It has been a funny old start to the week. On Monday, MyAsics informed me that I am going into an acceleration phase - the last phase of the plan before running my first HM. Gary the Gremlin guffawed from a corner of my mind, saying that I could only accelerate if someone was at the end of the road waving a glass of rosé and a bowl of peanuts at me. I told him to get knotted.
The day had been cool and I'd got a huge amount of work done with a minimum amount of procrastination. Then the alpha male arrived home, flicked his mane and proceeded to stamp his hooves because I'd put the bin 50 cm from where it usually lives, and now the Mystery Machine had a crack in its bumper and it was all my fault.
Two years ago, I would have wasted precious time and energy explaining that although they do sometimes have a mind of their own, wheelie bins a) cannot jump in front of cars and b) do not have invisibility capes. But that was then. So as I was already in my running kit, I pulled on my trainers and headed for the hills - in both senses of the word. I was feeling bloody-minded, and slogged up and down small vineyard tracks in a bid to convince my legs that they can run UP inclines as well as DOWN them. They did quite well with the added dose of bad temper to help them. The HM has a fair whack of hills, and I am determined that I will not wimp out.
Yesterday was another corker - we got a phone-call from the local vets, to tell us that our cat had just been brought in for vaccination. Those of you who have been following my antics for a while may remember that Murphy, our grumpy old black cat, disappeared without a trace on the 21st September. We considered a whole array of reasons he could have disappeared (including murder, after a pile of freshly dug earth appeared in my nasty neighbour's garden shortly after the cat disappeared). We put up notices, contacted a multitude of associations, refuges, the French RSPCA, the police, vets, electronic chip database people and the road maintenance guys, posted on social media, and met with resounding silence. Six and a half months later, the lady who had found him in her garden 6 km away, removed his collar and kept him took him to the vets to get jabs so that he could go to a rather posh cattery whilst she went on holiday. The vet found the chip and called us.
I have very mixed feelings now - part of me is eternally grateful to this lady for taking him in, or he could have died, part of me is furious because she saw the collar, removed it and didn't check with a vet if he belonged to someone who might have been looking for him and left my children believing that their cat was dead, and part of me feels sorry for the lady who took 'her' cat for jabs and lost it for ever. I think this mixed bag of emotions will be solved by a run this afternoon.
Happy running to all!
Written by
mfamilias
Graduate
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Oof, that's a pretty grim cat story, although I'm glad he was returned to you! Because of where we live we have to keep our cats indoors all the time, which in many ways I feel rotten about, but at the same time just really grateful they won't be hurt by various outdoor hazards, or merely disappear...
Hope your run was a good one! It is marvellous the way running can sort our heads out
Cheers, roseabi! Murphy has always been an outside cat, and keeps a close eye on his territory. He has a soft spot for warm cars with their windows left open, and we think that's what probably happened - it's likely that he climbed in, fell asleep and was thrown out of the car in unknown territory. Otherwise, he's not ventured far away from home until now.
That's what the Queenager said! I looked up the place she needed the jabs for - very posh. I hope she didn't feed him on caviar or we're going to be having problems.
Mmmm I would be pretty annoyed at the lady who didn't think that someone is missing their cat. I'd be heart broken if my kitty disappeared so I guess I would always make sure I made every effort to return a found cat.
And as for running clearing a clogged or frustrated brain, I'm so with you. A few nights ago, just before my run, my darling husband decided to update his sonos app which meant I couldn't connect and have my run music on. Instead I just plugged my phone into the treadmill and had a softer music run but by the end I didn't care to moan at him as I had forgotten!
I've gone from gratitude to fury in the space of 24 hours. I'm like you - I've made many phone calls to numbers on names tags, and visits to the vets with dogs and cats that were obviously lost -and each time they were chipped and were returned to their owners. It seems to be the obvious first step - particularly when there is a collar that proves that someone takes care of the animal.
You were very sweet with your husband. I would have gone into Banshee Kate Bush mode.
Oh, I remember your cat going missing mfam and the mound at the bottom of your neighbours garden!😮 As an avid cat lover myself, I was gutted for you and your family. As for the lady, who took him in, without checking to see if someone was searching (and how you were searching!) - sorry, no sympathy there. I found a stray some years ago and knocked on many adoor and contacted various local vets until the lovely old fellow was reunited with his worried owners! I always hope that someone would do the same for me and mine. How lovely though that Murphy is back - your're children must be so pleased. I am sure all this emotional turmoil is, as you say, fantastic fuel for your run later today. Go and do some serious pounding - you know it makes sense!🙂
Taking the collar off and not bothering to see a vet until she needed jabs for a cattery seems to be a deliberate move to keep the cat; and a lack of concern for the people who were worried about him. That is now really irritating me.
The teens are thrilled, and the look on my husband's face when he saw the cat's face peering though the bannisters was absolutely priceless
You should have seen me crying and laughing simultaneously yesterday, the kids were surprised. Of course he doesn't, Sandra. He doesn't see what all the fuss is about, and is eyeing his food bowl like I've served him up last week's leftovers. Judging by the size of him, he's been eating three course dinners for the last six months. The cattery website says that all animals have to be chipped and have a vaccination record. That means she was about to make a big investment to keep him.
