Brewed In Love

Cat-sured!

We've had a cat-nabbing here at our house. Not a kidnapping, because there were no children involved. But a cat was. Smitty. (Read more about him in "The Crew.") Abducted. Sometime during the night. He is being held for ransom. The perpetrators: the local pound. Yep, it's true.  They posted his proof-of-life picture on the web.

All day Tuesday I was frantically searching for him. He stays outside at night, but usually sleeps in the barn. First thing in the morning when I wake up, he's at the back door ready to come in and get some grub. But he never showed up. And still wasn't home by time I went to bed. I knew something had happened to him, as he's older now and very predictable. We do have our share of wild critters out in this area, so I was very worried something may have gotten the best of him. A wild dog? A gator? Gators have been seen taking a stroll down our dirt road at night. I was very upset to say the least. This is a member of my family!

My daughter suggested I check the local pound. But knowing Smitty, I knew he wouldn't have let anyone near enough to catch him. But just before I went to bed, I remembered that traps are set out here to catch feral cats. Hmm, maybe he got caught in a trap? So just before I went to bed, I checked the lost & found and saw a picture of a cat that looked just like him, but the description didn't really match.

First thing Wednesday morning, off to the pound I went, and when the info was checked about where he was found, it was true. I had found my Smitty! But, he hadn't been caught in a trap set by the pound. He was brought in by a neighbor! What?? We know most of our neighbors, at least the ones directly around my house, and I knew it wouldn't have been one of them. We live in an area where each home has some property, from 1-2 acres. Our neighbors are not directly "on top" of us. Smitty had been roaming around here for 11 years, and doesn't cause anyone any harm. So who would trap him and dump him off?? Apparently a neighbor on the street off my back yard, three houses down.

So $60 later, I had my traumatized Smitty in the car and we were headed home. I went for a visit to this person's home later on in the afternoon, and found out she works at a veterinarian office and had decided she had had enough of all the feral cats roaming around so she set a trap. Of course she didn't catch the big black tom cat that's been fighting with everything in sight. She caught my Smitty, who is no trouble to anyone. I didn't get to speak directly to her, but to her mother, who said she would let her know what happened. She did feel badly. Probably not as bad as my poor Smitty felt being in jail.