She didn't notice him slip past her, but she was looking for him an hour later and its like he just disappeared. I pulled up that night from being out of town for several weeks and i tried to look for hours, even getting up several times later that night to scan the property (its a 10 acre place) .
I am a little surprised at how hard this has hit me --- we have joked about reloading bench cats on here before, well, Thomas was my "reloading bench cat" or hanging out beside me while i work on cars cat, he rode in my jeep with me occasionally and he would sit on a little barstool i have and beg for cat treats while i drank beer --- in short, he is my kitty cat friend. Also a pretty good friend to the little dog, Cupcake
While combing the neighborhoods, i stopped to talk to the cattle guy across the road from me , as he has a bunch of feral barn cats, to see if he has seen him, but he did say the coyotes in the area have been pretty active, even though i never see them.
Given the mysterious without a trace disappearance of a cat who never travelled further than 40 feet from the house, and being surrounded by acreages, its not like he had a girlfriend 2 neighborhoods away --thats a definite possibility -
My feline friend is missing and now every coyote i see is marked for death --- i am angry enough that i am going to get some predator calls and go to work this evening until some of my frustration ebbs a little -- plenty of rabbits in the yard every night , yet my kitty was singled out . I haven't found a single tuft of hair , drop of blood or anything even remotely resembling predator activity yet though
The farmer quite succinctly said --- in life, the big ones eat the little ones , and he is right (as outdoorsmen, we all know this too) ---- but he is my friend, so i am upset ---
I haven't completely writtem him off just yet -- there is a slim chance he could be shacked up with a bunch of barn cats somewhere --- I'll leave the light on for him and leave the garage door cracked for awhile yet just in case
but as i said before -- it amazes me how bad i feel about this predicament. Like i was hit in the gut with a sledgehammer. I think it is because i don't have kids that i feel such a strong bond with my critters. I'm not a stranger to loss on the personal side -- my first wife passed away from ovarian cancer, and i recently lost my dad, plus i have went through a dozen pets in my lifetime --- but this is different and weird and i don't like the feeling. The uncertainty stinks
like i said - i had to vent a little
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