I was worried at first, but I quickly figured out he was just waking me up because he wanted to go outside. Nothing was destroyed, and he didn't do anything wrong. Whew. However, the events that transpired after I let him outside at 4 a.m. have made me regret not crating him last night.
I let Casey outside, so Noelle and Remi also wanted outside. Then in my sleep-deprived state, while I was trying to get Remi to go outside without my foster cat Rudy getting out, Merlin came out of nowhere (it’s his best trick) and darted out the door. So there I was, standing in the doorway, with three dogs and a cat in the backyard. I tried to decide if I would be able to run out and grab Merlin without anyone seeing me. After all, it was 4 a.m. But there was a full moon, and it was very bright. And Merlin was about 10 feet off of the patio, right in the middle of a big mud puddle. So since I wasn’t really wearing enough clothing, not to mention any shoes, I elected to go back in and find some sweatpants and shoes, hoping all the while that Merlin remained in the middle of the mud puddle until I returned. Of course he didn’t. When I got back, Merlin was long gone, and Remi and Casey were barking at something on the other side of the fence (possibly the rogue Merlin). I got the three dogs back inside and went out looking for Merlin – no luck. So by this time Ziggy has woken up and also wants to go out. I figure maybe he’ll help me find Merlin, so I take him out too. Instead, after taking care of doggie business, he proceeds to “help” by continually jumping up and trying to get me to play bitey face. By this time I was very ready to “bitey-face” him! But I restrained myself, and put him back inside to continue the search for the missing cat.
We never let our cats or foster cats outside. It’s just too dangerous. In addition to the obvious risks like traffic, there are predators like coyotes, foxes and birds of prey, risks of poisoning by pesticides, and risks from dogs or feral cats. The average life span for indoor cats is 15 to 18 years, compared to only 3 years for free-roaming cats. So as much as Merlin loves to be outside, I just don’t like to take the risk. That is why I was walking around my backyard at 4 a.m., whispering “Merrrlinnnnn” and feeling rather foolish. And by the way, even with moonlight that makes the whole landscape bright, it’s still too dark to avoid stepping in any dog piles. So my whispering actually went something more like “Merrrlinnn….. where are you?.... ewww, what’s that smell?....oh no…. darnit!”. If Merlin was still within hearing by that time, he probably figured he’d be safer not answering me! Eventually I called off the search and decided to wait for daylight. But even once daylight came and I resumed my search, there was no sign of Merlin. So I went inside and fed the dogs. 
Noelle is a food guarder. She doesn’t guard it from people, but she does like to make sure no other dogs or cats get too close to her food bowl. So after I fed her, I was standing in the kitchen and I saw Noelle go running across the room, barking at the front door, then running back to her food bowl to eat. That was her typical guarding behavior, but there were no dogs or cats by the front door. My hopes rose and I ran to the front door and looked out the window, and there he was. Merlin. Just sitting there patiently waiting for me to open the door. So I did, and he came in. He didn’t apologize; didn’t say thank you; just pretended that running away from home and then showing up at the front door the next morning was an everyday occurrence for him. Cats these days. They just have no idea what they put their parents through. 
