Well this post is almost a week and a half after the incident ... happened on Sunday the weekend before last. My DH opened up the attic to check out wiring for fixing the doorbell (which has never worked like so many other things in this house). So the drop-down door was open but he needed to get something else so the door was left open ... nobody thought to put the kitties in another room. Then it was Stephanie who noticed her cat had gone up the stairs and into the attic ... I climbed up there, needed a flashlight since it was pitch black, started shining the light and found Malachi wandering around on the rafters ... picking up fiberglass pieces in his paws, but seemingly enjoying his excursion in the frigid air. So I kept on shining the light his direction and calling to him, but to no avail. So I started yelling at him, you know like a child who won't come home from neighborhood mischief ... DH said you're probably scaring him ... so I stopped and came back downstairs, hoping he would find his way back down (sooner than later) ... which he did. With a sigh of relief and thinking what could very easily have happened. He had gone to the edge where the roof angle stops and was peering down into that space. To which DH said if he had gone down there ... well there would not have been anything we could have done for him. I prayed asking Jesus to help him come back down safely. A few minutes later Stephanie saw him in the hallway when we promptly snatched him up in a towel, took him in the bathroom and gave him a quick wash in the tub with Dawn dishwashing soap. And the thought of him cleaning himself and getting the fiberglass in his stomach, oh what a dreadful thought. I think Kalina must not have recognized him after he came back out, looking strange with hair sticking out all over.
But what DH did notice was that the roof beams on the inside are darkened from being damp and there is frozen moisture on the boards. Can't determine now what has to be or can be done, we'll have to wait until (MUCH) warmer weather to give time for the boards to dry out to see if we can remedy this. He says that vents should have been installed when the roof was replaced and lack of air circulation is contributing to the dampness.
So I don't know if I should credit Malachi with being a cat detective ... doesn't make a good mouser ... maybe investigations are not his strong point. It just takes him quite a while before he figures things out. Anyway, I am very thankful that my prayer was answered and Kalina will never know what is beyond the stairs.
