BellaOnline Forums News and Politics Animal Life The prodigal cat has returned

One of our three cats has been missing for almost three weeks (tomorrow would have made three weeks). She has disappeared before for a week or so, but never this long before. We were just about to give up on her, but something inside me told me she wasn't dead, just m.i.a. Yesterday evening when I got home late from conference night, I decided before I headed into the house that I'd call for her (three times because I'm a little superstitious and that's just my number). Then I dropped my stuff in the house turned around to go pet the dogs in the yard for a little while. When I finished with the dogs and started to head back up the steps to the house I saw a cat running towards me. I knew the other two cats were in the house, so I could hardly beleive my eyes when I realized it was Tiger. I swooped her up and hugged her and carried her inside. She headed straight for the food bowls and ate and ate and ate some more. She obviously was VERY hungry, but she didn't look thin or haggard. Where does this cat go when she pulls these disappearing acts!?! She won't tell me. It's her little secret.

It is always a mystery when they disappear like that. You would think that with a warm home, loving attention, and endless supply of food a pet wouldn't stray from home. But, like teenagers, off they go into the big "unknown" world to test their might.

I'm glad she came home safe and sound. Hope she sticks around for a while. Our Meow is a total house cat. She was a wild cat when my FIL discovered her on his back patio in Arizona. He started feeding her and she adopted him. All the while he was alive, she was seldom allowed in the house. When she was, it was for only a few minutes and contained to one room of the house. When my FIL passed away, we moved into his house. I told DH, "If we are responsible for this cat, she will become a house cat." I just hated the idea of her roaming the city streets. Well, house cat she is. She never steps out the door. Not that she wouldn't want to. But, between dogs, fox, coyote, and owls, (just to name a few) that would love her for a snack, I feel it best she remain indoors. She seems content except when the squirrel teases her.

Rose

I know what you mean, Rose, about the predators. In mountainous Pocahontas Co. I lost two cats to something. They disappeared without a trace and I looked everywhere. Probably coyotes got them. We have predators here, too, but our cats LOVE to go outside. So we've made the decision that their lives may be shortened by this, but at least they will have been very happy, full lives. Hopefully they will have gotten the best of both worlds - the domestic life and the wild side.

Tiger was a feral city cat when we got her and her sister. Her sister is a people loving cat, but Tiger prefers the shy life and is very uncomfortable when we pick her up. She likes to rub against our legs and lets us pet her, but that's about it for lovey-dovey stuff. As a matter of fact, for the first year that we had her, she lived in the ceiling area of our garage. She walked and slept among the rafters. We even put her litter box and food bowl up on high cabinets so she wouldn't have to come down. When she wanted out, she'd escape through an open window or the door when no one was around.