*Nobody knows how it happened: an indoor housecat who got lost on a family excursion managing, after two months and about 200 miles, to return to her hometown.
Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an R.V. rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Year’s Eve — staggering, weak and emaciated — in a backyard about a mile from the Richter’s house in West Palm Beach.
But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her*. Story.
As a kid, my siblings and I regularly “adopted” stray cats (as in began feeding them without our parents’ knowledge). Just as regularly, Dad would take the cats “for a ride” – i.e., drive several miles out of town and drop them off somewhere. They very often made their way back to us – and these were not beloved pets of many years, but strays who’d been hanging around for a week or two at most.
Your dad just drove around the block fifty or sixty times in hopes of discouraging you from feeding the strays. He then pet them gently on the head, gave them a tuna-treat, and let them go by the side of the house. Cite: I’m a dad.
Many years ago a feral cat gave birth to some kittens under a house I was living in. We got the kittens tamed and ended up finding homes for them. One - he was a young adult by then - went to live with some people about 5 miles away and across a freeway. A week later, he was back at our house. Got in touch with the owners who came and picked him up again and promised to keep him inside; he never did return so hopefully all remained well.