I interrupt my normal programming to tell you a story about my beloved boy cat Seth. Some of you may have met Seth earlier this year as he was the star of our Snow Day and provided endless laughs and entertainment.
Seth has been spending more and more time away from home lately because my neighbours keep feeding him pilchards and it has been making me quite sad. By Friday night, we hadn’t seen him for two weeks although my one friendly neighbour said he had seen him. I have to admit to being on the verge of tears on Friday and was planning a door to door canvas on Saturday morning.
Thankfully, Stephen came and woke me up on Saturday morning with a bundle of black and white fluff in his arms.
Seth's Jedi mind tricks made his eyes glow
I expected cuddles and purring and all sorts but as you can see, he headed straight for the bedroom door and used Jedi mind tricks to try will it to open and let him out. Well, he lost that particular fight. We took him to the vet for a complete check up and make sure he got his booster inoculations plus his worms and flea treatments. I also put a collar on him with a bell, to try irritate my neighbours and of course, stop him catching any birds. We’ve kept him locked inside the whole weekend with us which has been incredibly stuffy but we’re just trying to wean him off my neighbours and his wild, wandering ways. I’m fully aware that we may not succeed.
We had a nice long afternoon nap together yesterday and he also spent the whole day with me today.
The vet had joked that the cat had gone feral and as you can see, he does have black paws which I have always believed to be the sign of a feral cat. The thing that concerns me most is the grazing you can see on his back, right leg there.
The moral of the story? Don’t feed other people’s pets please. It’s not cute or endearing. Pets should be encouraged to return to their own homes every night and you can bet that I would have tended to Seth’s graze at the time if he had come home. The neighbours might be charmed by my friendly little cat but we’re the ones who love him and eagerly accept the responsibility of paying for vets bills when necessary.
I’ve sent away for a tag to go on his collar. It will say his name and my number on the one side and “pls do not feed me” on the other. [insert mental image of me looking determined here]
Read more about Seth and Summer by clicking here.
Normal posts on my trip to New York will resume this week. I also have a couple of summery London posts to share.
I'm glad you got your kitty back; I'm always distraught when ours go missing. People tell you just don't let them out but they beg to go out or else just run out between your legs at the most inappropriate time!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Seth found his way home. I have two cats myself and can't imagine life without them! Seth looks a little bit like my Lucky, black paws and all. I hope Seth's graze heals up and that tag sounds like a good idea!
ReplyDeletehello, your cat is cute. I do hope you will be able to solve the problem with your neighbor.
ReplyDeletecharmedwishes18.blogspot.com
I have two cats, they are kind of half-wild. My dad hates cats and refuses to let them in the house, but they stick around all the time, even with the dog. My sister is suppossed to feed them but she usually forgets so the poor cats find mice and birds all the time, but I try and feed them if Laura doesn't. Zakk's cat brought a dead possum into his room once in the morning, haha.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your boy came home! Two weeks... you must have been frantic!
ReplyDeleteEmm I reckon hes a candidate for downsize my pet! Glad you got him back.
ReplyDeleteOh Emm, that's a sweet post, full of love :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that Seth is back, two weeks, that must have been so stressful.
ReplyDeleteBBE
I would never let my cat: Kal, out to play. I'm afraid he would never return, because I live in the second floor.
ReplyDeleteHe likes to hunt from the windows, but that's as far, as I'll let him get.
I am glad to hear Seth has come back home...
ReplyDeleteI have been on both sides before and when i was reading your blog entry i couldn't help but to say to myself "that's why you don't feed other peoples cats" and then i saw you write that after i had thought that lol
Although when i say i have been on both sides i have had a cat of mine go missing and i know how it feels when they are gone ...in my case i just hoped he found his way back and well he did later .....but now i moved back to california and left him with a good home and have a girl cat that i love (which my family feeds waaaaaaay too much and i get after them for that, as too much human food + cat = probs)
As well as to the above my mother has 3 cats of her own and i was around when the 3rd cat started approaching the house apparently the people who the cat once belonged to moved and abandoned him and when we found him he was skin and bones ....so my mum would feed him and he kept coming back it wasn't til later we found out about the family. Now he is lengthy and chubby so he is living good LOL ahhh the life of cats! LOL
anyways just glad to hear the good news about seths return. :)
I have to agree with you completely, and might I say you have an adorable cat. I had three, but my oldest past last month. My neighbors always used to feed him and he would never come home. I got to the point I had to make him a permanent house cat.
