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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / He’s Back

He’s Back

by | 93 Comments

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A very subdued Steve showed up in the garage (I left the garage and the back gate open so he could come home at leisure) as I as heading downstairs to do drive #25 around town with a bag of treats. Apparently the massive rainstorm did it’s magic and he decided to come home.

He is very subdued and hasn’t meowed once (unheard of for him- he never shuts up- he announces himself as he walks into every room normally), so hopefully he is traumatized enough to not pull this crap again.

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  7. 7.

    Nicole

    I’m so glad he’s back. My childhood dog was a mini schnauzer that every so often would decide she needed a day off from the family and disappear for several hours. We spent the day worried sick until the damn bitch came home, usually dragging along something dead. Glad to hear Steve may have decided the great outdoors ain’t all that. Good kitty!

  8. 8.

    Gindy51

    I am glad he is back. Instead of relying on his being traumatized, go around the house and see where he got out and fix it. His curiosity may get the better of him and he may try it again.

  10. 10.

    The Dangerman

    …so hopefully he is traumatized enough to not pull this crap again.

    Nah, whatever he was up to, he was having a helluva time. Does GoPro make tiny little cameras? If he had one, you’d see birds scurrying, every patch of appropriate green inspected for it’s being catnip, etc.

  12. 12.

    CALfan

    Thank FSM and St. Anthony for the homecoming! (St. Anthony has been my Go To guy my whole life. A well-worn saint.)

  15. 15.

    cckids

    This is OT, but in celebration of Steve’s return, I’m passing along this. My niece works with this rescue group in Hastings, Nebraska; they had a Great Dane come in yesterday; the most emaciated dog you’ve ever seen. My niece spent the night hanging out with her, the poor dog couldn’t even lie down without a fluffy pillow underneath her. If you feel so inclined, the shelter does wonderful work on very little funding. Thx.

  16. 16.

    mai naem

    John, umm, are we talking about him being traumatized or you being traumatized?
    Also too, I hope you gave him a stern talking to on how next time he pulls this carousing crap, you are going to dump all his toys and his empty food and water bowls along with his crate, right on the front yard, and and the neighbors will see how he treated you and and….. he can just find himself another cat servant!!! So there!!!

  17. 17.

    different-church-lady

    Very glad he’s home. If he’s slinking around check him for wounds — that’s the way my tux says, “Yeah, I got my ass kicked” even when there’s no obvious evidence he was in a fight.

  18. 18.

    MikeInSewickley

    Thank FSM (as others have said). You don’t need the trauma of that big ball of fur being lost for a while.

    Hopefully he saw the other side of the tracks and realized he has a sweet deal at home.

    And not to scare people (but I will), during the summer, right by Sewickley PA on RT 79, I saw a dead dog on the side of the road that just didn’t look right. I swung by again and stopped.
    It was what I thought it was – a coyote.

    There’s been more and more sightings of them in PA and Eastern U.S.

    So everyone be careful – even the suburbs are getting Wild West.

  22. 22.

    Violet

    Yay! So glad he’s back! And in time for you to relax enough to enjoy the Steelers game. Thoughtful kitty.

  23. 23.

    Just One More Canuck

    Great news that he’s back. When I was a kid, we had a cat that every couple of years would take off for a week or so and then show up all matted and filthy and happy as hell. We would always be on the brink of giving up hope when we’d see him strutting through the back yard. He was a great cat – lived to be 20.

  25. 25.

    MazeDancer

    Thrilled for you, John. There are few more horrible, helpless, frantic, scary, sad feelings than missing kitty. Yay, Steve, for remembering what a wonderful home he has.

    Such good news.

  26. 26.

    JPL

    I’m so pleased that Steve has returned.
    Maybe MomSense’s cat will reappear. It’s been long enough though, that her cat is probably being fed elsewhere.

  29. 29.

    skyweaver

    I’m so glad he is back! I’ve been checking back all afternoon! Also, he won’t be subdued for long, and will manage to change the narrative somehow in the next few days to, “Cole was being a dick, what else could I do but leave?”

  31. 31.

    Zifnab

    Glad to hear he’s back. And got to hear you’re still at +0.

    Give him extra vigorous head pets for us.

  33. 33.

    WereBear

    We have an apartment in the attic of an old house, so we can open the apartment door and let the cats play on the stairs. The second floor neighbors think they are cute even when Tristan visits them when the door is open.

