I’ve just been ordering a tag to attach to Not Cat’s collar which is looking increasingly like a charm bracelet.
This one will state that he has been chipped, give my mobile number, and request that anyone who finds him calls me.
The last two mornings have been a race to get to work on time as Not Cat has been AWOL. I replaced the Loc8tor batteries tonight, as one was dead, so that hasn’t been any help. My heart has been in my mouth, fearing he has been lifted for his pretty looks and gentle ways. Neighbours have checked their gardens, and I had to knock on doors and send several emails when he did turn up.
My guess is he’s found his way inside someone’s house, because his paws are warmer than I’d expect when he does reappear. Whether that person knows he’s there or not is a moot point.
Funny isn’t it. I’d happily leave Cat, who didn’t wear so much as a collar, though he was microchipped, outside all day when I went to work, but not Not Cat. I’d been thinking maybe next year, when he’s a bit more grown up, he might manage that. But I fear my Ginger Ninja has other plans and is going to force the issue before 2011 is out.
I just hope he’s up to the challenge.
He’s outside now, having miaowed up a storm earlier. I think I’ll go and look for him.
Isobel (and Cat)'s Blog 
Cats do wander, and poke around, sadly I would object strongly if one wandered into my home, as you’d expect from me, Isobel.
I was asked a few weeks ago, if I’d take a series of photographs of her cat, I had to politely say no, but said I knew someone who would, and passed the commission to someone else. He did a good job too.
Oh dear…..your wanderer is making you a wonderer! They’re all so different – I’ve had cats who wandered before but I really never liked the feeling of not knowing where they were – in friendly hands or not, etc. Perhaps NotCat is just stretching the limits – finding his boundaries…….either that or some neighbor has some yummy treats he can’t resist! Hope you found him….good idea on adding the additional tag to his collar.
Pam
Aw, little Ninja Dude!
We were pretty sure that for a long while BuddyBoop, despite seeming to have adopted us, was actually feeding himself in various houses around the neighborhood, so we called him TimeShare Cat!
When Cat was young, he used to have quite an extensive territory, surprising me when I saw him a good distance from home. Seeing Not Cat find his feet and roaming further and further afield is making me uneasy for his safety.
So BuddyBoop was a Six Dinner Sid eh? 🙂
Not Cat is in now, and I’m off to bath and bed, so all safe until morning comes.
Sweet dreams.
Ooo, Six Dinner Sid! That’s wonderful!
I wish he wouldn’t worry you, but that’s part of the deal with the Wanderers, isn’t it?
Naughty Not Cat. I do feel for you knowing the fun and games I had, with Bertha particularly, last year. Have you tried rewarding him with treats to get him to respond to the munchie box being rattled?
Ginger from across the Green likes to sneak in when I’m not looking and I only know he’s there when I want to watch a DVD and I find him upstairs, in my Charles Eames, no less. Sometimes he’s in for more than he bargained when I go uptown and I’m gone six or seven hours.
Then he’s reluctant to leave ’til he’s had some milk.
He’s trying to make a habit of it, but I’m having none of THAT nonsense.
Bloody cats.
I haven’t considered putting a note on the tag that Atticus is chipped. Thanks for the tip…it makes sense to include that info.
I am just amazed you all can cope with your pet wandering away from your sight and reach!!! It’s probably because I live in a neibourghood without gardens and with plenty of busy streets . Our cats do not wander: they saty at home and don’t normally ask to be freed from the boundaries of our/their homes. Ours, of course, always stayed at home and didn’t appreciate to be walk to and into the park in front of our building. He used to “disappear” when he heard the noise of me, preparing his leash!
I hope you can cope with him being on his own in the outside world. And The mesures you are going to implement seem all very wise to me! With all my heart I wish you both very good luck!
Oh! The munchie box being rattled together with a treat when he appears sound appealling!
Isobel hearing that Not Cat’s wanderings are making you uneasy for his safety makes me uneasy for you and Not Cat. I have mixed feelings about making cats stay inside. Prior to Z(passed)and Izzy(re-homed)I was strictly a believer of inside for cats. Safer for them, safer for our bird population and better for my anxiety. But I truly believe that Z’s asthma was brought on or worsened from her anxiety over not being able to go outside over late Fall and Winter. Z was only allowed outside when we were outside to keep an eye on her and she stayed close to us. Izzy was not going to be a happy indoor cat, we could see that right away. The outside really called to her. Despite living in the country and on some acreage we have a busy road close to us and people think nothing of driving 70 in their big old farm trucks. I think Z would have never learned the way of crossing the road and Izzy I don’t know, but I didn’t want to risk it. Some cats just can’t handle being inside cats emotionally and I think it takes a toll on the cat in various ways. I think you are doing great things to make Not Cat safe in his wanderings and I hope he stays safe because I think from what you say, Not Cat is going to be one of those kitties that just can’t be inside all the time. But I do wish that little ginger of yours would hang closer to home and check in with you. 😉
I know that Cat had seen much of the world before he opted to make his home with you. Not Cat reminds me of a teenager who’s just received his driver’s licence. Grey hair?
We “trained” our other kitty to a kitty-coat and leash. We even put her outside with a long line clipped to a clothesline so she could wander without going too far.
Two things changed that: she tangled herself up to her neck around the ground-level water faucet and had managed to turn the faucet on full blast, shooting right on her. We never knew how long she had been standing there in that shower….
The second thing probably was learned after that water incident–she taught herself the Stop, Drop, and Roll technique for shimmying out of her coat.
The coat still works when we go for walks in the woods–or anywhere she deems OK; we believe she doesn’t like to be seen in public with that purple thing obscuring her fine calico tortoiseshell markings.
I think Sue has hit the nail on the head. Not Cat is just being a curious adolescent. Cat was already streetwise, though not much older than Not Cat when he first appeared in our garden.
I couldn’t make Not Cat a house cat, anymore than I could Cat. Their enjoyment of the outside world is so central to their their well-being and characters, that to confine them would, in my eyes, be cruelty.
I worried that Cat, as his hearing went, would be knocked down, but on balance that seemed a better option than confining him. I think I’ll have to apply the same to Not Cat.
Having said that, I have already raced outside once this evening when I heard the beginnings of a catfight and chased away the aggressor…
🙂
So glad NotCat is back. 🙂
There was a letter in Pete Wedderburn’s column in the DT about a cat that goes walkabout for two weeks at a time! My nerves would be in shreds.
Naughty ginger ninja! I’m lucky that all my girls are happy to be indoor cats. It’s not always the case and that makes it tricky. Glad he’s no longer MIA
Maybe if I had a bigger home I could contemplate the idea of an indor cat, but I don’t think it’d be fair in a small flat. In the first weeks with me, Not Cat did spend the majority of his time inside and hid when people came round. To see his (vastly) increased confidence and how he has grown into and commandeered the space has been a pleasure.
Cat spent a lot of time outside. Last winter was areal turning point where he elected to stay indoors and use the litter tray rather than ask to go out in the cold.