Monday, October 29, 2012

Khan Update



That is my beautiful boy!  All these 3 years or so since we adopted him, we had thought he was a house cat.  We were wrong.

He seems to be fine, but is out on a "walk about" and not interested in coming back into the house right now.

I have come to realize that he is not lost or scared, he simply doesn't want to come back in yet.

Possibly I should have noticed in the days before he got out.  One of us would take him out each day (he was very insistent about going out for a while each day) and follow him around as he explored.  I did noticed that he had become very aggressive about spraying things in the yard (something I never noticed before), but I didn't think much about it.  From what I now know, he was upset about a stray who was roaming the yard at night.  We did catch her last week and took her to NM Animal Humane for adoption, but I feel that is what set him off.  

Now he seems to be still marking his territory and has also expanded it to the next door neighbors on either side, probably because they have no cats.  There is no way to find him during the day.  I think he is hanging out in the burnt out house next door.  There is plenty of debris and burnt out rooms stacked with stuff to hide in and the neighbor lives across the property in an airstream, so nobody really to bother him.

He still comes here after we are asleep and often sleeps in the car, we have been leaving the windows open for him.

I don't know when or if he will decide to be an indoor cat again.  I find myself feeling stupid for believing the big lecture from animal humane about how "all cats are indoor cats."  I understand why they do it, but it just isn't true.  In truth, most cats are NOT indoor cats, at least not all the time.

9 comments:

Sam G said...

Glad to know Khan is OK. Whew.

LesleyinNM said...

I am really happy to know he is OK, but also really miss having him around where I can pet and cuddle him. Still trying to trap him, but he seems too smart for it. So far we have caught that one stray and every "outdoor" neighbor cat, but no Khan. I am hoping he will decide to be a somewhat indoor cat if and when the weather changes.

polyphemus777 said...

Your cat will come back, he's just had a taste of freedom, but he knows how good he has it back home, he's well loved, after he's explored, he'll be back for more, cool cat, I'm glad it's well!

LesleyinNM said...

Thanks Polyphemus - I hope so!

Regan Lee said...

rLesley so glad he's all right! His behavior is similar to my Roswell, who we were also letting out every day, holding him, watching him very carefully, etc. He'd run around in circles on the porch and then sniff a bit then go crazy trying to get back inside. Then one day, he just up and left. Walked right out the door like he'd done it every day, and was gone overnight. He did come back but was acting weird,hard to get him back in once he was out. He also started getting (still is) very aggressive to the other cats, which he never would do. Khan will come back when he's ready. I know what you mean about wanting to cuddle him! He sounds like a VERY smart cat.

Alfred Lehmberg said...

Yay -- hope he has a status of forces agreement with the coyotes!

LesleyinNM said...

Apparently he has learned to stay out of coyote territory and be very cautious in the over 2 weeks he has been out. He is like a ninja now!

Alfred Lehmberg said...

Actually, on a level... that is _so_ cool!

Rick Phillips said...

This is good news. IMO, cats should be able to go outside and have some freedom. Pure indoor cats are boring IMO.

Hope he stays safe.

Rick