Return of the Cat

In March, we acquired a cat.  A friend of a friend was moving house and had more cats than she could take with her.  The cat was named Lily; that's her in the picture above, being loved by Jasmine.  The same morning, we popped out for a walk to the nearest pet shop to buy cat food, treats, toys, litter, etc.  We had been fully briefed about the possibility of Lily trying to escape and return home in the early days, before she was accustomed to her new family and surroundings.  Because of this, we made sure to leave the house as secure as possible.  There was no way she could get out.

Upon returning home, Lily had vanished.  We searched the house high and low and circled the neighbourhood countless times, but to no avail; she was gone.  We have a pretty good idea as to what happened during the time that we were away from the house that morning, but I really should not discuss that here.

Jasmine was forlorn - she loved her cat, fiercely and immediately.  We talked to her about Lily and said that she was playing hide and seek.  As the days passed, we realised that Jasmine probably didn't believe us anymore, but she asked few questions.  She simply continued to search for her pet.

Happily, this was not the last we saw of Lily.

On the afternoon of June 4th, while hubby was out with Jasmine, I opened the door out on to the garden and came face to face with a cat, who had been rummaging through a bag full of garden stuff.  She looked startled and retreated towards the gate, then stopped.  Having only seen her once before, I wasn't sure if it was our cat at that stage, so I called her and she tentatively walked towards me.  It took a while, but she began to trust me; I fed her, I stroked her and I kept a very excited Sonny away from her.  Eventually, she followed me inside the house.  Soon after, Jasmine and James returned home and convinced me that this was our cat - Lily had come home.

Thin and timid, she looked a shadow of the cat that left us, but she soon perked up and is now looking better than ever.

Needless to say, Jasmine was overjoyed and greeted her cat with the line "Lily, you are the best ever hide and seekerer."






Welcome home, Lily.