FYI, I’m the OP, and the cat got over it.
She now hangs around with us, sits on the couch next to us, and loves being petted on the belly 
Excellent Thanks for letting everyone know. Nice to hear when things work out.
At the risk of turning this thread into an “inside cat/outside cat” debate, is there a reason you need to let your cat go outside? Outdoor cats are a nuisance to your neighbours, they are in serious danger of being hit by cars, eaten by predators, and picking up diseases (and picking up a bad case of kittens, if they aren’t spayed or neutered), and in my city, it’s against the law.
Another excellent reason to keep your cat in: Cats kill up to 3.7B birds annually