Our cat walks away again. It is not quite right to say he disappears. We know where he hangs around in Chandler’s Ford.
The only problem is that he doesn’t want to come back. As he walks away, sometimes I feel sad and wonder if he is still mine.
A nice lady called Bobbie calls us once every few weeks. We know Bobbie through our missing cat Billy. Billy went missing for two years in Chandler’s Ford and he lived as a community cat in Tuscan Walk. The lovely people around Tuscan Walk fed Billy and when he was returned to us, he was a clean, spoilt, well-fed cat. I wrote about Billy’s adventure in this post: Why Did Our Cat Cross The Road?
Without Billy, I would not have met the wonderful people such as Bobbie and her husband Derek. Every time Billy left our home, he would travel 1.5 miles to Tuscan Walk, off Oakmount Road. Billy again would appear on Bobbie’s porch or garden each morning for food.
In the past few months, Bobbie phoned me whenever Billy visited her. She would report to us Billy’s whereabouts and told us which kind neighbours had fed him. We asked Bobbie not to feed Billy, with the hope that Billy would return to us.
During the storm early this year, Billy abandoned our cosy home and wandered to Tuscan Walk to find his old friends. Bobbie phoned again as she was concerned about Billy’s safety. We collected Billy during one windy night.
Bobbie and I were analysing Billy’s behaviour more and more often over the phone. I decided to phone Helen Farrar, of Cat & Kitten Rescue In Chandler’s Ford, for help.
Helen thinks that Billy has treated Tuscan Walk area as his second home — “Because people are feeding him there.”
What an intelligent cat!
A while ago, Helen sent me an email:
“I have looked up the details on the adoption form when you signed for Billie.
He came to me from an old lady in Oakmount Road. He was a stray and she began to feed him. I had him neutered for her. He used to have a bed in her back porch. She had 2 indoor elderly female cats. I visited her regularly and when she went into care I rehomed her two cats. I continued to feed Billy until I had a spare catpen, I then brought him into care. The lady used to live at 88 Oakmount Road.
Billie has obviously never forgotten. It just shows how intelligent cats are!!”
By Helen Farrar, of Cat & Kitten Rescue In Chandler’s Ford.
Now the mystery is solved. We thought Billy was rescued from Asda, but now Helen confirmed that the Asda cat was called George, which we also looked at before deciding to take Billy.
Billy’s story has rekindled my faith in kindness and community spirit.
Unfortunately Billy comes and goes. We haven’t seen him for weeks.
I don’t want to sound over-sentimental. However, when a cat chooses to leave you, is there anything you could do to change his heart?
Related posts about Billy:
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Has Billy ever found his way back to you independently? Or do you always go and “re-capture” him?
What is the longest time he has stayed with you before returning “home”?
Maybe you are swimming against the current with Billy?
I wonder how Billy would react if you decided to buy a kitten to live with you and who learned to regard living with you as staying “home”?
Nick,
Billy knows his way back (only 1.5 miles for him), but he chooses to linger in Oatmount Road and Tuscan Walk area.
Normally Bobbie rings us, and she would let Billy in, and then we pick up Billy from her house.
Billy doesn’t seem to stay with us more than 2 weeks at a time.
My husband seems to agree with you about having a kitten, but I’m not so sure. We already have a lizard. How crazy can this household become?
Why is love not reciprocal?
All goes to prove that humans don’t own cats; cats own humans.
I once had a cat and had a problem with another cat coming in through the cat flap. To solve this I set the flap so it would only open outwards – the cat could get out, but would have to ‘ask’ us to come back in. Our cat soon worked out that if it hit the flap hard enough, it would bounce back on the catch far enough for it to get its paw under and pull it towards him. Did cause a bit of confusion at first, when I found the car inside when I had been convinced it had been outside.
Ruby,
You haven’t told me how I could make my cat love me and come back to me.
You could try leaving small cat treats dotted around the house that Billy find when he is wandering. Then he might think that staying in the house is a good thing because he gets food.