    Best of both worlds. If I close the door without doing a headcount, Tristan will ring the temple bells, while RJ acts panicked. I always try to do a headcount now.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    Phew! Somebody in the previous thread suggested that you screen your windows, and it’s probably a good idea. Plus it’s probably cheaper to do it now than in the spring because people probably aren’t thinking of it.

  35. 35.

    Emma

    Thank goodness! I was a little afraid to check back in case it was bad news. Let’s hope he’s learned his lesson.

  36. 36.

    Tokyokie

    @MikeInSewickley: I read an article a couple of weeks ago (don’t ask me where) that coyotes have interbred with wolves, with the result being an animal that’s better suited for living near urbanized areas. They’re a good reason to kep your kitties indoors.

  37. 37.

    NCSteve

    I suspect he’s subdued because he’s embarrassed and a little uncertain whether he’s still welcome after his wild escapade. I remember feeling much the same way after an couple of particularly over the top nights as a teenager in a small town where everyone knew everyone and, as a result, you never knew what your folks already knew.

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    @Emma:
    Lesson? Steve was merely out stretching his legs for a bit. Then on the way back, he got caught in the rain, which can spoil a feline person’s mood somewhat. No biggie.

    You humans are getting all wee-weed up over nothing.

  39. 39.

    jayboat

    He’s likely more tired than traumatized. Probably up all night exploring and the rain today kept all the meeses out of sight and unable to find a dry comfortable place to sleep. So, he’s embarrassed that he wasn’t able to catch a present to bring home to his human naked mopmaster.

    All’s well that ends well. We can haz picture naow?

  47. 47.

    Ruviana

    @Tokyokie: I was thinking of that same article, which I think was on alternet or raw story, one of the aggragating sites. As coyotes drifted north and east, interbreeding with wolves and the occasional dog, they also became social and began forming packs. Coyotes are kind of loners in the west. At least one biologist thinks they’re different enough to be their own species. Here’s a National Geographic article about it. Yeah, I think this stuff is cool.

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    So glad Steve’s come back safely, Cole!

    But, yeah, soon as he lets you, (carefully) go over every inch of his body and check for wounds, swellings, or that sudden lash-out-&-run that means you’ve hit a sore spot. Certainly do this before you use the furminator again! With a coat like Steve’s, you could miss quite a large scab if you’re not thorough, and it’s no fun for either of you if it gets infected.

    And once again — now that you might be calm enough to take this in — even a Maine Coon who escapes isn’t gonna bolt for distance like a damned dog. Escaped cats stay close and lie low. No point in driving around, just walk the neighborhood, tap the tuna can with a fork, call him the way you would at dinner, keep an eye out for hidey-holes, and listen. Since your neighbors already suspect the worst about you, leaving a dirty sock or tshirt near places Steve might show up to hide is a good way to work off your anxiety, too.

  49. 49.

    Villago Delenda Est

    ZOMG it’s wet out here! I need to get home and shake off all this water on the sofa in the living room!

  50. 50.

    Anne Laurie

    @Tokyokie:

    I read an article a couple of weeks ago (don’t ask me where) that coyotes have interbred with wolves, with the result being an animal that’s better suited for living near urbanized areas.

    That would be right here on this full-service blog, thank you.

    I suspect if the coywolves had reached Cole’s neighborhood, his neighbors (or the fraternity kids) would’ve seen them already.

  52. 52.

    mquirk

    Glad to hear that Steve is back!

    We have a couple of indoor cats. Part of our conditioning to ensure that they stay indoor cats is that we occasionally take them out on a leash if it’s cold and rainy. There have been several times on nice days when they head up to the door when we get home from work, see a potential escape as it is opening and then pause as if to say, “Oh no… you can’t fool *me*. It’s horrible out there!”

  53. 53.

    suzanne

    HUZZAH! So happy he’s home!

    I’m sure he couldn’t be that badly traumatized after being out for less than a day. One of my cats got out once, and she was gone for weeks, and then one day she came home—though we spotted her in the yard and it still took four hours to coax her to let us touch her. But she was totally freaked out afterward. It changed her personality for the rest of her life. I would give many, many dollars to know what happened. She was previously a very spunky, affectionate, bold kitty. Afterward, she was shy to the point of hanging out under the bed all day, wouldn’t let us touch her, scared of strangers. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong. So weird.

