The Case of the Missing Kitty

Our kitty (Nickels) has been missing a lot lately. He is gone for much of the day and even multiple days. We miss him a lot and Todd especially needs him to comfort him and keep him company and lift his spirits up. He is a therapy kitty. They have a very close connection. The other night, Todd was feeling glum about his right hand and arm not coming back as fast as he hoped and he said to his kitty who was laying in his bed with him, “Give my arm some love and help it come back,” and the cat immediately stretched out both of his front paws and laid them lovingly on Todd’s arm. We said, “Wow, he is psychic.” Her is in Todd’s bed in the am as he wakes up and lays with him as he goes to sleep at night.

We lost his brother (Pickles) this past summer. Our neighbor caught him on his game camera going down the driveway at 3 am. Out for a walk for sure, but the next morning, he was dead down on 895, hit by a car in the night. We buried him under the roof of the blacksmith shop, right where Todd fell. Seemed appropriate. His brother mourned him for weeks and we broke a 40-year rule and began to let him in the house with us. He turned very loving and affectionate and loved anyone and everyone, where as before, he was the wild one and his brother the more affectionate.

He loved to eat and was always ravenous, but the last few weeks he began to skip. Wouldn’t even touch his wet cat food, fresh- straight from the opened can and we wondered what was going on. He is a stupendous hunter but we couldn’t believe he was filling up on wild game alone. I wondered about worms (already wormed him once). But I really grew suspicious when he came home the other day smelling like someone’s home, not the fresh outdoors, like he was cheating on us!

“He’s in another home,” we decided. We asked all our neighbors and no one had seen him snooping around. Except for Rob and Barb. “He comes down to visit sometimes,” they said, “and would probably pop in if we let him in the door but our cats chase him and are territorial.”

There was one more neighbor to call. He lives in a log cabin down the ridge only 150 yards away. You have to go through the forest to get to his home or up his separate driveway. We have not seen him since Todd fell off the roof and broke his neck. I was just about to buy a cat collar at the Dollar Store tomorrow and put a note on it that he was our cat and we missed him, so I called this last neighbor on a last whim.

After three sentences of “Happy New Year” and “How is Todd?” he asked, “Are you calling about the cat?” I said, “Well, my cat has been missing a lot lately.”  

He said, “Is he a dark grey neutered male with white paws? Very affectionate and loving?” I said, “Yes, that’s our kitty.”  He said, “I LOVE that cat so much.” I said, “So do we.”

“He’s such a great cat,” he said, “I love him.”

I repeated, “We love him too.” I said, “My husband misses him a lot. He is his therapy kitty.”

He said, “I’ve gone through a lot of canned food feeding him.” And I told him that he isn’t eating my food and it spoils.

He said, “He’s in my home right now.” I said, “Send him home please.” He said, “I can’t. I’m not home. I won’t be home for two hours,” and I almost lost it. “My cat is locked inside your home so he can’t come to his own home?” I almost blurted out. How is that fair?

He told me that he lost his kitty this past summer and he loved his cat and had her many years.

I am sorry for him but he needs to get his own cat, not take someone else’s especially someone who needs him. I do not believe that cats or dogs or any animal becomes sweet and loving all on their own, necessarily. I think they need to be treated that way by their owners. I do not think it is any coincidence that our Kitty is so affectionate and such a good boy, BUT HE IS OURS!  

I told him “I don’t mind sharing and he can come over to visit but please do not keep him in your home. We want him.” He repeated again and again how much he loves him and how great a cat he is. I told him again that we can share and we are going away to the Shenandoah for a few days later in the month and he can keep him then, but I will tell him the dates.

Two hours later he called and said, “I’m home now. Should I let him out or keep him overnight and let him go in the morning” I said, “SEND HIM HOME NOW! And don’t feed him anymore.” OMG!

My neighbor kept saying, “I didn’t know, I didn’t know.” I guess, but he clearly is not a feral cat and has a loving home already. Our neighbor is a nice enough guy but OMG, He needs his own pet!

My neighbor Barb, said, “Get him a gift certificate to the local shelter so he can get his own cat.” We laughed and said we will have to get custody of him like a kid whose divorced parents are both trying to get him…discuss “visitation rights.” You can’t make this shit up.