Stimpy- Happy at Home

Within a couple weeks of when we moved to Taylorsville in July, our kitty Stimpy got a wee bit confused about where home was and ended up several miles away from home- in South Jordan (South East- the totally wrong way from anywhere he has ever lived).  In Logan he thought he was a wild cat.  Our neighbors down the street left food out for all the cats in the neighborhood so it was rare that he felt the need to come home in the summer.  We would see him around the neighborhood and give him some attention when he decided to grace us with his presence.  But mostly, he was an alley cat.  But when we moved here, we knew he shouldn't run wild in a new place that he didn't know.  He had never lived anywhere besides our Logan home and so we didn't want him trying to get back there.  We attempted to keep him inside and around but with all the people and movers and stuff going on, it is no wonder he left the house and yard and wandered off to find someplace calmer and quieter. After weeks and weeks of searching and calling animal control for any sign of him, we had given up hope of him ever coming home.

Here he is right after he got home.  He loved to stare out the window and look at the snow.

But then an incredible thing happened.  In his terrible adventure he made it to the home of a super nice couple- a couple that loves animals.  They took him in and nursed him back to health after his long journey.   From what they told me, he arrived at their home around early fall and had just been hanging around outside their home.  As it got colder, they built him a little cat house to help him stay warm.  When it started to get really frigid  they lured him over and grabbed him and took him inside the house.  It was so nice of them to care about a cat that just showed up on their step.  He has been super skinny and wormy but when we saw him, I could tell he had been living the good life with this couple.  He was as fat as I had ever seen him.  He was always very skittish around them and incredible as they are, I think he always knew it wasn't home.  He was continually hiding behind their furniture or trying to escape their house- and their big dogs that had never known cats.  After a few months, they decided they would keep him and so they took him to the vet to get him checked out and vaccinated.  While there, they asked the vet to scan him for a micro-chip.  The vet thought they were crazy since he looks like a typical stray that no one would take the time or money to chip.  But of course they found out he was micro-chipped and that meant he had a family that loved him.  I'm so glad we made sure to chip our cats before we moved just in case they got lost.  It totally paid off.  The vet called us that day and we went to their home to get him.
He came home to us on Jack's birthday on January 3rd.

Stimpy loves to drink from the sink.  It's pretty much the only way he'll drink water.  He is very demanding and loud when he wants a drink.  And he wants it when he wants it... even if I am using the sink to get ready.

When we first got him home, I was nervous that he wouldn't know our new home or think this is where he belonged and that he would try to run away like he did at the foster family.  But he was like a totally different cat.  He was much calmer at his real home.  He seemed so happy to be home with his family.  And maybe the house finally smelled like us and had enough of our stuff that he knew it was home.  He just wanted lots and lots of love and attention.  I admit, our other kitty Scout was not nearly as thrilled to have him home as everyone else- and she took out her first child jealousy on the carpet several times.  We were pretty tempted to drive her out to South Jordan- but unlike Stimpy she actually has skills to make it home.  She proved that several years ago after going missing for several months she showed up out of the blue.  We believe she had accidentally hopped in te back of a car or truck and got taken on a journey out of the neighborhood but had made her way home all skinny and weary.  We always joke that Scout lured Stimpy to some place where he would get lost.

He knows where to get the best loves from.

When he first came home, he was so afraid to go outside.  For about 2 months we kept him completely inside (partly because it was still winter and cold out but mostly because he wouldn't even go near the doors).  I think he was so afraid of getting lost again.  After a couple months I felt it was finally time for him to explore right around the house.  So I stuck him out side.  He freaked out!  He wanted in so badly that he kept jumping up and at the back door window.  Poor cat.  He's obviously been traumatized in the real world.  After that, it was about another week before I let him outside again.  He was calmer the next time but he still pretty much just sat by the door for the next few times I let him out.

So needy.  I have to block my lap to keep him from sitting on me all the time.

He's doing much better now.  He can handle being outside.  Though he never roams outside the yard.  Even Scout seems to be coping with having him home.  He still wants lots of loves and he definitely feels happy to be home.