The cheek of some people (we believe that our cat who was missing for 8 months was being fed by someone, and she's approachable and chipped)... actually I think there are some so-called 'cat people' who don't really know cats and like to think that any cat they come across is not being properly looked after and is thus fair game.
One of ours spends a lot of time in another house. She assured me she doesn't feed him (but when I was doing the rounds looking for another of ours, I could see a saucer of half eaten food... they don't have their own cat) The worst thing is that they put him out when they are going to bed at night, which is after feeding time here and when we are not there to 'police' the cat politics. But we get the pleasure of the vet bills!
It's not as if there aren't plenty of genuinely homeless cats for people to adopt!
Bravo to the vet for finding the chip, and I am so glad you have him back. The not knowing is awful.
Blimey, some people have a cheek! We had a lady like that in our road a long time ago, she used to put out lines od saucers full of cat food and managed to attract all the cats in the neighbourhood, then she rattled on about how bad their owners were for not feeding them. She didn't enjoy being told that she was turning other people's cats feral.
Yup, t'was indeed a cat lover who adopted him... One who genuinely didn't know that there was such a thing as an electronic chip, and who is now going to get them for her own two cats. Just spent 20 mins on the phone with her - she found him at the beginning of February, and he was wearing a collar, but not the one I put on him. He appears to have been passed around a few houses during the day, but spent his nights in her cellar. He's been fed on high-range cat food for old cats, and little luxury cat snacks, and been brushed in the sun. He was about to be packed off to a luxury cattery for 10 days whilst she went on holiday. No wonder he's peeved about being home again.
Yeah right! Slinky named her mitzy, she calls her in I'm just the doorman to the cat! open shut, open shut, open shut, she's a right proper Madam! the cat not slinky!🙀😁
What a mixed bag! I can understand the conflicted emotions about the cat - we moved house a few years ago, just a few hundred yards across a playing field. I had met the lady moving in, and said oh, you might get one of our cats wandering back - if they do, just chuck them out and let us know! Three months later, when one cat disappeared on December 21st, during a really cold spell, we were understandably anxious, searching and calling for him, etc. New Year's Day, she phoned me at our new house to say 'oh, I think we have your cat here'. Turned out he'd been there all along, they'd renamed him, were happily feeding him along with their own cat. Only thought to return him to us when 'he got spooked by the au pair hoovering, and scratched one of the children'. grrrrr! in the extreme!
I know running is a good way to deal with Being Cross, but can't quite manage it this week. I'm too exhausted by Being Cross at the moment. So well done you for using it as motivation.
How charming. NOT. That's plain mean - it's not as if they didn't have a cat themselves and couldn't understand that you were worried! Murphy was renamed "Mercredi" (no guesses what day she found him, huh). Luckily for him it's not too far from his real name.
Indeed. Max had been renamed Smokey (or some such) - but he's a very independent cat and only answers to his name when he feels like it anyway, so probably never noticed! I was so cross about the fact that I'd warned her, and she had my phone number. And yes, Max was wearing a collar with an ID barrel with our details, and is chipped... It really shouldn't have been hard to work out.
(Seven years on you'd have thought I'd be over it. Turns out I'm not! )
Oh, and as for invisible mess, and things turning up where Mr/Offspring Definitely Didn't Put Them - yes, too familiar with that. I'm hoping that Teen Thundercloud will remember where she put the nice dog lead at the weekend, because my searching has not revealed its hiding place yet...!
I am hoping I find my beloved's car keys very soon since I swiped them last night not being able to find my own (which were in my bag all the time - agnosia is a bugger sometimes)
I had a nice new dog lead once. Calculus didn't want to take it with him, carried it through the vineyards, left it on the side of the fountain whilst smelly dog drank, and forgot it. As I had bought a nice expensive one made of nice ropey stuff, it had disappeared by the time he went back. Of course, it was my fault - if I hadn't insisting on him taking it, it wouldn't have got lost.
Run the anger away and if you ever meet her, slap her!!!
Glad he is back.... he is beautiful!
PS
Didn't you know bins can move... as the socks, the one pair he really, really needs can open ' his' drawer and escape...as a tray with dishes that need washing, can become invisible, also... and the keys to the studio across the garden... well, I had them last , but miraculously, they have transported into the pocket in 'his' jacket!!!! Clever these things aren't they ?
Just spoke to her, as I said in my reply to GoogleMe (I'd asked the vet for her details to thank her) and in the end I just told her than in future she should check with a vet as soon as she finds a cat to avoid leaving people in limbo. She only found out last night that chips exist - amazing. In fact she only found him two months ago, wearing a collar that was not the one we put on him, so we had no idea where he was till then or how he got there.
The invisible dishes are a problem here, too - and the invisible laundry. I systematically put the car keys back in their place, where Calculus finds them, uses them then leaves them in one of a multitude of places (including the ignition of the car).
