Remodeling and cats - a PSA

10 years ago

We went through a 4 month kitchen remodel complete with moving walls, opening up floors, etc and managed to never once lose our cat.

A few weeks ago we realized we had to replace a leaky shower in the apartment that takes up 1/4 of our basement. At the same time while the wall was opened up. We opted to replace the flammable dryer hose that was run through the wall with actual duct. The HVAC guy did his thing, plumber did his, drywall guy closed up everything - or so we thought.

We left on Saturday for 5 weeks traveling cross country. Someone is renting the main part of our house for a month while we were gone so we asked the apartment renters (who were moving in yesterday) to watch the cat. On Saturday morning last week we left with her safely locked in the apartment. The temporary cat sitter came to check on her Monday and couldn't find her. At some point between Monday and Thursday the drywall guy came back and filled in the old dryer vent hole. See where this is going?

Cat sitter called on Thursday to say she had seen the cat outside in the pasture so we thought she was fine until the renters texted me in the middle of the night last night to say they heard meowing on the wall between the bathroom and kitchen in the apartment. 3 holes later they got our cat out. The cat that cat sitter saw was one of my neighbor's EIGHT outdoor Siamese cats. She's terrified but seems otherwise fine.

I haven't talked to drywall guy to see when he closed that hole so I'm not exactly sure how longs he was in there. He told us he was concerned the other day when he didn't see the cat and felt around in the hole for her before he closed it up and she wasn't there. She could have crawled over another stud, though because there was a hole in that 2x6 from the old dryer hose.

Featured Answer

knancy1947

10 years ago

Sounds like Edgar Allen Poe.

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Comments (13)

practigal
10 years ago
I am glad to hear that the cat is out of the wall...
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3katz4me
10 years ago
OMG and I felt bad when I shut my cat in a closet for a day. When I have a cat sitter and am out of town I never let anyone else come around to do any work. Had a house cleaner shut a cat in a closet once which the cat sitter did discover later but that was the end of having others in the house when I'm gone.
scoutfinch72
Original Author
10 years ago
3katz4me we would normally never have someone else come in to do work while we are gone either. The bathroom had to get done before the tenants moved in so we were under the gun. Never again if I can help it!

I think that if we ever decide to rent out the house again while we are out of town for a time we will lock her in our master bedroom with the food and litter in the attached bathroom. Our bedroom is her happy place and she spends most of her time in there anyway. There are 4 other bedrooms that could be used.
sherri1058
10 years ago
Oh no! We also won't allow any workers into our house while we are away. Glad your kitty is safe.
cpartist
10 years ago
I'm just glad she's ok. My guess is she'll stay clear of any work done from now on. Or at least I hope so.
User
10 years ago
Cats and other pets should definitely be confined away from any construction there are so many hazards for them. Also workers can often let them escape. We moved out to an apartment during our renos mostly for our cats' safety.

Another client of our vet' found their kitten dead in the clothes dryer last week, so PSA to always check for pets before using appliances, moving heavy items, closing up walls, etc etc etc. :(
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
"Oh no! We also won't allow any workers into our house while we are away."

Sherri1058:

That's gonna cost ya. I had to work today, Sunday, to accommodate a customer's schedule and preference.
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Kim Ladin
10 years ago
So glad your cat is ok!
sherri1058
10 years ago
Yep, it does Joseph and it is worth every penny. Like the mastercard commercial.... the cat is priceless.
christina222_gw
10 years ago
This terrifies me. My cat is mute and couldn't cry for help if this happened to him. We keep a close eye on his whereabouts all the time yet he's still managed to get himself shut in closets a few times. Fortunately while he cannot meow he's good and banging on doors.
mgmum
10 years ago
Holy! Glad he's okay. They do like to get into the craziest places.
mama goose_gw zn6OH
10 years ago
And they are curious. One of our cats once followed my husband into the crawl space without his noticing. A while after he came out, I missed her and thought, Uh-oh. She came out as soon as I called her--not nearly as scary as your ordeal.