  57. 57.

    Keith G

    @Tokyokie: Exactly. Our lovely critters do not process cause and effect as much as we think they do.

    …so hopefully he is traumatized enough to not pull this crap again.

    Hopefully, you are traumatized enough to get screens on that (and other) windows so you can air out to your hearts content and have a better chance of keeping your loved ones inside.

    Cause and effect.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yatsuno:

    You might be surprised — sometimes the instinct remains after the parts have been removed, especially if the parts are removed later in life as Steve’s were.

    Maybe that’s why he’s upset — impotence problem. ;-)

  60. 60.

    PurpleGirl

    @cckids: Oh my, that is such a sad story. That poor dog. I hope the Shelter can perform one of its miracles and save her. If she was owned by “people” they need to be prosecuted for animal abuse. No animal should be treated that way.

  63. 63.

    PurpleGirl

    @Violet: A senior partner of the law firm I worked at owned an island off the coast of Maine. He kept a flock of sheep on it. All the sheep had microchips so that if one got lost or hurt on the rocks the sheep herder could find it.

    And JC — I’m glad Steve came home. He’ll probably do it again if he gets the chance. Gotta remember to keep those windows and doors closed.

  67. 67.

    shelley

    Thank God, John. And thank, whoever, ….St. Francis?….Is there a patron saint of cats? And what’s the ancient Egyptian god of cats…Bast? Well, hopefully one of them was watching over him. Tho, hoping that Steve’s pretty distinctive looking, that might make him more noticeable to the neighborhood.

  68. 68.

    dexwood

    Traumatized? Maybe . . . I prefer to think of him as dog tired from a wild weekend and not ready to talk about it.

  69. 69.

    shelley

    I did the Google, and of course there’s a patron saint of cats. St. Gertrude of Nivelles, who lived from 621 to 659. Tho the connection to exactly why she’s their saint is a bit nebulous.

  70. 70.

    jl

    Whew. Glad I was out all Sunday doing stuff and missed the missing Steve drama. Great to hear Steve is OK.

    If I had a cat, and got attached to it (which is very likely to happen even though I am mostly a dog person), it would have to become an indoor only cat. I think just too hazardous to let them outside unsupervised. And even then, and AL mentioned some time ago with a post on cat security fencing, normal supervision appropriate for dogs and small children may not be enough, since cats and skiiter away right fast if they decide to, and very few trainable enough to mind their human supervisor.

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    @jl: Yep. If your kitty has shown no interest in going outside the first 1,000 times you open the door, but on 1,001 darts out, you’re not prepared.

    You can’t control everything, but screens… those you can control.

  72. 72.

    the antibob

    This is how our dogs return, when a thunderstorm moves in after they’ve disappeared up the mountain. I know they think we called in an airstrike.

  76. 76.

    Jay C

    So glad Steve is back! YAY!

    We’ve been through this before (though, 30+ years back!): Mrs. Jay came with two absolutely adorable cats (that I love cats/cats love me was always a huge point in my favor) – one of which just wandered off from our apartment in NY – no reason that we could tell: just (AFAWCD), an open window and a curious cat – a big fluffy white sweetheart of a cat: out the window and never seen again. Yeah, we “replaced” him (eventually) with another wonderful furry companion – but losing them always hurts. If you re a “cat person”….

  77. 77.

    gelfling545

    @MikeInSewickley: Saw coyotes here in WNY a few weeks ago – in Amherst, if you know the area. Unheard of in all my (many) years here.

    Also, happy to hear that Steve returned from his little holiday unarmed.

  79. 79.

    Tenar Darell

    @MikeInSewickley: you mean these guys, the coywolves? They’ve been even in the inner ring ‘burbs of Boston for at least a 1/2 dozen years or even more. I saw a family group walking along a fairly high traffic road across from a golf course in Brookline! (I was amazed how big and bold they were). Lots of green and woody space, and rabbits, for them to den and feed in. Local police even have a dedicated number to report sightings and advice about small pets, outdoor food and garbage, crawl spaces etc.

  81. 81.

    Anne Laurie

    @jl:

    And even then, and AL mentioned some time ago with a post on cat security fencing, normal supervision appropriate for dogs and small children may not be enough, since cats and skiiter away right fast if they decide to, and very few trainable enough to mind their human supervisor.

