I was installing a window unit air conditioner. Step one, pull the unit out of it's shell. Step two, mount the empty shell in the window. Step three, install the unit back in the mounted shell.

Later as we were enjoying the new coolness of the house, we discovered the cat was missing. I figured out pretty quickly that the little pain in the ass jumped through the empty shell and out the window when I turned around to pick up the unit and finish the install.

Both our cats were indoor-only cats. The older cat would have been able to feed himself, but he also wouldn't have been stupid enough to go outside in the first place. She in particular did not know how to survive. She got her ass kicked by a beetle once.

We were leaving on vacation the next day. We printed up signs, put them around the neighborhood, and I figured she was gone for good.

When we got back, there was a message on the answering machine that someone had found her, and put her inside our enclosed side porch with a bit of cat food.

We checked, and she was there on the porch. Skinny, dirty, and stupid, but alive.