Cabin Fever Stricken Cat

Gus in "his" window sill. (Taken this past fall.)

This past Wednesday I made the mistake of opening a pair of windows.  At the time, I couldn't find fault with my reasoning:
1. It was absolutely gorgeous outside.
2. A little fresh air in the house after winter is never a bad thing.
3. The cats love laying in the window sills and sunning themselves.
The outcome?  Gus has contracted one of the worst cases of cabin fever that I can remember.  One of the symptoms he is exhibiting is howling.  He just sits by exterior doors and howls.  He walks by windows and howls.  He wants to go outside so badly.  Which leads me to the other common symptom of cabin fever: escape-itis.

Exhibit A: This shot was taken yesterday.  I was simply trying to add something to the recycle bin, which is stored in the garage, and before I know it Gus is deftly winding his way around the door and through my legs and into what he perceives to be freedom.  Hah, foiled!  The garage door was closed!  That didn't stop him from playing King of the Mountain before I could convince to come back inside.

Exhibit B: I hear a cat meowing outside the office window last night about 9 o'clock as I sat at the computer.  Puzzled, I go to feed the cats their dinner and Gus is a no show.  Laura had spent the evening hosting a couple of friends to review the potential contestants for the upcoming Fug Madness brackets.  When they left he must have once again navigated, this time unnoticed, through a myriad of legs to his freedom. Luckily, he likes to brag about his successes and I heard him outside.

He knows he is not an outdoor cat.

Exhibit C: The below back lit picture from literally two minutes ago.  I only wish I could have captured the audio to go with it.

Gus - yearning to be free.

The funny thing is I know that Mooshie and Gus sleep most of the day away when Laura and I are at work, but he'll pace like a caged lion today while we're at home.  He knows that we're bound to open another door and he wants to be ready to pounce on any opportunity to escape. 

Until this most recent case of cabin fever subsides I'll need some earplugs for me and a LoJack device for Gus.