    Yeah, I’ll repeat that: Barring a shock strong enough to knock a cat or dog unconscious, that ‘invisible fence’ zap is just a reminder that “Your people would really really prefer you not leave this area.” It works for physically “sensitive” dogs, and for dogs who are mature enough that they’ve internalized the Rules-Are-For-Keeping doggy mindset. Cats either freak out about going anywhere near the general area where they’ve been shocked — so they can’t get back home after busting through the danger zone — or they just ignore the zap and go right on with their walkabout.

    (Electric fences work better for cattle, cows & sheep because prey animals tend to have a whole different attitude about avoiding risk than predators, even bred-to-be-household-companion predators.)

  83. 83.

    Gvg

    we’ll thank goodness I was too busy to check here today till after he was found. my cats have been indoor only since I was a teen. My cat 20 years ago got out and lost for a week. she went out the front door and turned up a week later in the laundermat behind the apartment. turned out she was hiding in the day scared of all the noise and a late night foreign grad student was the only one who saw her. he took the trouble to tell me where he saw her hiding and I lurked in a parked car for a few hours till I saw her. her paws were blistered apparently from fallen powdered detergent. Only 75 feet from my back door but she didn’t know that.

  84. 84.

    Melissa

    @cckids: I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else mention Hastings. My father (who was from York, Nebraska) had his first job there.

  85. 85.

    MikeInSewickley

    @Tokyokie: I think I read that same article.

    In the eastern states, they are seeing interbred wolves, coyotes, and dogs. It’s getting to be a real mess figuring out what is what.

  87. 87.

    Curt

    My little dog went missing for the worst four days of my life. Luckily, I got her back, too. Nothing like having a piece of your heart out on the town, and there’s only so much you can do about it.

  88. 88.

    SWMBO

    We had five dachshunds at one point and Dixie got loose. With a cone of shame on her (she’d had a kidney stone removed), she got out. We were used to using, “Let’s see what we have for these wonderful children,” to get them to come inside. I went outside and bellowed, “LET’S SEE WHAT WE HAVE FOR THESE WONDERFUL CHILDREN!’ About two blocks over, I hear a distant “Yip!’ She came running up in fits and starts, barking and catching the bottom of the Cone of Shame TM on the sidewalk. She wasn’t gone that long but post-surgery could easily have been hurt. Much relief and we used it just to reinforce the reward of coming when called.

  91. 91.

    steverino

    I had two cats in Florida that roamed the complex thanks to a cat-flap. When I brought them to CT (they were about 2yo) I kept them inside, and they were content with that; I screened in my patio (1st-floor apt) and they could sit out there.
    I would let them into the hall to roam on occasion (the folks across the hall had cats and we shared) and once a well-meaning person opened the front door and let them out. When I noticed, I opened the front door and one came right in; I called but the other wasn’t there. I waited an hour, went to the door, and there she was. Curiosity satisfied.

  92. 92.

    steverino

    BTW I’m in south-east CT and we have coyotes; my yard backs onto a strip of woods and that and my birdfeeder attracts the neighborhood cats. We lose some in the winter: into the woods and don’t come out. I have actually had a coyote in my yard (and since have repaired the hole in the fence!).

  93. 93.

    lou

    So happy to hear Steve returned home safe and sound.

    We adopted a stray two years ago and before we “fixed” him, he constantly wanted to go outside. He showed less inclination after the operation, so we finally let him out on our second-story deck. The first few times, he was happy with sniffing around the edges. One afternoon, the final time on the deck, he jumped into our neighbor’s yard and was off into the world.

    He showed up about 4 a.m. that night. I went downstairs and called his name out the front window every hour after a futile search of the neighborhood. Left his favorite towel by the front door. At 4, I called for him, listened, peered out the door window and gave up. Then I heard a small yip as I headed up the stairs. Opened the door, and there he was, looking the worse for wear and tear. He went straight to the kitchen for feeding. And snoozed the rest of the day. It was like, “Man, I partied way too hard last night.”

    The funny thing is he’s only gotten out twice since and both times, he has lingered by the house and come back in fairly quickly (15 minutes to a half-hour). Whatever happened in the 12-hour little adventure seems to have curbed his appetite for wandering.

    So I hope Steve has the same reaction to his quest.

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