screen in the bathroom and that was enough to scare him? - but that
doesn't make sense by the sound he made when he ran. Did he get tangled
in something in Jane's room since some things were also knocked off her
dresser? - I'll have to ask her when she's up. Could he have had a mini
stroke and it scared him and he ran like that because his back legs
weren't working?

I'm very worried about him. I'm trying to figure out how I can possibly
catch him and take him to TED, since I'm worried he might have had a
stroke. His eyes are still quite dilated. Or that he got a bite from
some creature that might infect him.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

Purrs for you and Chester. I hope you'll be able to get him to the vet
soon, and that he'll be okay.

Joy