• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Tell me why my heart shouldn't be heartbroken...

MaggieD

DP Veteran
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
43,244
Reaction score
44,664
Location
Chicago Area
Gender
Female
Political Leaning
Moderate
Blacky is a feral cat we've fed for five years. He's a Halloween Cat. Coal black. Very good natured. Friendly.Loves our German Shepherd dog and sleeps with him. Three years ago, he "herded in" a little kitten in the middle of winter -- another feral cat whose been with us since. They sleep in the house . . . we feed them . . . they're just good cats trying to make the best of the world. We had both of them fixed. And they've always known they have a safe haven at our house.

Sunday evening, we let Blacky out, as usual. And we haven't seen him since. We've combed the neighborhood, put up $100 Reward Posters, talked to neighbors -- and everyone tells us it's just a shame it's Halloween.

I finally asked Tom why people were saying that, and he said people do strange things to cats at Halloween.

I can hardly stand it. Anyone had any similar experience that turned out well????? I'm heartbroken.

"Off Topic" is right.
 
Um. Actually it is black cats, particularly all-black cats with no white hairs, that are commonly targeted. That actually began in the Middle Ages when people thought all-black cats were demonic familiars, and I'm told those purges are why all-black cats with no white at all are a great rarity these days.


Well, I hope that is wrong and he shows up soon. Maybe he's just "tomcatting around". I've had toms disappear for alarmingly long periods of time before. If there's a female in heat somewhere, those buggers can disappear for up a week, then show up hungry with some new notches on their ears.

Best of luck.
 
Um. Actually it is black cats, particularly all-black cats with no white hairs, that are commonly targeted. That actually began in the Middle Ages when people thought all-black cats were demonic familiars, and I'm told those purges are why all-black cats with no white at all are a great rarity these days.


Well, I hope that is wrong and he shows up soon. Maybe he's just "tomcatting around". I've had toms disappear for alarmingly long periods of time before. If there's a female in heat somewhere, those buggers can disappear for up a week, then show up hungry with some new notches on their ears.

Best of luck.

Thank you, Goshin. I so appreciate your post. Yep. Blacky's solid black. He takes walks with Tom and our German Shepherd dog, sometimes doing an actual Halloween walk. I hope to God there are no psychopaths in the neighborhood. I'm actually hoping, now, that he's been hit by a car -- though we can't find any evidence of that...

I'm just beside myself. Thank you for your good wishes. Maybe we'll get lucky. If we do, he's going to be grounded.

PS -- We had him neutered, so if he's Tomcattin', well, he may have forgotten why. ;-) I hope you're right.
 
Bummer I'm sorry about that Maggie. But you never know he could pop up. I'll hope he does.
 
Blacky is a feral cat we've fed for five years. He's a Halloween Cat. Coal black. Very good natured. Friendly.Loves our German Shepherd dog and sleeps with him. Three years ago, he "herded in" a little kitten in the middle of winter -- another feral cat whose been with us since. They sleep in the house . . . we feed them . . . they're just good cats trying to make the best of the world. We had both of them fixed. And they've always known they have a safe haven at our house.

Sunday evening, we let Blacky out, as usual. And we haven't seen him since. We've combed the neighborhood, put up $100 Reward Posters, talked to neighbors -- and everyone tells us it's just a shame it's Halloween.

I finally asked Tom why people were saying that, and he said people do strange things to cats at Halloween.

I can hardly stand it. Anyone had any similar experience that turned out well????? I'm heartbroken.

"Off Topic" is right.

I don't say this to be cruel to you, but cats should be kept inside. A lot of people let their cats out at night, but its dangerous for them.

Having said that, I hope your cat returns home and he's okay.
 
I don't say this to be cruel to you, but cats should be kept inside. A lot of people let their cats out at night, but its dangerous for them.

Having said that, I hope your cat returns home and he's okay.

I know you don't say that to be cruel. And a big part of me agrees with you. Blacky is a mostly feral cat. He adopted our home as his food source when he was, probably, a year or two old. He only stays in when the weather is bitter cold, although he comes in for a safe place to sleep now and then. He hasn't been declawed. But we did trap him in a live-trap and have him (and two other ferals) neutered for release. It's hard with ferals who haven't been raised as kittens. There's a trade-off -- their nature and my concern and responsibility. One feral comes in for a safe place to sleep, but won't use the litter box...what can one do?

Thank you, TryReading. I do know you are right.
 
Thank you, Goshin. I so appreciate your post. Yep. Blacky's solid black. He takes walks with Tom and our German Shepherd dog, sometimes doing an actual Halloween walk. I hope to God there are no psychopaths in the neighborhood. I'm actually hoping, now, that he's been hit by a car -- though we can't find any evidence of that...

