Outside Kitty

We have a hard time keeping cats out here where we live. Especially if they like to go outside...I think they become coyote or owl food and just disappear without a trace. So, when we discovered a cat hanging out under our house in 2004, we tried to not get too attached to him. He was real timid, at first, but by the end of the summer, this cat would come up to us and rub against us for attention. We determined that he had been neutered and it was obvious that he had been someone's pet at some point. Still, we didn't get attached. We didn't even feed him for a long time but he seemed determined to make our house his home and he also seemed to have figured how to escape the peril that all of our other cats had met. Jamie was 2 or 3 when we decided it was time to name this cat and his name became Outside Kitty. He has been a faithful fixture here for over six years now.

So, it's more than a little bit concerning that we haven't seen Outside Kitty since we've been home. We had a friend coming over to feed Outside Kitty while we were gone and he said that he hadn't seen Outside Kitty since about a week before we got home. Jamie hasn't said anything to me yet. I don't know if he hasn't realized it yet or if he thinks that something bad has happened to Outside Kitty and he doesn't want to talk about it. Outside Kitty has disappeared before, for a day or so, but always has come back. I hope he's found a warm place to bide his time and will come home soon.