George

The title sounds like I held a man named George hostage, but this entry is actually about my first cat ever. Growing up, I always had a dog. These dogs were always pugs, I'm not sure what the deal was with my parents and pugs, but I am getting off point. My mom got the house a cat towards the end of August in 2022. At first, I was upset about my mom bringing this cat home. She said her coworker had brought her this cat that had been living by her house. His name was George. 

George was a short-haired domestic cat that had been adopted as a kitten by a family of 4. Atfer his adoption, the parents started to do drugs, and neglect their 2 young children. George was their only companion whenever the parents would be out doing God knows what. While George was still a kitten, the parents were eventually busted for their drug abuse, and CPS removed the children from the household. This would result in George becoming a stray. He would go over to the neighbors (this lasted about a year and a half), which was my mom's coworker. 

After my mom told her coworker about a mouse problem we had, her coworker said "You need a cat" and gave us George. When we first got George, he was terrified. He did not want to be here. We opened his carrier from the top, but he ran under our couch. We tried moving the couch to get him out, but he ran to my room and hid under the bed. We decided to let him stay there for as long as he wanted to until he adapted to the environment. He would only pop out from under my bed if no one was in the room. I would leave his bowls in my room, and he would eat and roam the room while I was at school. 

His adapting process lasted about 3 months. After those 3 months, he would start laying on my bed and cuddle right by me. Keep in mind this was my first cat ever, so everything about him that all cat owners are used to just amazed me. I learned that he is literally just like a dog, but calm and sleepy. I obviously warmed up to George and cherished him just as much as I cherished my mutt. 

His escape happened yesterday. We finally had both the time and money to take my mutt and George to the vet. This was apparently Georges first vet visit, that, or he just got completely used to my room (he never left it, and even when he did, my mom didn't like it because he eventually got locked in her room and urinated). 

We took him to the vet to get him shots, one for leukemia and the other for rabies. When we got home, I didn't think to grab him before opening my car door, and he ran out to our barn. I went to chase him, but could not find him. My guess is he ran out from the opposite door of the barn and left to the woods. I cannot find him, its been a day. My friends told me cats could be gone for weeks and they'd still come back like nothing happened, but I am praying for my George. I've called him, and I even left his food in the barn. It's also possible that he's just hiding in some dug up burrows in our mountains of hay, but I highly doubt it. We are getting a snow storm on Monday or Tuesday, so I hope he comes back soon. 

It'd be easier to find a dog out here (based off of experience), but from what I've heard from my distant friend, a cat is so much harder to find. I'm sure he will come back, I am scared because there is no food out for him unless he becomes a pro fisher and fishes at ponds.