Our cat came home after being gone 54 days.

[surgtech1956]

Just had to share. We went on vacation July 7th and on the 9th a raccoon chewed through a screen and got into the house - a friend of mine looks after the 'crew'(7 cats) while we're away. Three cats got out - the biggest male was stuck in the screen, got 2 back, but Murray(2 1/2 yo male tiger) was missing, we thought he was hiding in the house, no Murray. We looked out in the woods behind us, no sign of him, checked with the neighbors, even went door to door on the next road, checked at the animal shelter, every 4 days, put an ad in the paper, no Murray. We thought he was either dead or found a new home. He is a big baby, went and hid went we ran the vaccum. Well 2 weeks ago, Sunday night, I'm on the couch with my laptop, DGF is packing up some Ebay stuff in the kitchen, I hear a cat meowing outside, one of our cats in the window, I go outside and its Murray, runs towards the back to the woods - its 11pm - called DGF to bring cat food, cat nip, finally get him, but as we're bringing him up the porch steps, he freaks, we get bit - a trip to the ER for the bites, just to be on the safe side. We put Murray in the garage to calm down, he's thin, he ate like a pig and drank tons of water, hid quite a bit the first day and a 1/2. We bring him back into the house after a week, took him to the vet, checked out find - weighed 9#. All is happy. He was gone 54 days, we think he was probably just hiding in the woods, maybe in the next door neighbors garage(its like a junk yard and they don't live there during the summer). Don't know why he decided to come home that day, except that we were outside more than usual. Just wanted to share this with all of the animal luvers here. This is Murray 7102

[badgercat]

I'm glad to hear he found his way back after all that time. :) Welcome home, Murray!

[Eden]

Wow - that's amazing. Good for him finding his way home again. I find it interesting how cats seem to get temporary amnesia.... my Koji, who is an indoor only cat, once got out through a hole, basically in our foundation... was only out for one night, but treated us like dangerous strangers for 1/2 a day. He came back in through the hole he exited from - which we promptly boarded up tight. We knew exactly where he was and even coaxed him out once. I got a hold of him and everything, but yup as soon as I tried to move towards the house he totally freaked. I did not get bitten, but he thrashed around and gave me a pretty good scratch on my nose.

[invsblwmn]

So happy that your Murray came home. A similar thing happened to my friend's sister. They lived next to a wooded area. They caught their cat in a humane trap about a week after he went missing. He was crazed, trying to scratch and bite anyone that got near. They thought he might be sick so they took him to the vet. Turns out their neutered male miraculously became intact again. They had caught a feral cat that wasn't theirs. Their cat came home two days later like nothing was wrong. $250 later, that feral cat had all of its shots, got neutered, and sent back to the wild. All's well that ends well, I guess. :D

[wackyjacky1]

I love happy endings!

I'm going to have to tell this story to a co-worker of mine -- her cat went missing a couple of weeks ago, and she's pretty much given up hope.

[makbike]

Glad this story had a happy ending. Hope the bite wounds have healed. Murray looks like a wonderful furry friend.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Thanks for sharing that heartwarming story. So glad he is back safe! :p

[tulip]

Welcome back Murray! My cat Fudge went missing when she was 3 years old (I was 13). My stepmother found her by the side of the road, brought her home, and we had a funeral. I was a mess for a week. Fudge was my best friend.

A few weeks later, my father was going to work and a black cat was on his car. It took him a few seconds to register--it was Fudge! She had been gone for 3 weeks, and we had a funeral for another cat (or maybe it was just that she used up one of her lives). She was around for the next 17 years, til I was 30!

[bmccasland]

So glad to hear Murray came home, and not too worse for the wear!

[LBTC]

There are butterflies dancing a jig and doing somersaults! So glad Murray is home and safe!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Tri Girl]

What a great story!!!! I'm betting that both parties couldn't be happier about the reunion. :D

[andtckrtoo]

So happy you have your Murray back! Thanks for sharing! I love happy endings, too!

[chicago]

wow... that's incredible!!... and he remembered his home!!

Was he an outdoor or indoor cat?... I'm just curious.

I always have that fear that one day Sampson will jump from the balcony and then I wonder if he'd ever make it back home. He's an indoor cat but I let him out on the balcony where he loves to lay in the sun and chatter at the birds:D I'm on the 3rd floor condo... he probably wouldn't jump, but you never know.

Congrats on Murray coming back home... that's an awesome story:)

[Biciclista]

I love cats coming back home stories. What I know from years of missing cats, they don't go far, and if they can, they'll come back.

I especially enjoyed the story about the mistaken identities here.

In my life, i have been very fortunate. Lots of my cats have gone missing, but we've found them all (or they came back home!)

[lph]

Aw, great cat :) Gotta love that way they take care of themselves. My in-laws had a cat who disappeared from their cabin in the mountains and was luckily found almost 3 months later, right before winter set in.

