He's back! and he's HUNGRY!!

[spatch]

PICTURED ABOVE: The North American Black-And-White Behemoth Cat, returned to his native habitat.

WE HAVE A CAT

I got an anonymous call this afternoon around 3:45 from someone who said she saw "definitely a large" black tuxedo cat in the backyard of the house next door, chasing a squirrel. She also said she thought she'd seen the cat in the bahn (that's a garage to you) behind that house at night.

Tracy was at home so once I got the message and told him, he dashed out to check. Abbie had, at that point, wandered past our house to the house on the other side and was busy in their side yard. Tracy got the cat's attention, whereupon Abbie walked right by him and up our driveway. Tracy then carefully followed the cat, knowing full well there was probably Scared Cat going on, but near the back of the driveway, Abbie turned around and let the big-but-not-so-scary-guy-who-looks-kinda-familiar approach.

Once inside, Abbie quickly ran up the stairs, over to the dining room where his food dish was supposed to be (it was still in the house trap at that point) and began to loudly complain.

He's in fine form, all right.

I got home without knowing this had all gone down and was greeted at the top of the stairs by His Nibs, who began to tell me all about what he'd done and where he'd gone and that his food dish wasn't immediately where it should've been and that he also had tuna breath here smell it. Tracy told me Abbie wolfed down a goodly amount of wet food we'd been using as house trap bait and after he was done, he went around the house looking for me. I picked the cat up and gave him a big hug, which was also a good excuse to gauge his weight and check for any wounds. He looks to be in good shape, no injuries, isn't limping or favoring a paw, let me pet him all over without complaint, and has a healthy appetite. He has lost about 5 pounds, though, as we ascertained at the official weigh-in. Tomorrow is a Day of Phone Calls and one of them will be to his regular vet where I'll hopefully get him an appointment for my weekday off so we can bring him in, get him really checked, make sure he's up on all his shots, and find him a nice new collar with a kitty tag which he will completely resent wearing for the first few months. I think red will look nice on him.

Needless to say I'm extremely relieved and giddy as all hell. I changed my voicemail message to reflect the fact that THAR BE CAT AGIN and called the anonymous number back and left a message and told them to have a great Valentine's Day at the end (couldn't figure out how to end it) and now I'm writing this up and bein all hooray and maybe I should get some food too and stuff.

What really astounds me though is the honest to goodness support that poured in from so many people from all over the place. Tracy really went out of his way to coordinate the Cat Search & Rescue Mission, stepping up while I was flat unconscious, and frankly I think went above and beyond the call of duty, especially with making the house trap and providing me with Steps To Take Next. Carolyn threw a lot of dedication into helping poster the neighborhood, call vets, check other resources, and send a few animal shelters into fits of "okay okay okay okay we'll keep an eye out!" David provided good moral support, too, and together the three made up the HQ Team.

And then there was so much love from so many of you! If I tried to name names, I'm afraid I'd leave someone out and I'm not just saying that because I don't want to type names out, I'm saying that because I'm really afraid I'd forget. So to those of you who helped flyer, walked up and down the streets nearby making searching sounds, made phone calls on our behalf, provided materials or time to the cause, gave notice to friends who live around here, searched in other time zones just to make sure, posted a line in your LJ, made folk art in tribute, dropped a line or two in whatever medium to let me know you were worried too, or even just thought a few good thoughts our way, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you a hundred zillion plus infinity times. I'm really touched to know that Abbie's made so many friends (simply by being the MOST AWESOMEST CAT IN THE WORLD minus the whole running away bit.)

One of the Lost Cat advice sites I read mentioned the importance of friends and loved ones helping out in the search, cause you can't do it all yourself. They gave this advice under the heading "Form a posse." I read that and I laughed at the time because it was so appropriate, but it goes beyond the reference. It's true. Abbie the Cat really does have a posse. You had his back the whole time, and because of that, he's now back.

Thank you one and all.



Rob

Comments

[foldedfish.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[song72.livejournal.com]

I've been reading and thinking positive thoughts as well, and was so happy when I saw the pic. Happy family once again, yay!!!

[clawdia.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Abbie is home and sunshine has returned tot he world!

[skeetlj.livejournal.com]

Hooray! I'd have been a total wreck if one of my cats went missing for that long.

