Poppy's Great Escapes

What has my Pretty Poppy been up to lately?  Well, for one, she made a great escape recently (well, not once...but a few times).....and had the adventure of her life for 3 hours! O_o

When was this?  On a Sunday morning when we went to church and returned after breakfast.  I'm not sure if I was the one who didn't latch the lock properly in her cage or she accidentally pawed it open.  That was a scare.....even though she came running back to the house the moment our car arrived (clever girl to be able to recognise the sound of our car engine or the opening of our gate...Cookie was the same!).

It was even scarier when we learned about the appearance of a black snake from our resident chatgroup.  A resident said it may be a cobra and that they enlisted JPAM to catch the snake but it escaped through the sewer.  Even more frightening was when a neighbour shared that there seems to be less stray cats loitering around our neighbourhood! O_o

The picture of my sweet Poppy being swallowed by a snake sounds really frightening (of course, my husband purposely wanted to scare me more by saying that if the snake crawled into the cage and swallowed Poppy, you know the snake would not be able to crawl back out, right?  Omg, the vision of a bloated snake (think Anaconda or like those we see on Animal Planet) is such a graphic vision that it gives me the goosebumps!)...that I've since added a failproof mechanism onto the latch (an S hook) that'll act as a safety latch to ensure it'll not be opened accidentally however hard she pushes or paws at the latch.

Of course, I can also be the cause of it if I forget to put that safety latch back on...but since that's the second lock (and the S hook is very visible if it's left hanging on the side of the cage and not put on), I hope that'll reduce the chances of it not being locked properly (after all, surely I can't be that unfortunate to not lock both latches).

Actually, this was not the first time that she made a great escape.  She has done it before as there was a previous incident when I didn't put the latch properly.  The next I knew (and heard) was the loud fighting sound of two cats at it.  I rushed out to find both cats under a neighbour's car and tried to break up the fight.  Poppy was cowing in fear in a corner (well, so you know who's the loser here).  Once I managed to chase the all-black female cat away (that's how I know female cats fight one another too), she took the opportunity to run around and enjoy her freedom.  It took me (with the help of my neighbour) like 45 mins before I managed to catch her...adoi!

Her other great escape was when she was in the house and somehow I must have not closed the door properly.  It slide open by itself (probably due to the wind) and opened a small gap in which she escaped.  When I saw the door slightly ajar, I called out her name immediately and when she didn't answer, I knew she must have run out again.

I ran out immediately after her and found her trying to get into the house opposite.  No wonder lah, she chased a female cat into the compound of the house (she didn't know how to get in through the gap at the side of the gate).  She was pawing the gate frantically trying to get in (very clear who was the winner this time!) and I managed to grab her instantly coz she was so focussed on trying to get at the cat.  She meowed so loudly (and tried to make a break from my grasp) all the way home.  She was obviously not happy being taken away when she was having the winning hand (or paw, in this case).  Naughty, naughty Poppy.....lol!  

Well.....and that was that to her few little adventures to the outside world (or were they misadventures).....and her brief taste of freedom.  Glad to report that there have been no more such escape incidents since! ;D

Poppy: Hey, by the way, did you notice my new collar.....cantik tak? ;D

It's custom-made you know (from my mommy's sister-in-law).

Have a great weekend, everyone!