ReplyDeleteEmm, your pictures are so amazing.. I love them!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun entry, I love it that your cat is turning into a tiger at night. The two lives of Seth...Sorry, I know it can be upsetting when your pet just disappears and you worry about what could have happened to him/her. Luckily your Seth is a very resourceful cat. Seth, the prodigal cat!
ReplyDeleteHi Emm--sooo pleased your kitty is OK. Very hard to stop them wondering. I will say, though I know you're worried, to please be careful with the name tag. Our Oscar Wilde (all black, not a speck of white, but certainly not feral in any way!) had a tag for a while but took it off because he twice got it stuck in one of the little holes in a patio chair. We had to help him out -- hate to think what would have happened if we hadn't seen him.
ReplyDelete(Love your post title, of course!)
PS: posted a photo of the "beach" beneath the Jetson house, you might enjoy it--probably not what Hannah-Barbera envisioned for the future! Let me know what you think.
Oops--I meant "wandering" of course, not "wondering." If only they would wonder!
ReplyDeleteHey everyone. Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, my little boy escaped again on Monday night and we haven't seen him since. It makes me very sad. He escaped out of a second floor window!!
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous: I know! It is so hard to keep them in when they really, really want to leave!
@ Slynnard: I just have to catch him now to put the tag on!
@ Charmed Wishes: Thank you - I hope so too.
@ Pizza: How can anyone hate cats?? I would not be impressed if my cats brought home a possum, but then again, thankfully we don't get them here.
@ JaPRA: I was frantic and now I am really worried again. Hopefully things will be better in our new house (but we haven't found a place yet).
@ Mike: He's quite underweight actually which is further evidence that pilchards and a human diet is not good for cats.
@ Italo: :) I do love my animals.
@ BBE: It was stressful and now it is stressful again with him gone!
@ Phoenix: I wish I could keep him in all the time but he just hates being kept in. Even his sister wants to be let out twice a day at least.
@ Jenna: Wow. My pets are very much of my life so I can't imagine what type of person could move house and leave them behind! But I am glad that your little orphan has started putting on weight!
@ Lauren: I would consider making a cat a permanent house cat too but it is too confined in houses in England!! I am so sorry about your eldest though - you must be quite sad!
@ Lilian: Thank you! That is nice of you to say.
@ Celeste: Hee hee! A "tiger". You'd need to meet him Celeste, he is more like a debonair young bachelor asserting his constitutional right to roam!
@ ProdigalWife: Heh. Thought you might like the title! I thought of you and your hubby even as I typed it! I actually ordered a safety collar especially so that if the bell was to get caught, he would be okay. I will try fit the tag onto the same clip.
Hi Emm, thank you for your helpful comment. I have actually had second thoughts about having a new blog right now as it was giving a lot of problems and as my 'gaelikaa' is being quite widely read and appreciated, it might break up the readership a bit. But I do admire the way you successfully manage several blogs. Your human rights blog is outstanding. Your post on this blog gave a very good message too. I'm glad your cat came back.
ReplyDeleteRemoinds me of my good old cat. I loved him so much.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard about black paws being a sign of being feral! Are you sure? :)
my 1st time here. interesting blog i must say ;) keep it up :D
ReplyDeleteYou should also consider an identification implant.
ReplyDelete@ Gaelikaa: Hiya, it is a pleasure. I agree - if you have a winning formula, then don't move!
ReplyDelete@ ...mmm...: Nope, not sure. Just a belief of mine.
@ fiziskandarz: Thank you!
@ Mom: I didn't think you were allowed to not chips cats and dogs. We weren't given a choice and they are all chipped.
wow.. cat, I like it,hahaha..
ReplyDelete@ nanagkuningan: :o) I like it too when he is home! He has been home a lot more often since we moved house, thankfully.
ReplyDelete