If you’ve read my About Me page, you know of our honorary houseguest Hamish! Well, he moved out of the city with his owners this summer but he still comes for house visits and stays! Hamish is well loved by the entire block, and will wander in and out of houses and greet absolutely everyone he sees! He’s seriously one of the most social cats I have ever seen!
And while it’s never been a problem before, this last visit he decided to take a bigger tour of the neighborhood! There were sightings all over but I hadn’t seen him in longer than he had ever been gone before!! Read on for the full story!!!
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The Arrival!
Hamish showed up as he normally did. Once he was out of his carrier in the house he went right down to have some grub and look for his best buddy Whiskers! Within five minutes he was already scratching at the door to go out! Off to greet all his buddies.
Usually you see Hamish out front, either lounging in someone’s yard or stalking my bird feeder! And of course Whiskers is always right behind him! I love watching the reaction of the neighbor’s when they realize Hamish is back!
There was the day of the election that people were lined up all down the street since the voting station was at the end of the block. As I was coming back home from walking the dogs, I see Hamish lying on the sidewalk with all the people lined up!! I had a good laugh about that, I can only imagine how many pets he was getting as people passed him by!
Keep Your Doors Closed!
One thing about Hamish is he LOVES to go in anyone’s house!! There was one day I couldn’t see him anywhere and he didn’t come back when I called him! Later one of the neighbor’s a few houses down came over and told me Hamish was in her house sleeping in the basement! They have a cat as well and leave their door open for him like I do with my crew!
He spent many hours sleeping and they brought him back later in the evening. I would find him curled up in a ball on the chair on their porch as well! So there’s no way he didn’t hear me calling, he was just comfortable and ignoring me a lot!
Prowling Through The Night
I know that Hamish loves to stay out and party all night! He would frequently do that when he lived next door. And where he moved it is on a busy road so he gets let out in the evening to stay out the night so that he still gets his nighttime prowling in!
So I guess I really shouldn’t have been surprised when he didn’t come home for supper one night. Or by bedtime. Of course I was worried though, and I couldn’t stand the thought that something would happen to him while I was cat sitting! He finally came back the next morning! I was getting ready to walk the dogs and there he was sitting in the middle of the kitchen grooming himself!!
After that I ordered an Apple Airtag for him so that I could attach it to his collar in case I needed to go looking for him at some point!
Vanishing Act
The inevitable day came when Hamish didn’t come back one morning! He was pretty good at coming in for some food and sleep time after being out all night. His owners had said to me not to worry about it too much when he didn’t come home at night because his schedule was so erratic when he lived here. And wouldn’t you know it…that’s when the AirTag came!!! Of course one day too late.
It was Friday morning the last time I let him out. Saturday around lunch I was extremely worried! I was walking up and down the block calling him and shaking treats and listening to hear the little bell on his collar that told me he was close by! Nothing. Just nothing. Talking with people, he had been seen on Saturday morning so I knew he was still around the cheeky little guy! All the neighbor’s offered to help keep an eye out for him.
Nothing. Just Nothing.
By Saturday night I was almost frantic! It had been more than 24 hours since I last saw him! According to a study done by NCBI, approximately 1/3 of cats that go missing are found in the first 7 days after disappearing. I didn’t like my odds. You can check out that study HERE. Hamish where are you?!? People were still seeing him around at this point. I figured given his tendency to sneak into houses that he had gotten in somewhere and might not have been able to get back out!
But his owners were coming to pick him up and take him home on Monday!! I needed to find that cat!!! Another neighbor was asking me about him, and told me she saw him in a Facebook post in someone’s house! Several blocks away!!!! I got online and contacted her but no response.
She posted a picture of him in her house! She fed him! No wonder he wasn’t making his way back!!! I walked the dogs up to the street where he had been calling him the whole time. Nothing.
Wild Goose Chase
The neighbor that had seen the original Facebook post somehow managed to figure out the address where she lived!! Sunday morning walking up again, calling the whole time and shaking treats, I knocked on her door. No answer, no one was home! I started getting desperate and posted my own message on a different Facebook group for the area since I was not in the one the other post went up in.
I was getting messages he was spotted on that street multiple times on Saturday! But now they knew he was staying here and would bring him back if they found him. I got a message from another lady who had a black cat with pictures that could be him! This guy didn’t have a pink collar like Hamish, but I thought it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities that he slipped it off! My daughter and I walked down, and it wasn’t him.
Found!
Through my post, I got yet another message that Hamish had been spotted on another different street that very morning! I quick grabbed the treats and headed over! I was DETERMINED that I would find him that day! So once again I was out screaming his name and talking to people!
As I progressed down the street, a man came out of his house and asked me if I was looking for a cat! YES!!! It turns out the person I got the message from is his wife and Hamish was at his front door lying down to be petted by their toddler! And as I’m standing there talking to him, I hear the telltale little tinkle of his bell from behind me!!!!
I turned around, and there he was! Strolling up to me like nothing at all had happened! I will admit it, I burst into tears when I saw him! I picked him up and carried him back home, nuzzling my face in his fur the whole time. He was safe! A little skinny from being out and about for THREE whole days! But he managed to evade coyotes and cars and was coming back home!
Farewell
Monday afternoon Hamish’s owners came to pick him up. I had my place fully locked down to make sure that he couldn’t escape again! He figured out the dog door quicker than the dogs! Hamish was pretty tired after his big adventure though, and ate a lot and slept a TON!
I gave his little tracker to his parents. So that they could find him if they ever needed to! Knowing Hamish, he’s sure to get up to some sort of trouble again at some point! He is always welcome back here though, but next time I’m keeping that cat on a lead!!!