I'm just beside myself. Thank you for your good wishes. Maybe we'll get lucky. If we do, he's going to be grounded.

PS -- We had him neutered, so if he's Tomcattin', well, he may have forgotten why. ;-) I hope you're right.


I may have told this before. I had a tom I called Bull, because of his bull-neck and because he was almost as bright as a bull's left horn. :)

He had this one remarkably stupid trick that he'd do over and over... well I'll tell that one in a moment.

He had a VERY distinctive coloration. I'd never seen another cat in this area that looked anything like that, until Bull started spreading his DNA around.

One day he disappeared. Looked around, never found him.

Months went by, then over a year. More like two years.

Suddenly one day I went out on the porch and there he was! I called his name and he came straight to me. I knew every hair on that cat like I know my own hand and it was definitely him.

To be absolutely sure, I put him up on the narrow top-back of the couch on the porch, then put my hand up just over his head. He reared up into my hand, self-petting as it were, then fell off the back of the couch.

Yup, that was Bull allright. :mrgreen:

I hope your story has a similar happy ending.
 
We have a cat that we adopted too. She lives outdoors and comes and goes as she pleases. Usually she comes home around 2 times a day, but we have gone a week without her showing up before. I hope your cat is alright. I pray it comes home soon! :)
 
I may have told this before. I had a tom I called Bull, because of his bull-neck and because he was almost as bright as a bull's left horn. :)

He had this one remarkably stupid trick that he'd do over and over... well I'll tell that one in a moment.

He had a VERY distinctive coloration. I'd never seen another cat in this area that looked anything like that, until Bull started spreading his DNA around.

One day he disappeared. Looked around, never found him.

Months went by, then over a year. More like two years.

Suddenly one day I went out on the porch and there he was! I called his name and he came straight to me. I knew every hair on that cat like I know my own hand and it was definitely him.

To be absolutely sure, I put him up on the narrow top-back of the couch on the porch, then put my hand up just over his head. He reared up into my hand, self-petting as it were, then fell off the back of the couch.

Yup, that was Bull allright. :mrgreen:

I hope your story has a similar happy ending.

Aww, Goshin, you give me hope!!!! Thank you!!! What a nice story...

We have a cat that we adopted too. She lives outdoors and comes and goes as she pleases. Usually she comes home around 2 times a day, but we have gone a week without her showing up before. I hope your cat is alright. I pray it comes home soon! :)

Yeah, you get it. That's Blacky. Twice a day -- sometimes sleeps in the house. Never have gone that long, but, hey, I'm hopin' there's always a first time. Thank you!!
 
I don't say this to be cruel to you, but cats should be kept inside. A lot of people let their cats out at night, but its dangerous for them.

Having said that, I hope your cat returns home and he's okay.


Our cats are adopted semi-ferals. Mostly cats that someone threw out of the car while driving through the country near my place.

They're accustomed to being outdoors. They'll come inside for a while, especially if the weather is nasty, but after a while they want back out. If you don't let them out, they get very unhappy and may express that unhappiness in ways you won't like.

Stray cats aren't like born housecats that have never put a paw in the dirt. The pampered housecat doesn't know what he's missing, and thus doesn't care. The stray/semi-feral cat doesn't want to be cooped up and usually won't tolerate it for too long.
 
I know you don't say that to be cruel. And a big part of me agrees with you. Blacky is a mostly feral cat. He adopted our home as his food source when he was, probably, a year or two old. He only stays in when the weather is bitter cold, although he comes in for a safe place to sleep now and then. He hasn't been declawed. But we did trap him in a live-trap and have him (and two other ferals) neutered for release. It's hard with ferals who haven't been raised as kittens. There's a trade-off -- their nature and my concern and responsibility. One feral comes in for a safe place to sleep, but won't use the litter box...what can one do?

Thank you, TryReading. I do know you are right.

I understand. Probably spoke out of turn. Not all cats can be kept inside.

We have cats at home. All the cats my wife and I have had over the years were found somewhere, either on the street, or wandering half dead up to our house (we live in the country, and people seem to want to drop off their unwanted pets in the woods). We end up keeping most of them, and giving away the ones we can. We have 5 right now. The cats you find always make the best pets. They seem to really appreciate the comfort you give them.
 
We take care of a group of cats, and they come around about twice a day as well, sometimes various cats will go away for an extended period of time, and then come back. So I wouldn't be that worried. Maybe he killed something, and that has been his source of food, and he didn't need to come to your house to get food. If he doesn't come back within the month I might be worried, but it doesn't mean something bad happened to him. I hope he comes back :)
 
I understand. Probably spoke out of turn. Not all cats can be kept inside.