Well I am glad you have him... ! She was not that nasty clearly
I only meant a virtual slap! I have a virtual slap list... of people who have been unkind or nasty to me!
Loving the invisibility of things...
Mr OF, left the keys in the ignition of our Mercedes, when we had one, in Riberac... on the big market day! We were celebrating Little Mum's eighth Birthday.. were in the town all day.. got to the street where it was parked.. still there.. all our stuff in it.. cameras clothes etc etc!
Oh, II have a long virtual slap list too! Amazing that your car was still there! Our car in Tahiti didn't lock at all - we parked it one night in Papeete, went to the cinema, and returned to the car to find the remainder of someone's McDonalds takeout and and half a bottle of Coke. Apparently someone had been caught in the passing storm and took shelter in Raymonde to eat their dinner. It was kind of touching, as here in France you probably wouldn't be so lucky.
Oh Mfam what wonderful news! I remember your post about Murphy going missing and the horrible neighbour with the mound of earth 😭 and your suspicions.
I'm a cat lover and can just imagine how you are all feeling now he's back. Big celebrations I bet. Your story reminds me of a tale (see what I did there 😊) about a cat belonging to a friend of my mum who went missing and despite her best efforts couldn't find him. Months later she was visiting a friend who had moved house and there and behold next door was her cat being wined and dined and called by a different name and altogether at home.
They do say cats have a second home. I know one of my cats used to dander straight down to the neighbour as soon as I left for work in the morning and left when she heard my car home in the evening! And we think they love us unconditionally 😏
I'm so glad you have Murphy back where he belongs.
Thank you, your Majesty Murphy does have his second home - at my friend's house, down the lane. She feeds him when we go away, and I feed her cat when she's on holiday too. She is over the moon that he's back He was found in a village 6 km away, where he's never set a paw.
Blimey sounds like a bit of a week MFam! Great news about Murphy, i've read the other replies and see you've spoken to the lady who had adopted your cat, she does sound fairly genuine i think from what you said. My old cat years back went missing for a week so i can't imagine how you felt not knowing where he was all that time. Lovely that you have been reunited!
It's amazing to see him back. He was stretched out on Calculus' lap last night having a cuddle and purring his little head off. We didn't think it would ever happen again after over 6 months...
What a pretty little pantherette..... cats do like variety and they generally like to have their cake and eat it. I agree, that lady should have checked, but I'm so glad you have your panther back xx
Oh I do love a happy ending ! I am so pleased he is back home again with his paws firmly under the table , and on your sofa , and your lap
I had a big tom cat called Figaro . I used to love shouting him in , it used to turn into a opera .Ha ha !
He used to love a tin of sardines in tomato sauce . Hey , I hope he isn't turning his nose up at the grub he's having now seeing as though it sounds like he's been having caviar and lobster
I used to feed my cat sardines in tomato sauce too, in Tahiti. I can just imagine the "Figaro, Fiiigaroooo, figarofigarofigaroohhh" - your neighbours must have loved it!
Murphy is out for the first time today, I hope he doesn't get lost. Apparently he's been a real roll of sellotape for the last three days, and has developed an unhealthy obsession with drinking from the tap and biting Kiddo's toes at night.
I can't see any other replies to this - computer has gone weird - but I'm glad your little poosy has returned, and I hope she doesn't return to the other 'owner'. I had a 2 yr old who just 'left home' one day many years ago - she decided to go bush. I knew she was living in the undergrowth nearby with a gang of feral moggies, but she was happy, and after I rounded her up and brought her home a couple of times only for her to go off again, I gave up. Sadly, a few weeks later, she was found by the side of the road having been run over. No idea why she left - it really is cat heaven in my household and we are more accustomed to moglets turning up and demanding to live with us!
That's a sad story I met someone in the village here whose cat did that too - she bumps into him from time to time but has given up trying to bring him home, because he runs off again. I suppose some cats just have it in their genes.
Murphy will have a job going back there - he was 6 km away. He seems to have readjusted very quickly, but has got some new habits - including jumping onto the washbasin and yelling for you to turn the tap so that he can stick his head underneath it and drink. It makes cleaning your teeth complicated business.
I've had cats who did that. And drinking out of the toilet ... As we have an 'if it's yellow, let it mellow' policy in the upstair loos here unless things get whiffy, our current cat is fairly choosy where she drinks. I've caught her with her face in a bleachy bowl a couple of times though, which worries me, so I try to keep the lids down if I've bleached!
I remember an encounter with a German shepherd that drank out of the loo, when staying with friends in France as a teen. I found out in the middle of a storm when the fuses had blown in the middle of the night and I needed a wee. I turned the corner and was greeted with a slurping sound, then gleaming teeth and eyes and heavy panting. Terrified is not the word.
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So well done you for using it as motivation. 
I was so cross about the fact that I'd warned her, and she had my phone number. And yes, Max was wearing a collar with an ID barrel with our details, and is chipped... It really shouldn't have been hard to work out. 
5km Recovery run (oh and I've finally signed up for the HM!)
Week 9R2
My first blog - at the start of w5
Feeling utterly bereft
