I lost Grandpa

Current mood: Freaking out

So my downstairs neighbor asked me to cat sit again for him during the holidays. I said yes to the opportunity right away....

Anyways, so last night the weather was unseasonably warm so I let Grandpa out for some fresh air and exercise after feeding him. I was expecting someone around 10 so I thought I would let Grandpa in at that time. The person cancelled and I started watching this Cantonese movie and slowly drifted off to sleep..... TOTALLY FORGETTING ALL ABOUT GRANDPA!

So I wake up at 5 a.m. and I'm wrapping Christmas gifts and wonder why I have a funny feeling in my stomach, and then I remember "Oh fuck! I forgot Grandpa!"

I immediately run out of my house.... no jacket, no shoes or socks on, and its 7 in the morning and I am walking up and down my block screaming "Grandpa! Grandpa!" Its real quiet on my block now cause I guess the Penn kids and USP kids and others left for the holidays. No sign of Grandpa anywhere.... I hear some rustling in the bushes and see swatches of grey (Grandpa is grey... obviously, what other color can a cat named Grandpa be?) but they were just squirrels.

Grandpa is a smart cat and he knows his way home but I am not sure if he ever spent the night outside before (especially in the winter). Fuck! I feel like such an idiot. I wonder if he is alive.... I wonder if he is shivering, if he is hungry?

So my question is this.... I know that a human being can survive an average of 3 days to one week without food... but what about cats? I fed Grandpa at 9:30 last night.... its 8:30 a.m. now. Any techniques for cat calling? If you were a cat, where would YOU be? Whats the lowest temperature a cat can survive in? Is it too early to put up flyers around the neighborhood?




On to a totally unrelated topic.... That Cantonese movie I was watching, "In the Mood for Love" is AMAZING! You should go out and rent it, especially if you like subtle/beautiful/melancholy movies like "Lost in Translation." Oh and the music is so beautiful, it almost makes me want to pick up the violin again.