Max--MIA

It has been a month now since we have seen Max...

Max--June 20, 2009

He has gone missing before. The first time he was gone for three days and I cried every night until he came home.

Then he disappeared for a whole week.

He reappeared looking none the worse for wear. He knows how to hunt and is a cautious and restrained cat. It was obvious when we put him outside that he had returned to what he considered his natural element. Indoors, he was timid and insecure. Outdoors, the world was his oyster.

Denny and I have called for him every time we go outside. Sometimes in the night we hear the sounds of cat disagreements. We feel Max is around. We feel he is doing okay. We have talked it over and both think that he has moved back to his original home territory, an area to the north of us.

You see, Max first started showing up on our doorstep shortly after I trapped Black Jack last September and moved him inside. Up until then, we hadn't seen the fluffy red cat that lives on the farm south of us, either. So we believe that when we removed Jackie from his home turf, the two cats who had bordering territories moved into his and were "time-sharing" our porch and the food dish until I trapped both of them last November.

So we think Max has gradually pulled back, under the pressure of the red cat, into what was his original stomping grounds. I suspect that as it gets colder and "game" becomes scarcer, we will see Max again.

I hope so.

Comments

MmeBenaut said…
I hope so too Laura. I can empathise with crying every night when they go missing.
Laura said…
I knew that you would understand the particular emotional ups and downs of having an outdoor cat, my dear.
Meggie said…
My Butch does that to me...makes me crazy with worry! I sure hope Max shows up soon.
I hope Max comes back, at least to visit and let you know he is doing well.
He reminds me so much of my most precious KittyBoy. Oh how I loved that cat. Tabby Cats make my heart happy.
Laura said…
I really feel that he will show up when it gets colder. I hope his absence means he has returned to his original home--or found a new source of hand-outs that is inside his territory. He knows we are here so I trust he will show up when he needs us. Putting him outside was such a hard decision--but he was so happy when we did that I swore I wouldn't second-guess myself.
possumlady said…
I sure hope he shows up!

One of my outside cats, Jelly, just disappeared one winter day. I couldn't imagine what happened to her. She was VERY street smart. I sent an email out to my neighborhood to no avail. After a week I posted notices in my neighborhood asking folks to please open and check their sheds and garages. Less then 12 hours after the notice was up she was at my front door crying for food. She wolfed down two big cans of cat food and settled in for a long nap. I'm convinced she was locked in someone's shed.

I know that's not the issue with Max but just letting you know that they do come back!!
Jans Funny Farm said…
We hope Max is okay and will be back before long.

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