Bennett Is Back!, Update: back after 8 weeks! Options

[paris]

He's back!!!!


Last evening I exhausted myself posting flyers around town, went to bed. At 1:00 in the morning my husband woke me up "the cat's back!" I was in a sleep stage, but bolted down the stairs, ran in the kitchen and there was Bennett! I had had a few dreams about him being back, the type of dreams that are so real, and I thought I was dreaming.

He was gone a total of eight weeks. He looked fine, no scratches or fight marks, and a bit on the thin side but not at all emaciated. He went somewhere far away, travelled many miles, and fended for himself, found his way back. And that includes crossing streets and woodlands that have coyotes, fisher cats, and dogs. He was not frightened or anything, just a bit on the hungry side.

Kim, cats are extremely crafty and know how to survive. I was told that he was killed by a predator, or chased out of his territory and was wandering lost. He was not lost, nor found. He came back. I am still hopeful that Twtichet will return.

Barb, Toonie, and all the others, your supportive words helped me get through the days. Thank you all.

This has been a horrible experience for me, and I thank God that Bennett came back. I bought two collars with ID tags (he's got one on now) and will never go out without one. I am sure if someone saw him they would think he is just some stray or one of a thousand other tabby cats. At least with the collar/ID people can know this is someone's cat.

I still have to digest the situation.

[5catsmom]

Oh Paris I'm so so HAPPY for you! Isn't it such a mind-numbing feeling when you realize that they're there again, they stroll right in like that? You and Bennett and your family have my deepest congratulations, and I'm utterly thrilled for you!

Now, the basics. He probably needs a flea treatment, and to be dewormed, and checked for injuries you may not notice. In the vet's office, with Shadow 2 days after we got her back, they found a wound right on top of her head. All that stroking, and I didn't even notice. Next, I strongly suggest microchipping, which our shelter insisted on before they would let Shadow go, and it made sense, and was only $10, so I consider it well worth the money. My son claims there's a chip you can insert in a cat that works like a GPS so you can always track the cat - I need to check on that, cause that's doubly worth the money to me. I'm sorry, I forget if you mentioned if you have other cats, but I suggest if you do, that you keep them isolated from Bennett till he can be evaluated. My vet also ran a blood panel for just about everything, and all was normal, but of course it takes 3 months for Feline Lieukemia to show up. I'm not going to isolate Shadow for that long, but it's a test. along with the others, that I suggest you have done for a baseline.

All the above, of course, is just my suggestions, I'm not a vet and don't pretend to be, but going through what I went through, these are all things that were either suggested or done for me. The practical, as well as the absolute joy and euphoria, should be taken into account anyway.

But oh, I'm so happy for you! I'd been having such a crookedy day (not going to dwell) but you've brought a smile to my face and I'm thrilled for you all. Let us know how Bennet gets along resettling, and take care - Barb

[Moose Mom]

paris

Oh I just can't tell you how happy I am! This is such great news! I got up and did a dance. (My "I'm so happy a cat is back dance is getting good, and I hope it gets better)! I had to tell my hubby too, we are both so excited for you all. I wish you all many years of love.

I'm sure you are in overload on emotions, I can't imagine. Now we'll just have to work on getting Twtichet home. If we all work on it, I'm sure he has a chance yet.

This is just the best news.

Love

[Mink&WillowsMom]

YAAAYYYYYY! Oh congratulations, Paris! That's fabulous!

Even as I try to accept Twitch is gone, every time I look out the glass door, I EXPECT to see him. Even though it would stun me, it wouldn't surprise me. Does that make sense? I can so vividly envision him sitting there, waiting to be let in. It's so easy to imagine, that it seems ordinary, unsurprising, routine. But of course if he actually shows up, then I'll wonder if I'm hallucinating until I can actually touch him!

Maybe I should do some focused visualization on that... Grabbing hold of him, feeling his fur. With so many of you sending thoughts to bring him home, maybe we can do it.

