Kaja is definitely in the basement

We have looked at last night's photos from both wildlife cameras.

Kaja is definitely in the basement, eating and drinking: she came out, used the food station, and went away again several times, for a total of about two dozen pictures.

The food we left outside was eaten by an opossum and some sparrows (not at the same time). Interestingly, when cattitude went through the photos by time, we saw that Kaja and the possum both came out for food at the same time, a little after midnight.

( A photo of Kaja, behind a cut because it's large )

I texted Natya, the woman who is lending us the cameras and humane traps, to tell her this. She warned us she's going to be out of town for a little while, so for now I think we'll just feed Kaja, and stop feeding the opossum before it learns that our yard is a good place to hang out.

Kaja is safely home!

cattitude went downstairs a few minutes ago, saying he was going to check on something, and came back up saying "I have a Kaja."

He'd gone downstairs with a cat carrier, to have it available later. While he was down there he called Kaja (as "Babycat") and heard a faint mew in return. A few more back-and-forths between them, and he figured out about where she was. Then he saw her poke her head out, knelt slowly so as not to startle her, held out a hand, and kept talking to her gently. When she was close enough, he picked her up, carried her to the unfinished part of the basement (where there's nothing to hide under yet), and closed the door to the unfinished part before bringing her upstairs.

Kaja looks none the less for wear, though slightly bedraggled; having sniffed Molly, and vice versa, Kaja started washing. Since then she has come over to rub against my hand and be stroked, and had Cattitude lift her. Molly seems unsure of how Kaja smells, and more washing will definitely be needed, but less than you'd expect for a cat who just spent three nights in an unfinished basement. When he texts to let the landlord know we found our cat, Cattitude plans to compliment him on the cleanliness of his basement.