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A masterful BCT
On 2019-10-07 10:10 a.m., Mahoney, DC wrote:
Saturday Nancy and I went out running some errands. When we got home I thought it strange that Benni wasn't hanging out at any of her usual places. When I get started feeding everyone their dinners, no Benni. After both of us searched the house thoroughly, we figured she must have slipped past one of us and gotten outside. We registered her as missing with the local missing pet resources. Yesterday we visited both of the big local shelters and reported her missing. I walked the neighborhood after dark with a flashlight both Saturdaya and Sunday nights. Nancy and I scoured every room in the house several time, looking in closets, cupboards, etc. No sign of Benni. This morning I went in to my home office and looked in the closet for some clothes. WHen I closed the closet door Benni was rubbing against my ankles. 36 hours she was missing! Saturday night I slept on the couch, figuring that if she was lost outside and found her way home she might meow by the front door. While I was trying to get to sleep I heard the pitter-patter of little feet followed by "hiss! hiss!". I immediately got up and searched everywhere on that end of the house, as that is how Benni usually interacts with Francesca. No sign of the little stinker. I believe I need to put a radio tracker on her collar. The most mysterious cat disappearance I had (not the longest, just the weirdest) involved the late Betsy. I was at the time between houses and jobs, and had rented a small house in the location of one job - a tiny one-storey building which was, for obvious reasons, nearly empty except for a mattress on the floor. I think Betsy was finding the trips between the main house and this location a bit trying, or maybe she was just being a BC, but she vanished just before I was packing her and her adopted sister up for a trip back to the larger town. I searched and searched, being completely unable to find her - in, don't forget, a nearly empty and very small house. Finally, as I turned, I saw her - inside a closet - the door was open, the closet empty (except for Betsy) and I SWEAR I searched it several times! She also managed to squeeze out of her cat carrier - sure, one of the latches didn't work, but she was a BIG cat - in the car, and nearly started exploring the parking lot and adjacent areas of the highway gas station/convenience store I'd stopped to visit. Of the two cats I had then, Mandy was usually the one with the Empress of the Universe attitude and the determination to explore said universe, but during that period, the more laid-back Betsy decided to act up. -- Cheryl |
A masterful BCT
Of the two cats I had then, Mandy was usually the one with the Empress
of the Universe attitude and the determination to explore said universe, but during that period, the more laid-back Betsy decided to act up. My most memorable BCT happened around 2008, when Nancy and I were moving from Iowa to Illinois. I moved about a month before Nancy did, to let her supervise the movers and get the house rented while I started my new job. About halfway through that month I drove back Iowa and picked up the cats, loading them into the back seat of my pickup. The trip wa uneventful, but when I got to Illinois I couldn't find Amelia. I searched everywhere in that truck but found no sign of her. I started to worry that she had snuck out of the truck when I stopped for gas back in Iowa. I was getting well and truly panicked when I remembered that all the cats had RF locator tags on their collars. I went into the house and dug out the receiver, and sure enough it showed Amelia's collar as being close. I used the direction finding feature on the receiver and tracked Amelia to the back seat of the pickup. When I rested my head on the floor of the truck and shined a flashlight under the rear seat, there was Amelia. Apparently she got frightened by the ride and hid as far under the seat as she could get. -- D Mahoney |
A masterful BCT
On 2019-10-07 10:33 a.m., Mahoney, DC wrote:
Of the two cats I had then, Mandy was usually the one with the Empress of the Universe attitude and the determination to explore said universe, but during that period, the more laid-back Betsy decided to act up. My most memorable BCT happened around 2008, when Nancy and I were moving from Iowa to Illinois. I moved about a month before Nancy did, to let her supervise the movers and get the house rented while I started my new job. About halfway through that month I drove back Iowa and picked up the cats, loading them into the back seat of my pickup. The trip wa uneventful, but when I got to Illinois I couldn't find Amelia. I searched everywhere in that truck but found no sign of her. I started to worry that she had snuck out of the truck when I stopped for gas back in Iowa. I was getting well and truly panicked when I remembered that all the cats had RF locator tags on their collars. I went into the house and dug out the receiver, and sure enough it showed Amelia's collar as being close. I used the direction finding feature on the receiver and tracked Amelia to the back seat of the pickup. When I rested my head on the floor of the truck and shined a flashlight under the rear seat, there was Amelia. Apparently she got frightened by the ride and hid as far under the seat as she could get. I was once driving home with a friend who'd picked up a kitten, but had no carrier. The little sweetheart went right to the middle of the floor under the front seat, and dug her claws into the carpet. We could find her, but it took a long time to coax her out! There ARE cats who like travelling, but none of mine did. Friends had a big white male cat, rescued from a snowbank as a kitten. They frequently drove between where they worked and where their relatives lived, a matter of 343 km (213 miles) one way. The cat just took it all in stride. He didn't even need to be restrained in a carrier or try to take off if they stopped for something. He was an indoor/outdoor cat, and when in their original hometown, he was also an indoor/outdoor cat who shared the house they usually stayed in with another cat. I've never encountered such a cat! -- Cheryl |
A masterful BCT
There ARE cats who like travelling, but none of mine did. Friends had a
big white male cat, rescued from a snowbank as a kitten. They frequently drove between where they worked and where their relatives lived, a matter of 343 km (213 miles) one way. The cat just took it all in stride. He didn't even need to be restrained in a carrier or try to take off if they stopped for something. He was an indoor/outdoor cat, and when in their original hometown, he was also an indoor/outdoor cat who shared the house they usually stayed in with another cat. I've never encountered such a cat! Harri Roadcat loved riding in cars, but when we were all driving from California to Iowa she apparently found riding with 5 other cats to be a bit much. On the second day of the trip Nancy was driving the SUV and I was driving the UHaul truck. We were in the middle of nowhere, WY when Nancy pulled to the side of the freeway. I went to see what was wrong, and she reported that she was down one cat. Everyone was visible except Harri. We searched the SUV carefully, and finally found Harri deep under Nancy's seat. I tried calling to her and bribing her with Temptations but she refused to be moved. I finally ended up partially disassembling Nancy's seat so that I could reach underneath and pull Harri out. I then took Harri into the UHaul with me, and she was fine for the rest of the trip. -- D Mahoney |
A masterful BCT
On 10/7/2019 8:40 AM, Mahoney, DC wrote:
Saturday Nancy and I went out running some errands. When we got home I thought it strange that Benni wasn't hanging out at any of her usual places. When I get started feeding everyone their dinners, no Benni. After both of us searched the house thoroughly, we figured she must have slipped past one of us and gotten outside. We registered her as missing with the local missing pet resources. Yesterday we visited both of the big local shelters and reported her missing. I walked the neighborhood after dark with a flashlight both Saturdaya and Sunday nights. Nancy and I scoured every room in the house several time, looking in closets, cupboards, etc. No sign of Benni. This morning I went in to my home office and looked in the closet for some clothes. WHen I closed the closet door Benni was rubbing against my ankles. 36 hours she was missing! Saturday night I slept on the couch, figuring that if she was lost outside and found her way home she might meow by the front door. While I was trying to get to sleep I heard the pitter-patter of little feet followed by "hiss! hiss!". I immediately got up and searched everywhere on that end of the house, as that is how Benni usually interacts with Francesca. No sign of the little stinker. I believe I need to put a radio tracker on her collar. I don't think radio trackers could follow her to and from the Mothership. LOL I'm glad she's okay. :) Jill |
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