It’s been almost 7 weeks since I found Morris and then lost him again. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been back. I thought I would give a quick update because I do get emails about him, although I wish I had better news. I don’t.
I walked the street I found him every day of the last 39 days, not counting the 4 I was out of town. It’s only Sunday and Monday that I finally ventured away from that area. I walked in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening when the cats come out. I found a lot of cats, but not Morris.
Last week I finally noticed some people outside his old house. The new owners! There was a woman wearing ear buds watering her plants in the fading light. I called out until she heard me. I scared her half to death, which would have riddled me with guilt had I given one iota. I asked her if she had taken Morris back and if he was being fed. I even was so bold to suggest that if taking care of Morris was too much trouble for the time being, I would gladly take him in until they were more settled. (Then they’d have to find me and pry him from my cold, dead hands.)
She had no idea what I was talking about.
It took some back and forth, but this is what we were able to piece together. The daughter of the previous owner loved Morris. The owner hated Morris. She told her daughter and the new owners that Morris ran away and told the neighbors that the new owners were adopting Morris. Morris was left to hang out and dry.
This, as you can imagine, did not go over well with me. The new owners are not able to take care of Morris should he return because they already have a cat and a cat-resistant bulldog. Another cat would be pushing it. Totally understand, and honestly I probably would street rumble her for Morris anyway. I gave the new owners all my information, including my address and a description of my house in case they couldn’t access my information when they had Morris. (I don’t know. It seemed logical at the time.)
My only other option is to check shelters, which I know nothing about. I can’t imagine it will take too much effort to find cat shelters (animal shelters?) in my area and ask if there is a flame point siamese mix made of awesome hanging around.
I’m trying not to get upset about the time wasted waiting to speak with the new owners. They only just moved in last week, and this entire time I wrongly assumed they had Morris with them at their other home. That’s 30 days I could have been broadening my search and calling shelters. I’m kicking myself.
I have to believe that if Morris is mine he will come back home some way, some how. I’m not giving up hope.
You know who should also hold onto hope? The woman who gave up Morris. She better hope I never bump into her when I’m in one of my less diplomatic moods.
Sorry to hear you haven’t seen Morris recently – hopefully he’ll turn up at some point. He sounds like a pretty badass cat. :-)
I’m going to choose to believe that Morris found another family as awesome as yours, and he’s been rolling in catnip for the past month and has a sunny spot on the back of a comfortable sofa or chair in which he’s been spending most of his time.
First of all, it is against the law to abandon a pet. If you know the woman’s name, (you can probably find it out), you can let animal control know the details when you call the county shelter to ask if they have Morris. They may tell you to come in to look for him and I will tell you now you will need willpower not to take home at least one other kitty when you look. If he is in a shelter, 30 days is a long time. Some shelters are good and will call a Siamese Rescue to come take those cats if they show up at the shelter. Other shelters? It wouldn’t occur to anyone. My other idea is that while you are out walking, you cover the area with “Lost Cat” signs. Make sure you take the signs down in the not too distant future or the town might get mad. It is possible that Morris found a nice new home. Or that the coyotes found him. People who abandon their pets deserve a special place in the afterworld.
It’s the coyotes I’ve been thinking about every night of the last 7 weeks. :(
That’s a great idea Gretchen! Did you take pics of Morris, Jules? A ‘lost cat’ sign would be the first step. Plaster them on telephone poles (you have those, eh?) and then GET THEE to the SHELTER! It should be called a Humane Society or something like that (being in Canada, that’s what they’re called here) and every big city has one. Or google cat rescue in your city and you’ll find independent, privately run ones. But these are sometimes less than organized, perhaps even started by crazy cat ladies, so you don’t necessarily want to pursue that…..
Anyway, be determined and proactive. That sometimes yields results even better than waiting for fate to make the decision for you ;c)
With how deeply you feel this special connection to Morris I have to believe it is reciprocated … you likely wouldn’t feel this way if he hadn’t gazed at you with tenderness and interest. Morris sounds awesome and may have a collection of awesome human admirers and supporters. We used to have a neighborhood dog that belonged to a family but she made the rounds of all her local fav homes and spent a couple of nights in a row approx each month at diff houses, moving on to the next, occasionally checking in with her original family. We all loved Angie. Maybe Morris is developing his own network of families and he’ll definitely have you in his rotation :) We all hope so. I also feel so sorry for the daughter of Morris’s previous owner … regardless of the age of the daughter, how horrible to have such a manipulative, uncaring, lying person as a parent, and to be told such a tale as to live the rest of your life thinking something you loved and adored discarded you and ran away … will she ever be able to freely care and love for another animal? This woman has caused so much pain simply because it was inconvenient for her to look for a good resolution.
Maybe post something on Craigslist? You can even say that you just want to make sure he’s in a happy home (so that someone who has him isn’t afraid you’ll “rumble”). At least that way maybe you can find out that he’s OK. And thank you for the update – sorry he’s not with you.
Craigslist sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately , if its been 30 days, it’s unlikely he’ll come back. I really hope so. We have 4 cats, one of which was a ferrel ,and now sleeps on the couch. We also have lost at least 4 cats to coyotes over the years. Now, we have 2 that are just indoor, unless we’re with them outside, the last inside outside cat, and blackie, the ferrel.
Sorry to be the pessimistic. But, when we lost our first cat to coyotes, I just kept believing he’d come home( we had just moved here and didn’t know about the coyote thing till way later.)
Your concern and care do his life justice. I hope for his safe and healthy return. But even in the unfortunate circumstance, you have made him one of the more fortunate. Best of luck to finding your friend.
Jules, if you need backup in your rumble, I’m your gal. I’m small, but I’m scrappy!
Poor Morris, and I feel so bad for the daughter, for having such an inconsiderate mother. I rarely use this word, but I HATE people who abandon (or otherwise harm) animals. HATE. Like “Hide the knives, SHE’S COMING!!” kind of hate. That woman is very lucky I don’t know where she lives, because I’d have no problem tearing a strip off her for this. I know, I’m Canadian, I’m supposed to be polite, but THERE ARE LIMITS. (I’d apologize for disturbing the neighbours, though!)
I’m so sad about mr Morris……. It breaks my heart. I know he could be just fine, but he’s not just fine with you :(
Also, I want to see the hermit crabs :)