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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

236.0. "Figaro's Wild Ride" by USMRW1::JTRAVERS () Fri Apr 18 1986 16:48

    We FINALLY got our VAX updated and this is the first time in MONTHS
    that I've been able to access my beloved notes files! 
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    The following is an story that I've wanted to share with you Feline
    noters for a long time.   The moral of the story is... never give up hope!
    
    Back on a Friday in February (post-DECworld), my kitty, Figaro,
    was outside in the yard.  It was an extremely cold day.
    
    A friend came by my house during the late afternoon and while she
    was there, Figaro must have gone up under her car to get near the
    warm engine.
    
    When my friend, Chris, left my yard, Figaro was still under her
    car and went for a ride!  
    
    TWO MILES from my home, Chris heard a thump, looked out her rear
    view mirror and saw something black run into the woods.  At the
    time she never associated the black thing with our cat.
    
    Well... Friday night I'm out in the yard calling kitty... and she's
    just plain disappeared into thin air!  Saturday I searched all over
    the neighborhood... still no kitty.
    
    By Sunday I was frantic, where could she have gone!  My friend Chris
    happened to call and I told her how devastated I was that Figaro
    was missing.  It was not until then that she remembered seeing the
    black object from her car.  She came over and took me to the spot
    where she'd heard the thump.  I searched the woods all day Sunday,
    and every day after work, I'd stop by the area.  I left notes in
    all of the mailboxes of the nearby houses and called all the local
    vets and pounds... 
    
    All this time my husband, John, was out of town.  When he came back
    he and I searched the woods together... still nothing.  I must admit
    that by this time I had come to the conclusion that she was gone
    for good.
    
    Ten days had passed.  As I was leaving for work on a Monday morning,
    John asked me to please stop by the area... just one more time...
    I really didn't want to.  I was convinced she was gone and that
    I had to begin dealing with reality. 
    
    I went to the area to please John.  I parked the car, got out and
    called her over and over again.  Nothing.  Just as I was about to
    give up SHE CAME RUNNING OUT OF THE WOODS!!!
    
    Can you imagine me standing there by the edge of the road, screaming,
    crying and holding my kitty!!  I couldn't believe my eyes.
    
    She'd lost a lot of weight, and had a slash on her behind (probably
    from the fall out of the car), but other than that she was FINE.
    We took her to the vet right away and he gave her a complete going
    over.. 
    
    Boy, was she glad to get home!  We will never forget how close we
    actually came to losing her.
                                        
       ^_^
      (>.<)
       ) ( Jeannie
    
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236.1Theory on injured cats??HYDRA::BACONTue Apr 22 1986 00:1316
    I love happy endings!!!!
    
    Your story brings out something that I've learned about cats from
    various vets.  Apparently, If a cat is hurt, and thinks it might
    die, it will run and hide.  It will stay in hiding until it is healed
    enough that it knows it's going to live.  The vets mention something
    about cats wanting to die in peace and private.  I thought this was really
    interesting to know.  Since Figaro had been hurt a little, maybe
    this explains why Figaro didn't come out for 10 days.  I guess it
    is really common for cats who have been hurt in fan belts to disappear
    for a few days and then re-appear.   
    
    Anyway - sorry for the diversion, but I thought it fit to mention
    this here.  Has anyone else heard this theory?
                                                     
    - Molly -
236.2Maybe SoINK::KALLISTue Apr 22 1986 12:1410
    The theory has some validity.  When I lived in Huntsville, Alabama,
    one of the people who worked with me had a sick cat who kept trying
    to hide around the house.  The vet said he didn't have much chance,
    but the people, who'd heard the rumor, took turns staring with their
    cat and would _not_ let him hide.
    
    After a time, he recovered.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    
236.3DSSDEV::EPPESFrom the home office in MilwaukeeTue Apr 22 1986 15:4210
I've heard this theory, too, and I think it might apply to animals
in general, though my only experience has been with a cat.  Years
ago, one of my family's cats was ill, and disappeared.  We assumed
he'd gone off to find a place to die, and in a few days we found out
the hard way that that was true -- the place he chose to die was
under the couch in the living room.
    
Ugh.  Well, it illustrates the point...

						-- Nina
236.4USMRW1::JTRAVERSTue Apr 22 1986 17:4910
    When Figaro disappeared we, too, thought that she may have crawled
    away to die.  Because she had been last seen in this great wooded
    area, our biggest fear was that we'd never find her, dead or alive!
    
    Anyway, we're real glad to have her back.  We won't take her love,
    attention and affection for granted, that's for sure.
    
        ^_^
       (>.<)
        ) (   Jeannie T.
236.5Another kitty car ride storyWHOARU::GOUNOwned by three catsFri May 02 1986 19:5417
Jeannie,

As the ownee of another cat that was once lost for 10 days (see topic 98), I
can easily sympathize with your distress and eventual relief.  Your story
brings me in mind of another.

My father owns an auto repair shop in the Bronx, New York.  He's well known
for being able to solve mysterious problems with vehicles, so he tends to
get interesting cases.

He was once brought a truck that had been making strange noises for a couple
of days.  He opened the hood to poke around, and found a kitten lodged deep
in the bowels of the engine compartment.  My father and the kitten adopted
each other immediately.  It was his shop mascot for several months before it
was killed by an encounter with another car.

					-- Roger
236.6BEING::POSTPISCHILAlways mount a scratch monkey.Wed May 21 1986 18:017
    This is just a hunch, but I don't think a sick cat is going away
    to die, but going away to recuperate.  There aren't many hospitals
    in the wild, so the best thing a hurt animal can do to get better
    is get away from danger, which means hiding.
    
    
    				-- edp
236.7ans to .6STUBBI::REINKETue Jun 03 1986 14:516
    I think you are probably right. The only problem is that this instinct
    works against them in today's world since if you can't find your
    cat you can't get it to the vet in time to save it. My first kitty
    died in our attic after (I believe) being hit by a car. We didn't
    find her until the body began to smell. I cried for quite a while
    after we found her.
236.8De-cat your carLATOUR::AMARTINAlan H. MartinThu Jun 05 1986 01:219
A bit of advice I hear from time to time in the media is to hit the
horn on your car briefly before you start it during the winter to de-cat
the engine.  They like to crawl in (especially strays) because the engine
is often the only warm place around on a cold night.

I don't know anyone (not even any cat owners) who actually do this,
but it might be worth acquiring the habit if you have a cat which likes
V-8 heating pads.
				/AHM
236.9Please use your horn !USMRW4::CSTOLLERThu Jun 11 1987 16:2314
    Here is a cat-owner who DOES use .8's suggestion-
    We now have 7 cats, and they love to lounge around
    under the cars.
    Before starting the car (you've heard those greusome stories
    of cats getting caught in fan belts?!) we tap our horn,
    and before moving the vehicle, rev the motor several times.
    I have on more than one occasion seen one of our 'babies'
    run out from under the car.  There are 4 of us at home who
    drive, and I'm sure we drive the neighbors crazy, but it's
    better than the thought of hurting one of our own pets with
    our cars !!