Paris, I gotta say, I really didn't think Bennett was going to come home. It had been SO long. But now with Barb's kitty home after 40 days, and yours home after two months, maybe I can let hope simmer after all? I'm a bit reluctant to wake it up though. Such a mix of feelings...
Kimberly

[Mink&WillowsMom]

Barb, I love the "kitty lojack" idea, if you find out anything more about it, please post.
kim

[zookeeper]

Paris -

I need only say - there are miracles . I'm sharing your joy.

I am positively thrilled that your Bennett is back with you. Good Boy. He's a little beacon of hope, isn't he?

Enjoy the magic days to come.
Sharon

[toonie]

Paris, you have just made my day!

[paris]

Thanks Moose Mom & zookeeper, for your kind thoughts. Yes, a miracle of god's ability to do amazing things in His Creation.

1. Even as I try to accept Twitch is gone, every time I look out the glass door, I EXPECT to see him.  Even though it would stun me, it wouldn't surprise me.  Does that make sense? 

2. Paris, I gotta say, I really didn't think Bennett was going to come home.  It had been SO long.  But now with Barb's kitty home after 40 days, and yours home after two months, maybe I can let hope simmer after all?

Kim,
1. Yes it makes sense. That is exactly what I did every time I passed the back door. It is part of what was driving me mad.

2. That's OK. I was also starting to think the same thing. I re-read your post (72 hours missing) to reacquaint myself with the situation. I think there are many good factors for Twitchet coming back (correct me if I'm wrong):

- Twitchet is an outdoor cat used to staying out all night and more.
- It's summertime (lots of mice, good weather for cats to hang out.)
- He had ID/collar on (which is probably still on.....) If found you would be contacted.
- I spoke to someone (a pet detective) who said that the likelihood of being taken by a predator is actually much slimmer than we think (you said there are mainly racoons, and racoons don't eat cats.) She said in the summer animals have a lot of other prey, and that cats are very good at hiding/protecting themselves.
My friend who lost her 9 month old cat and I were each told that our cats were taken by a predator (her cat is back home also )

---- What I'm wondering is if he is going back to your dad's place, and if you think so have you set a humane trap or left the cat door at his place open for him with food inside?

I know it's hard to know what to think, and I am not trying to give you false hope. I really believe there is MORE chance (not 100%) of Twitchet coming back than the other alternative.

[John B]

Hey Paris,
I'm so glad I logged on this morning! I'm so happy for you. I'm so glad that Bennet is back! I had a feeling he would come back. this really is great.

I think Barb gave some great common sense tips for you to think about and seriously consider doing.

And Kim, don't you give up either. There is still hope for Twitch. I have a friend who found a friendly black cat in Delaware. It seemed to be content with him in his home for the longest time, but one night it just zipped out of the house into the night never to be seen again. I'm sorry for him, but I'm thinking now that maybe the cat suddenly remembered that he had a family somewhere who cared about him, and needed to get back. Maybe Twitch is in the same cir%%stance...just waiting for his opportunity to escape and get home to you. I'm praying for you and hoping for the best!

Take care
John B

[5catsmom]

You know, another thought occurred to me - maybe Twitch is out looking for your Dad. Did thy have places they went together, maybe to take a picnic to or just hang out? Twitch may not understand that your Dad won't be back in his physical form, but maybe they're hanging out together - Your Dad in his way, and Twitch in his. It kinda sounds a little odd, but eventually Twitch will realize, or your Dad will remind him that he needs to go home. I know a lot of people don't agree with me,but I feel that when the body isn't there anymore, the spirit is, and maybe Twitch is just basking in that for awhile.

I know it sounds goofy on one level (or more), but we humans really don't know all that we think we know.

My prayers are still there, and I'm sending good thoughts to you and Twitch and all around you. Take care - Barb

P.S. I probably should have posted this in Twitch's thread but don't know how to move it. Sorry,folks.

[Mink&WillowsMom]

Paris, thanks for letting me know about your Qs in this thread. Even though below the box it says I'm already being notified by email of replies, it's been hit and miss.

