Neko's first big adventure, or: how other people change your plans
Last week, we had some rather exhausting days: Neko had vanished. Oo
Usually, he'd stroll about for some time every day, but he'd always remain within calling distance, so whenever we wanted to feed him or went outside to do some gardening or what-not it'd take him less than 10 minutes to make an appearance.
But then, all of a sudden, he didn't show up, and his food stayed untouched. We were worried sick and fast imagined the most horrible scenarios. We went to search for him in the vicinity, but we could neither see nor hear him anywhere.
Finally, on Saturday, we put up search posters in the neighbourhood. And...when we'd just finished the job, we got the relieving call. What had happened? Well, someone from the neighbouring block of flats had seen Neko strolling about, and when our little one - friendly as he is - approached them and vied for some attention, they thought that maybe he'd got lost or that his owners had abandoned him. So they snatched him up and took him inside. Our little garden tiger, who'd never been inside a house before (except one visit to the vet). And there we were calling for him day after day, and looking for him everywhere, and he was just one house away!
Anyway, the well-meaning person's son called us and brought Neko back home. Neko was rather confused and not his usual, playful self, not to mention fat. (How I'd love to know what they fed him to make him gain weight within a mere 2 1/2 days! :P) He retreated into his house right away and slept away the entire afternoon while we were working outside. In the evening, he was still a little anxious, but then he morphed from unusually shy to unusually cuddly and didn't want to part with us. And, well, we'd originally had other plans, but we decided to let him come into our house. He hesitated at first, but then he was happy to enter and take a slow and thorough tour around all the rooms (peering over his shoulder now and then to see if we were still there with him). We finally ended up cuddling on the sofa, and he never stopped purring even when no one was touching him. ;)
So now he is allowed inside, but only if there's someone home, and he still gets to sleep outside in his own little house. And we bought a collar for him. We're not really happy about the latter, but as long as it helps keeping strangers from snatching him up, that's the best solution, I guess...
Usually, he'd stroll about for some time every day, but he'd always remain within calling distance, so whenever we wanted to feed him or went outside to do some gardening or what-not it'd take him less than 10 minutes to make an appearance.
But then, all of a sudden, he didn't show up, and his food stayed untouched. We were worried sick and fast imagined the most horrible scenarios. We went to search for him in the vicinity, but we could neither see nor hear him anywhere.
Finally, on Saturday, we put up search posters in the neighbourhood. And...when we'd just finished the job, we got the relieving call. What had happened? Well, someone from the neighbouring block of flats had seen Neko strolling about, and when our little one - friendly as he is - approached them and vied for some attention, they thought that maybe he'd got lost or that his owners had abandoned him. So they snatched him up and took him inside. Our little garden tiger, who'd never been inside a house before (except one visit to the vet). And there we were calling for him day after day, and looking for him everywhere, and he was just one house away!
Anyway, the well-meaning person's son called us and brought Neko back home. Neko was rather confused and not his usual, playful self, not to mention fat. (How I'd love to know what they fed him to make him gain weight within a mere 2 1/2 days! :P) He retreated into his house right away and slept away the entire afternoon while we were working outside. In the evening, he was still a little anxious, but then he morphed from unusually shy to unusually cuddly and didn't want to part with us. And, well, we'd originally had other plans, but we decided to let him come into our house. He hesitated at first, but then he was happy to enter and take a slow and thorough tour around all the rooms (peering over his shoulder now and then to see if we were still there with him). We finally ended up cuddling on the sofa, and he never stopped purring even when no one was touching him. ;)
So now he is allowed inside, but only if there's someone home, and he still gets to sleep outside in his own little house. And we bought a collar for him. We're not really happy about the latter, but as long as it helps keeping strangers from snatching him up, that's the best solution, I guess...