Nobbs Sighting

Nobbs, our runaway cat, has been sighted no less than 100 yards from home.

Why our cat ran away is a mystery to us. We provided a warm, welcoming house to him. A cat door. Unlimited and varied Cat Chow. And the standard L&A (Love and Attention) that cats require. Of course, I did cut his tail off and he might still hold a grudge about that.

Sandy, by contrast, lives life to the fullest here at the Cat Spa and even has his cat food heated in the morning. If he could speak I'm sure his first sentence would be, "Bulah, peel me a grape."

Nobbs has always had the wanderlust, ranging as far away as 2 miles from his home base. He's an outdoors cat and would probably love living in a forest. Alas, he's stuck in a neighborhood with a golf course.

So, shock! Horror! After 6 months of being AWOL and possibly a coyote supper, there he was big as life strolling down the road like he owned the place, which he probably does. And to add to the shock he was wearing a collar.

Having been nearly disembowled by Nobbs trying to fasten a collar on him, I can't imagine who has taken him in or what their secret is. Perhaps not amputating his parts. Who knows.

Anyway, Nobbs let me get close enough for a scratch on the head (he scratched me, that is) and I saw that he had been renamed "Domino." Nobbs is strikingly marked in black and white, although his original name reflects a birth defect on his tail, which as I've already mention was amputated.

Well, good for Nobbs-Domino for growing up, learning a vocation (eating out of trash cans and murdering squirrels) and moving out of the house.

I guess I'm just suffering from the Empty Nest Syndrome. All the bird nests in our neighborhood are empty. Knowing my luck, though, when he's 40 he'll probably return home.

Yeah, the door will be open for him if that happens and the bowl will be filled with Cat Chow. Family, you know.