Minnow, a slinky, silver cat with big, green eyes, disappeared on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
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Minnow, a slinky, silver cat with big, green eyes, disappeared on Tuesday, Aug. 15. The indoor/outdoor pet always came home when dusk fell, likely to ensure a warm, dry place to sleep with easy access to her food, water and litter box. She didn’t come home that Tuesday night, though, nor the following 26 nights. My husband and I assumed she probably wouldn’t, and hoped, perhaps, a loving family who mistook her for a stray adopted her. It was a better thought than the alternatives.
This past Sunday evening, the cat – now noticeably skinnier – was waiting at our doorstep.
We were surprised and happy to see her, for sure. Our baby daughter got so worked up trying to reach out and touch Minnow, she almost skipped her evening nap altogether. And Minnow’s frantic meows suggested she felt the same way.
So what happened to our cat of almost 10 years? Where was she for nearly a month?
We took Minnow in approximately nine years ago. My husband and I had just moved to eastern Nebraska, and I came home to Goshen County for a visit. I wanted a cat to call my own (looking back, I probably needed an additional source of comfort for the homesickness I was feeling), and the animal someone dropped off with us – a patchy, half-grown tom named “Harry” that liked to wander – just wasn’t doing the trick.
During my Goshen County visit, my mom, brother and I headed out to a former teacher’s farm. He had informed my mom there were plenty of stray kittens on his land, and we were welcome to keep any we could catch.
My mom waited while my brother and I ran around, chasing wild kittens, until we each had a soft, mewing ball of fur in our arms.