Anyway, yes Twitchit is a fiercely independent guy, who's been allowed to come and go as he pleases. The cat door is still in at his house, and food is still in his bowl. I smoothed it level so if he ate any, I'd see that he'd gotten into it. There's no way to make it a one-way door (the flap is an old mouse-pad), but I can't IMAGINE him coming in and NOT eating something.

Twitch and Dad didn't go anywhere together, and only once did Dad go with us to the vet. (But let me think on that for a minute...) After Dad died, I wanted Twitch to come in to see his body, so he'd know what happened, but he wouldn't come in until after the mortuary folks took Dad's body away. After I dismantled the hospital bed (which had been delivered *just* the day before, Twitch came in and sniffed all over. I've talked with him at length about what happened. It's been hard to gauge how it's affected him. Sometimes he's looked lonely. Sometimes he's looked like he's been searching for Dad. Many days he's come over and told me all about it. The first few weeks I'd go over and hang out there in the evenings, and while he didn't spend a lot of time with me -- not settle down and watch TV like he did with Dad, he was vocal and kept coming in to tell me things. I listened. I reassured. I hugged and petted. Lately, if I hadn't yet seen him in the evening, I'd put on my shoes to go across the street and check on him, only to open the door and find him walking up the driveway. He and I have always had a link like that. I can't see the sliding glass door unless I turn around and directly look at it, but I just seemed to know when he was there, and would turn to look just as he was sitting down outside the door. It was uncanny.

Regardless, his life has changed, hugely. Maybe he's just taking some time to think things over, mourn Dad, decide if he wants to live in a family of five, instead of the 1:1 way he's been living. Maybe he's on an aboriginal Walkabout, doing some soul-searching before he comes back to a new way of living with my family.

I hope hope hope he returns. He's such an amazing cat. I hadn't realized what a goofball he is -- he has a really silly side I'm so eager to learn more about. Twitch baby, come home. ~Kimberly

[5catsmom]

One thing I learned with Shadow's disappearance is that there's just no predicting what they'd do in any cir%%stance - at least in Shadow's case. She'd been a happily indoor cat for years, yet took off at the drop of a hat (we have 2 other cats who are door bolters, but it was Shadow who did it this time, and none of the others followed. Go figure.) Then, when I'd expect her to hang around, she clearly took off a long ways away, when she knew where her food was, where her catnip was, where her family was. I never expected that, either. The other thing is that the obvious place for her to go, for game to catch or to just hide, is the woods behind our house. But when she was found, she was nowhere near those woods (I still have the poison oak/ivy from searching those darn woods too.) So, with cats, at least in my experience, they are just not predictable and will not do or go where we would most expect them to go. Of course, that's part of their charm, but darn, it makes it hard to figure them out. With a dog, you can almost read their minds sometimes, with cats - forget it.

I think the idea of a Walkabout makes sense, Kim. Twitch sounds like a very sensitive cat and maybe he's just out searching for his path forward. If so, very likely it will lead back to where he was most content, but again, who can tell what they'll do?

I send him thoughts and pray that he hurries his path back to your sliding glass doors. I know what it's like to stand there and wonder and worry. We humans are so predictable, aren't we? - maybe that's why cats put up with us and love us, too.
Take care - Barb

[Mink&WillowsMom]

Barb, did you ever learn where Shadow was found when the person brought her in to the shelter? How far she'd travelled? ~Kim

[paris]

Kim,

Outdoor cats are able to survive and enjoy being outdoors for long periods of times.

You were asking about how far Shadow traveled, and I wanted to paste something I found on the internet from somebody about their cat:

"I have a cat that once crawled into a truck of a repairman. When the guy got home, almost 100 miles away, he opened the back and out popped our cat. He tried to catch him but he ran. He called us and told us that our cat had been in his truck. We thought we would never see him again. About 6 months later, he was at our porch. He was in VERY bad shape. Scabby paws and skinny as ever. But he made it home."

