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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:	Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:	FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:	MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO

Created:	Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:	Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5089
Total number of notes:	60366

120.0. "cat returns "home"" by NAAD::GERMANN () Mon Jul 22 1985 10:54

For all of you who are wondering where your cats may have wandered off to, let
me tell the tale of what happened to me last weekend.

Out on the back porch was a very nice, very large yellow male tabby.  Now this
cat seemed very happy to stay at my house, even though my three were not
exactly hospitable to him.  I tried not feeding it, hosing with water, yelling,
and letting the three feline owners of the house hiss.  However, this cat
was not going to leave.  After 4 days of this, I was ready to call the
animal shelter.  I really couldn't have another cat.  On a lark, I looked
in the lost and found in the local paper (yea, the Union Leader).  Low and
behold, there was not one, but two ads for male tabbys.  On looking at the
phone numbers, I noted that one seemed vaguely familiar.  Looking in the
phone book confirmed that it was the number of the previous owner.  I called
and sure enough, they came and collected Marmy.  It seems that they went
on vacation.  A neighbor boy was supposed to feed him, but forgot.  Marmy,
being of higher intelligence, decided he would find his own love and food.
So he returned "home".  The interesting thing in this whole tale is that
I bought that house over 5 years ago!!  What a memory.

Ellen

T.R	Title	User	Date	Lines
120.1		WILLIE::CANNOY	`Mon Jul 22 1985 10:33`	7
	Out of curiosity, how far had the cat traveled? I always find it amazing, the way animals can find their former homes. But, you really can't get most people to believe that many cats are very place oriented, rather than people oriented. Tamzen
120.2		NAAD::GERMANN	`Mon Jul 22 1985 15:07`	10
	re 2: Marmy had come about 6 miles, including across or around a marsh. He was VERY happy on the porch. To add to this whole incident and the issue of place versus people, my daughter called at noon to say the Marmy was back. She had called the owners who have come to get him again. They had gone away for the weekend. He seems happy to be home when they are there, when they go away, he has now found a place (not people) that loves him. This guy has some personality and perserverence. This could be an interesting summer. Ellen
120.3		VAXWRK::DUDLEY	`Mon Jul 22 1985 17:16`	6
	On the more serious side, I think that the moral of the story is that responsible owners of outdoor cats should have identifying collars on them. At the very least, you'd at least be notified if your cat should get killed. If I notice a new cat hanging around the neighborhood and it has an ID tag, I'll call, just to make sure there's not a distraught parent worrying about where kitty disappeared to.
120.4		EXIT26::SNOW	`Thu Aug 08 1985 15:50`	12
	HOW FAR DO YOU THINK A CAT CAN TRAVEL TO FIND THERE HOMES? RECENTLY I WAS CAT SITTING (IN MY HOME) AND MUFFY GOT OUT THE PORCH WINDOW TOOK THE SCREEN OUT NEEDLESS TO SAY HE WAS VERY DETERMINED TO GET OUT AND DID. WELL IT HAS BEEN A WEEK I HAVE CALLED LOCAL ANIMAL HOSPITALS AND WHATNOT, LEFT HIS DESCRIPTION.THE HOSPITAL TOLD ME TO CHECK HIS HOME WHICH IS OVER 30 MILES AWAY AND SHE SAID IT DOESN'T MATTER. I ALSO PUT AN ADD IN THE LOCAL PAPER. I'M HOPING HE WILL RETURN BEFORE HIS OWNERS RETURN. ALSO WHAT IS THE POSSIBILITY OF MUFFY TURNING UP A MONTH FROM NOW? ANYONE WITH ANY ADVISE IN THIS MATTER WOULD BE APPRECIATED. JUDY
120.5		AURORA::RAVAN	`Mon Aug 12 1985 07:48`	17
	Re .4: Cats and dogs (and maybe parakeets, for all I know) have traveled incredible distances to return to their homes, but I would NOT recommend counting on that. A good many more are never heard from again, after meeting a nasty death somewhere or (more optimistically) being taken in along the way. Post your "missing cat" notes all along the route if you can, and keep checking the animal shelters. If I were you I'd cruise between the two sites, daily or every other day, and spend a little time at the other house doing the "Kitty, kitty" routine in case the cat's already there and confused about not being let in. And good luck! -b
120.6		MAISHA::JACKSON	`Wed Sep 18 1985 08:17`	5
	Here's my .02 worth. My sister had a cat that came over 200 miles to get back home to her. henceforth his nick name "The 200 mile cat" <++tim>
120.7	yes, cats comin back	HAMIS3::RMUELLER	`Wed Nov 09 1988 04:49`	17
	Hi Judy, did the cat came back? I know, this is an old notice, but I#m very interested in this case. In 1978 one of my cats (a black one) disappeared and after several weeks I was sure to never see him again. After 6 Months (yes, in words: six) when I feeded my other cats and the black one cried to want some more I just turned around and saw that the crying black cat was my old friend who took back his place as if he had only been on a 1/2 hour walk. That's a real true story, I apologize for my not-perfect English. Rosi from Hamburg, Germany