We have cats at home. All the cats my wife and I have had over the years were found somewhere, either on the street, or wandering half dead up to our house (we live in the country, and people seem to want to drop off their unwanted pets in the woods). We end up keeping most of them, and giving away the ones we can. We have 5 right now. The cats you find always make the best pets. They seem to really appreciate the comfort you give them.

I would agree with this, 2 of our 3 cats we found outside, and brought them in, and 1 is the most playful cat ever, and the other I think is the sweetest cat I've ever encountered. They're great pets.
 
Blacky is a feral cat we've fed for five years. He's a Halloween Cat. Coal black. Very good natured. Friendly.Loves our German Shepherd dog and sleeps with him. Three years ago, he "herded in" a little kitten in the middle of winter -- another feral cat whose been with us since. They sleep in the house . . . we feed them . . . they're just good cats trying to make the best of the world. We had both of them fixed. And they've always known they have a safe haven at our house.

Sunday evening, we let Blacky out, as usual. And we haven't seen him since. We've combed the neighborhood, put up $100 Reward Posters, talked to neighbors -- and everyone tells us it's just a shame it's Halloween.

I finally asked Tom why people were saying that, and he said people do strange things to cats at Halloween.

I can hardly stand it. Anyone had any similar experience that turned out well????? I'm heartbroken.

"Off Topic" is right.

Maggie... has he been sick or do you know how old he really is? I have had cats off and on and I know the last two I had, wound up wandering off and I believe it was to pass away. Not trying to upset you.. but it could be as simple as that. I wouldn't dwell to much on what could happen to black cats at Halloween... :( to do that, you will just make yourself sick.

I did have an old tomcat once that would do that.. he's wander off and then a week later, he'd show up ready to have the 'good life' again.

I hope you find the answer soon. *hug*
 
Maggie... has he been sick or do you know how old he really is? I have had cats off and on and I know the last two I had, wound up wandering off and I believe it was to pass away. Not trying to upset you.. but it could be as simple as that. I wouldn't dwell to much on what could happen to black cats at Halloween... :( to do that, you will just make yourself sick.

I did have an old tomcat once that would do that.. he's wander off and then a week later, he'd show up ready to have the 'good life' again.

I hope you find the answer soon. *hug*

Well, Tom's now saying that he thought Blacky was losing some weight....but he sure looked sleek and fine to me. You could be right, though, as I've often heard that. And you're also right, we really don't know how old he was...Thank you for the good wishes.
 
I rescued this feral kitten at 4 1/2 months old.

My Rottweiler mix and him play really well together. I don't let him out. He'll sit at the window and meow when I let the dogs out. We are slowly working on leash training him. He just got neutered today.

mrgiggles.jpg


demonmaxandgigs.jpg
 
I rescued this feral kitten at 4 1/2 months old.

My Rottweiler mix and him play really well together. I don't let him out. He'll sit at the window and meow when I let the dogs out. We are slowly working on leash training him. He just got neutered today.

mrgiggles.jpg


demonmaxandgigs.jpg

Soooo cute! Thanks for the cheer-up photos, IT. Life goes on . . .
 
I rescued this feral kitten at 4 1/2 months old.

My Rottweiler mix and him play really well together. I don't let him out. He'll sit at the window and meow when I let the dogs out. We are slowly working on leash training him. He just got neutered today.



demonmaxandgigs.jpg

That dog is sending me evil messages.


yes I will bite off the heads of gummy bears....all the gummy bears....all the gummy bears in the world.....
 
Well, My fiance works at an animal hospital and they always get boxes of kittens by the front door and hae to adopt them out. The whole month of ocober they don't adopt out black cats or kittens because they're scared people just want them for a party or to go trick or treating with and then will put them out on the street afterwards.

With holloween coming up I'm thinking that if anyone took the black cat it would most likely be for show or it might hae shown up on someone's door step and they're keeping him around for their holloween party or something. Much more likely than anything bad happening in my opinion.
 
Maggie, there's also the possibility that the cat moved on. Feral cats do that. I used to have one that did, and we treated him very well. They sometimes have the urge to leave so they just go.
 
I think its normal for a outdoor cat to disappear for days, a week or longer. I have a tom cat that sometimes disappears for days to a week or longer. It seems like he will come into the house every day of the week and sometimes he just disappears for a couple days to several days or longer. I kind of wish I had a critter cam so I can stick on him just to see what he does when he disappears for awhile.
 
Back
Top Bottom