I'm not suggesting Twitchet got driven somewhere, but I thought it was interesting that this cat was able to walk 100 miles right back to their porch after being transported in a vehicle. I do believe that cats have homing devices. I know Bennett was somewhere miles away and made his way back when ready.

[kittylove]

Yippeeee! Paris, I'm so happy for you!!!! I'm so glad Bennett is back and doing well.

[AlleysMama]

I am SO happy for you! Its absolutely wonderful that Bennett has come home. It just proves that you can never give up hope.

I would definitely get him checked out by the vet, since he may have been exposed to something while he was gone.

Congrats and give him hugs from me

[Lucy1Josie2]

Oh, Paris, I'm so happy for you!!! What a wonderful thing to have happen!!! And what an incredibly smart and resourceful cat you have there!!

-- Michelle K.

[paris]

Thank you all!

I brought Bennett to the vets today. He weighed 11 1/2 pounds, down from 15, but his weight is good. No fleas or fight marks. They did a blood panel to test all sorts of things, including heartworm.

[Mink&WillowsMom]

Omigosh, reading about your trip to the vet -- I was able to visualize that so clearly -- such a lovely, mundane, back-to-normal-life act -- I am struck with the biggest pang of envy. I want that too.

Today my kittens knocked out the window screen and got out. I saw it as I arrived home after being away for several hours. My heart started POUNDING and I heard myself saying "don'tpanicDON'TPANICdon'tpanic". I called for them, but the house was EMPTY. don'tpanicDON'TPANIC. Rohan was on the bank outside, meowing and panting, Luna was in the back yard (which blends into a mile of woods), crying and tail all puffed up. It took a bit of coaxing, but I got them both back in.

Rohan blew through a screen last week (I startled him and he exploded out the window, landing on the bank), but I figured that was a one-time event. So now I'm going to nail a firring strip outside the bottom of each screen. These screens are made to pop out quickly in case of fire, but believe me, if there's a fire, a little strip of wood isn't going to slow me down. I just need to make it hold up to the deliberate or accidental efforts of <9 lb. cats. Outside both the screens in question, I hang birdfeeders ("Kitty TV, channel 1 and channel 2"). There's a tub with a wide surround up against these corner windows, so the kitties spend A LOT of time there. Now that they're bigger, I guess their excited lunges are enough to pop the screens out. ~Kim

[5catsmom]

Barb, did you ever learn where Shadow was found when the person brought her in to the shelter?  How far she'd travelled?  ~Kim

No, I never did - the street she was found on is at least 3 or 4 miles long and I don't know where along there she was picked up. It had to be at least a mile or two, I figure, and wouldn't be surprised, considering how much weight she'd lost and the fact that she must have had to be pretty immobile to wait for a truck from the shelter to get to her. No one actually brought her in, I doubt she would have let anyone pick her up, she's so skinny you can almost feel her spine when you pick her up, so she squeals in pain almost whenever she's lifted up, poor thing. And her tummy is so shrunken she can only eat tiny amounts at a time. It'll be a long recovery for her, but her spirit is back and she thinks she can hold her own with the other cats anyway.

And I've had those panicky moments when I can't locate one or the other of the cats and race around the house looking for one or the other of the 5 of them. My husband leaves the house when it's dark to get to the Pentagon on time, and sometimes doesn't know if a cat slips out with him, darn him. So I've had these terrifying moments when I don't see a cat when I wake up, and I'm absolutely panic-stricken and run around, followed interestedly by all the other cats, who are probably thinking "What's her problem? Can't she see him/her?" But that's exactly what happened with Shadow, and look what happened there. Eventually I locate the elusive cat, who looks at me like I'm nuts, but not after I've tossed the house, called my husband and yelled at him for not paying attention, totally confusing him, and giving untold amusement to the other cats. But seriously, it is frightening, because for 2 days we didn't even know if Shadow was in or out of the house so it is logical to get a little freaked. I totally understand. I also know that I should wake up with my husband and make sure he doesn't let all the cats escape in the morning. Especially Shadow, now that she knows that she can, of course. And this time, she might go further.