Yes to all of the yes answers. But that was before I kept indoor only kitties (of course Monster did make a dash for the hallway this morning...)
I'll tell a story with a happy ending...
I had a big black cat go missing in October when I was a kid and of course we thought the worst.
He was gone for months and months.
Turned up near a gravel pit a 30 minute drive away and a kind person took him in. She heard that we had lost him and called my mother who bundled my brother and I into the car. As soon as the cat saw us he ran right over and we made the ID based on his butt freckles and him answering to his name. It was bizarre.
We all figured he had been snatched but somehow got away from whoever had taken him? So we got him back which was nice.
A few years later he decided to move in with one of our neighbours and that arrangement suited them just fine. He would still come visit and we knew he was happier there. Hee. ❤
My parents think one of the cats they had when I was just a baby may have stowed away on a boat and sailed off to parts unknown. They lived right up against the dyke at the time, with the harbor on the other side of it, and that cat was always down there. We just hope that if he did stow away, the people on the boat didn't throw him overboard when they discovered him. :\
Yes, many years ago my Chloe got out of the house and was gone for about three days. She showed up at three AM meowing because she was hungry. Since then she hasn't tried to run away at all. She only leaves the house to follow me. I think she worries that I might run away and never come back.
My giant black cat (18 lbs, not fat just HUGE) is a bit of a ninja, and he will make a break for the door if he gets a clear shot. Unfortunately, since he's black, once he's out--especially at night--it's difficult to find him. On the other hand, he's a talker, so he usually keeps up a running commentary while outside: "I'M OUTSIDE! THIS IS AWESOME BUT KIND OF SCARY! HI ARE YOU THERE? OKAY I'M GOING TO CHECK THIS BUSH NOW!"
He's been indoors-only his entire life, with a few escapade exceptions. His longest "outdoor adventure" was several hours, from a summer afternoon well into the night. I would go outside and call him, and he would call back, but I couldn't find him, much less get close enough to get my hands on him. I was outside trying to locate him when I heard a rustle and squeak from a nearby bush, and he came trotting into the car port carrying a mouse in his mouth! He dropped it next to a wood pile, and under the guise of helping him find the mouse, I was able to get close enough to capture him and bring him inside. The other cats were SO IMPRESSED--they could smell the mouse blood on him (and a bit that got on my shirt), and kept coming back to sniff him carefully for hours!
I had an (indoor) cat get out and go missing for almost a month and was completely distraught about it. I was sure she was gone. We lived in the Pine Barrens with miles of NOTHING around and I was convinced a coyote or bear got her, but the lil shit showed up in the shed, sitting under a wagon just looking at us like 'What took you so long?' :'|
When we moved house in Jan/Feb we kept Neko inside for the first week or so to get her used to the place. Then over a couple of days we started taking her outside in the garden to sniff about. On the second trip outside she ran away over a fence into some woods and we couldn't see her anywhere.
It was the day the cat flap was being installed so we hadn't even shown her where that was going to be yet!
We went outside a few times over the next few hours as it got dark and thought we saw her skittering about in the woods a once or twice.
Later that night, about 8 hours after we last had hold of her, she appeared at the french doors of the lounge and made my partner's mum jump! They let her in and after that she was allowed to come and go as she pleased.
She's very used to the new place now, a lot more garden to go around so she doesn't go as far from home as she used to at our old house. In fact she's normally to be found sleeping on a box in the loft of the garage ^_^
This photo is of me cuddling her when she came home that night - she's got a typical kid look of "mum, I'm fine stop it!"
Yes to all of the yes answers. But that was before I kept indoor only kitties (of course Monster did make a dash for the hallway this morning...)
I'll tell a story with a happy ending...
I had a big black cat go missing in October when I was a kid and of course we thought the worst.
He was gone for months and months.
Turned up near a gravel pit a 30 minute drive away and a kind person took him in. She heard that we had lost him and called my mother who bundled my brother and I into the car. As soon as the cat saw us he ran right over and we made the ID based on his butt freckles and him answering to his name. It was bizarre.
We all figured he had been snatched but somehow got away from whoever had taken him? So we got him back which was nice.
A few years later he decided to move in with one of our neighbours and that arrangement suited them just fine. He would still come visit and we knew he was happier there. Hee. ❤
My parents think one of the cats they had when I was just a baby may have stowed away on a boat and sailed off to parts unknown. They lived right up against the dyke at the time, with the harbor on the other side of it, and that cat was always down there. We just hope that if he did stow away, the people on the boat didn't throw him overboard when they discovered him. :\
Yes, many years ago my Chloe got out of the house and was gone for about three days. She showed up at three AM meowing because she was hungry. Since then she hasn't tried to run away at all. She only leaves the house to follow me. I think she worries that I might run away and never come back.
My giant black cat (18 lbs, not fat just HUGE) is a bit of a ninja, and he will make a break for the door if he gets a clear shot. Unfortunately, since he's black, once he's out--especially at night--it's difficult to find him. On the other hand, he's a talker, so he usually keeps up a running commentary while outside: "I'M OUTSIDE! THIS IS AWESOME BUT KIND OF SCARY! HI ARE YOU THERE? OKAY I'M GOING TO CHECK THIS BUSH NOW!"
He's been indoors-only his entire life, with a few escapade exceptions. His longest "outdoor adventure" was several hours, from a summer afternoon well into the night. I would go outside and call him, and he would call back, but I couldn't find him, much less get close enough to get my hands on him. I was outside trying to locate him when I heard a rustle and squeak from a nearby bush, and he came trotting into the car port carrying a mouse in his mouth! He dropped it next to a wood pile, and under the guise of helping him find the mouse, I was able to get close enough to capture him and bring him inside. The other cats were SO IMPRESSED--they could smell the mouse blood on him (and a bit that got on my shirt), and kept coming back to sniff him carefully for hours!
I had an (indoor) cat get out and go missing for almost a month and was completely distraught about it. I was sure she was gone. We lived in the Pine Barrens with miles of NOTHING around and I was convinced a coyote or bear got her, but the lil shit showed up in the shed, sitting under a wagon just looking at us like 'What took you so long?' :'|
When we moved house in Jan/Feb we kept Neko inside for the first week or so to get her used to the place. Then over a couple of days we started taking her outside in the garden to sniff about. On the second trip outside she ran away over a fence into some woods and we couldn't see her anywhere.
It was the day the cat flap was being installed so we hadn't even shown her where that was going to be yet!
We went outside a few times over the next few hours as it got dark and thought we saw her skittering about in the woods a once or twice.
Later that night, about 8 hours after we last had hold of her, she appeared at the french doors of the lounge and made my partner's mum jump! They let her in and after that she was allowed to come and go as she pleased.
She's very used to the new place now, a lot more garden to go around so she doesn't go as far from home as she used to at our old house. In fact she's normally to be found sleeping on a box in the loft of the garage ^_^
This photo is of me cuddling her when she came home that night - she's got a typical kid look of "mum, I'm fine stop it!"
This pic is really adorable and makes me smile without fail whenever I open this poll ^_^
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Yes I have had a cat run away be for