Heh. When I was a child we had a grey cat suddenly turn up and precociously try to come right into the house. We chased him away, had enough cats of our own and figured some other cat owner would be missing him. He tried several times, until it suddenly dawned on me that he did look a little familiar. It was our orange cat Bailey who had been rolling around in some grey ashes, and couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him in. :o Poor guy, he was a bit paranoid from before, this didn't help.

[Tuckervill]

I'm glad your cat came home.

I had a cat named Cooler the First. I was single living in Little Rock, and he disappeared while I was planning my wedding and getting ready to move to Nashville. He was gone for 3 months and we didn't think we'd ever see him again. He was known for making himself at home on other people's front steps (I got phone calls), so I figured he found another family.

On moving day, I heard my mother say, "Guess who's here?" There he was, sitting on his favorite chair, in the back of the moving truck! We moved twice in Nashville, and he frequently went back to our old house several miles away. I guess he liked it better over there.

Cooler the Second leaves town whenever I do and only comes back a few days after I return.

And my dad buried my "dead" cat once, and he came back to life, just like Tulip's.

Karen

[NoNo]

Welcome home, Murray!:)

[SouthernBelle]

I had a cat named "Spike" who went on walkabout a couple of times. The second time I thought maybe she had gone off to die as she was about 17. But I still looked, posted signs, etc. After 6 weeks, I opened the front door one evening and she came strolling out of the neighboring field like nothing had happened.

She died just short of her 21st birthday laying in her favorite bare spot under the walnut tree.

[Smilie]

Very cool! Amazing how they can do that! Glad he came home. Great stories from everyone as well!

[DebTX]

I'm so glad Murray came home - he's such a beautiful cat!

I know if one of my "two girls" disappeared, I'd be heartsick (I'm convinced I gave birth to them both :cool:)

[smilingcat]

How wonderful Murray came back. Big hug to him.

I know the feeling well. The tom cat who adopted me on a cold rainy day in winter all sick was an indoor/outdoor cat. I tried to make him an indoor cat but it just wasn't going to be.

One summer, with windows open, he managed to rip apart the screen and disappeared. We had just moved. It was a new house for him and us. I wasn't about to give up on Mr. Cat, so I put out my dirty cloth on the porch for him to smell in the morning and when I got home from work, I was out on the patio reading or tending to my yard. And slept every night out there. He came wondering back about 5 in the morning on about the 4th day. Yes he tore me up really good but I managed to throw him back in the house before he broke loose from me. As soon as he was inside, it was like nothing happened.

When he got older, he became an indoor cat. I think he made it to about 15 or 16 years of age. It's been about 10 years since. I still miss my big boy Mr. Cat.

And more recently, three of my cats "ran away" by pushing out the screen in my bedroom window. I found all three huddled together with one of our dogs. They were gone for only about four hours. Outside world was bit too scary for them.

[Lucky, Fabulous]

He looks fat and happy! I imagine he just calmly decided one day that surviving on his own was just too much work.

[Norse]

So glad you got Murray back! And Tulip, I had almost the exact same thing happen with my beloved black cat, Boo-Boo.

When he was about 3, he did not come one night. Posters, looking, constantly checking with are vets, humane society... About one month later, the Humane Soc. called and said they had a cat matching all his descriptions - run over by a car. Because this cat was such a mess, they didn't want us to open the box and look, so we didn't. We cried and had a funeral. Two months after his disappearance, he showed up on the front door step at 5:00 am meowing up a storm. I don't know how he survived, he was always so skittish, but he looked healthy.

He spent the rest of his days as an indoor cat and we just recently lost him at the age of 19. He was a fantastic cat, a cuddler, a mama's boy all the way. They are amazing creatures.

Welcome home Murray!

[surgtech1956]

Thanks for all the stories. Its great so see so many 'pet' people, especially cat people. Murray is an indoor cat. Forgot one thing, my DGF was coming home one day from an appointment about and saw this dead tiger cat on the side of the road(about 4 miles away), she went to a store and got some gloves, picked the cat up, brought it home, thinking it was Murray, wasn't him, cried the whole time she was having his 'funeral'. Don't know who he is, but he has a nice grave.

[Biciclista]

As much as I am enjoying these stories, Microchipping would solve some of the problem. (like the entire male being mistaken for someone's neutered pet!!!!)

keep them coming, I have been delighted to read them all.
And all the dear not our pets getting burials.

[sbctwin]

Many years ago, when I first adopted Kallie (RIP, my girl) she took off. I only had her for a month. She wandered into our garage crying up a storm. I took her to the vet after I decided she was mine and they said she was at least two years old and malnurished. I thought she was only a few months old at that point. Anyway, I looked everywhere for her and then one Friday night, three months later, she came back, all bloodied. I rushed her to the emergency vet and they thought she had tangled with a fan belt or barbed wire. She got her first shave that night. I was lucky enough to have her for another 11 years and what a joy she was.

[surgtech1956]

Maybe its true what they say, 'a cat has 9 lives'