One thing to ask the vet about, if he's really lost five pounds: liver function. My cats are overweight, and a few years ago one of them had a reaction to something and stopped eating. By the time we noticed, he'd lost seven or eight pounds; as the vet told us later, cats can't physically cope with significant weight loss over short periods of time, and their livers become overwhelmed and shut down. The vet put a feeding tube directly into our kitty's stomach, and we had to feed him via syringe every few hours for four months.

Not to scare you, of course, since it sounds like Abbie was happy and healthy. But better safe than sorry.

[spatch]

That's actually how we lost Martha; the move in 2005 stressed her so that she stopped eating. When a cat stops eating for too long the body starts to send fat cells to the liver which attempts to process them into fuel. The liver doesn't do an efficient job of it, and becomes quickly inundated with the fat cells given to it and eventually shuts down. We didn't notice Martha had stopped eating because Abbie kept the food dish empty at all times. When we noticed she was ill, it was pretty much too late. She was jaundiced and still refusing to eat. I brought her home from the vet and started to force-feed her with the syringe (mmm, the smell of wet cat food and warm water) but she died the next morning. I still miss her a lot.

So seeing Abbie wolf down food and holler for more was very heartening. With all that weight loss (5 pounds for a 20 pound cat is still quite a chunk) I was worried as well; fortunately I think he'll check out all right.

[archangelsk.livejournal.com]

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK FOR EL PERRO ESTUPENDO

(Welcome home, Abbie!!)

[celestial-axis.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, lotsa comments...

CONGRATS!!! YAY!!! I'm so happy for you. I and my kitties breathe a sigh of relief!

[resk.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy and relieved for you, Spatch.

[hemlock-martini.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness. I eagerly await "I HAZ ADVENCHURZ: THE ABBIE THE CAT STORY WRITTEN BY ABBIE THE CAT ABOUT HIS TRAVELS AND EXPERIENCES"

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

Abbie you bad cat! Stay home from now on!

[prog.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha 141 comments. Anyway, yeah.

[annicat.livejournal.com]

HOORAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Best news EVAR!

[limax.livejournal.com]

I am SO happy to hear that Abby's back! I don't know what would happen if I lost my own behemoth cat. Hooray for a happy ending!!!!

[spatch]

Happy endings are great sometimes.

Nice new userpic, by the by!

Hurray!

[(Anonymous)]

Hurray!

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/

[jane-dark.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am so glad! I happened to stumble on the first missing bulletins through a friendslist, before you posted to the Blogger blog; and I've been thinking of you and Abbie and your housemates ever since.

Congrats on his safe and hungry return.

[pantsie.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!!! I'm so thrilled and relieved to hear the news!

(This is Eileen - one of Dave's gaming buddies - chiming in. We've met once or twice and I LERV Abbie.)

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

Thank GOODNESS. There is nothing worse than having a furry friend go missing (says she who has spent many hours walking the streets at 4 a.m. calling 'kitty kitty' and just knowing she was going to get arrested...). Congratulations, and 'nip treats for Master A from my Pride.

[coffeebeanben.livejournal.com]

Rob, I'm way happy for both you and Abbie. I also found it remarkable and completely awesome how fast Abbie's POSSE (YO) rose to the challenge of finding Sir Lardbutt.

Might a humble admirer propose that a special issue of CAT TOWN might be in order in honor of Cat's return? O THE STORIES HE COULD TELL

[aphrabehn.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! I was so happy as soon as I saw your post!

[scout1222.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad this story has a happy ending.

[mybadhairlife.livejournal.com]

The cats and I all say YAY!!!!

[girl-named-fred.livejournal.com]

!!!!!!!!!!! Count me in as one more person who has never met Rob or Abbie, sobbing happy tears into my keyboard. :)

[kalibex.livejournal.com]

^_^

[bismuthobsidian.livejournal.com]

This is like, the best news ever! Matt and I, our hearts were breaking over this. I looked around Davis and around our area in case he was on an adventure. (I had a dog once who got out and we found him 4 days later in a corn field 3 miles away. He was smaller than Abbie.) This is the best. Max and Sam chir-up for you!

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Oh thank goodness.

[amandaruth2001.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Go team! Welcome back Cat-ter!

[spatch]

Yeah, we tease him a lot, cause we've got him on the spot.