Well, I should have taken a nap. After a diligent and tiring search, my wife declared the 2nd floor to be cat-free. She again questioned how many cats we have and if I really saw a cat in the house.
After a brief rest, she decided to check the ground floor. She located the cat in the water heater / cleaning supplies closet in our laundry room. I used cardboard to make a hallway for it to get to the front door and I held the front door open while she used one of her alternate transportation devices to poke the cat lightly to make it run - which it did.
Instead of running out the door, it ran under my shooting bench in the kitchen, through the opening in a child's gate, and into my den where it hid under my settee. Aha, I thought. Now we have it.
I got a bunch of cardboard boxes from the carport and made a tunnel instead of a hallway leading directly to the front door which I propped open instead of me holding it.
As ill fortune would have it, when poked out from under the settee, the cat bolted through the cardboard barrier on the stairs instead of running into the tunnel.
It is now upstairs and somewhere unknown. My wife could not find it and is now not talking to me. Well, that is not true. She just came in and said a few words in "SailorSpeak" and went back to her desk.
The one good thing - she now believes me that a cat is in the house..
:bang Head:
Live trap is set with water and food. Stairway is sealed off. 2nd floor belongs to the cat.
....and, I missed my 1 PM nap....
