Sadly, cats go missing all the time. These fiercely independent creatures quite often decide that it is time to go on a coming-of-age journey of exploration, only to come back all skinny and whiney a few days later.
However, some cats go missing for so long that we assume the worst and reluctantly accept that they didn’t make it out there in the big bad world. So it is a great surprise when they return many years later, ready to retire in that comfortable old place they used to call home.
Image credits: UtahMomsLife
This cat, aptly named Tom-Tom, finally managed to navigate his way back to his family after 5 long years. “My sister worked at the animal shelter when she adopted Tom-Tom many years ago,” Cindi, who shared the story, told Bored Panda. “She was no longer working there when Tom-Tom disappeared but she had her friends there keeping an eye out for him.”
Image credits: UtahMomsLife
Apparently Tom-Tom wasn’t a big fan of his family’s decision to move house, and so decided to strike out on his own instead. “She moved within the same town and Tom-Tom disappeared during the dishevelment. She looked for him for several months but she had pretty much given up hope,” Cindi continued.
“She lives in a rural farming area and there are many stray cats. For instance, a stray cat took up residence in my parents’ barn about ten years ago. We’ve named him Midnight and he tolerates the grandchildren. Tom-Tom was also a Farm cat and a great mouser but had a stronger attachment to his family. My sister lives there now.”
Image credits: UtahMomsLife
Because cats are quite capable of looking after themselves and surviving in the wild, this type of story isn’t uncommon.
Unfortunately, that can make it even more difficult for owners to fully let go when a cat does go missing in the long term; people can never truly get closure on the fate of their dear, long-lost family member.
Image credits: UtahMomsLife
Image credits: UtahMomsLife
Happily, Tom-Tom seems to have adapted flawlessly back into family life, rebonding with his human siblings after 5 years of territorial warfare with the local feral population. He surely has plenty of stories to tell!
Image credits: UtahMomsLife
“Since Tom-Tom has been recovered, my sister took him to the vet. He was a little dehydrated but otherwise healthy. He’s an outdoor cat through and through and has taken up residence on the back porch. He seems happy to be around people and Midnight seems fine with him sharing his space.”
Image credits: UtahMomsLife
The story gave a lot of people heart and hope, as others shared their kitty comeback experiences. The main lesson to be learned from all of these is the importance of chipping your pet – this is by far your best hope of tracking your missing cat down!
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What do you think? Have you had a cat go missing for a long period, and then suddenly return? Or perhaps you were able to track them down via a chip? Why do you think some cats decide to just get up and leave sometimes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
An Australian friend told me that his cat used to spend the night outside and be standing outside the door waiting to be let in again every morning. One day the cat returned with a collar around his neck. There was a telephone number on it so of course, he called them to tell them to get their greedy hands off of his cat! They were very surprised to hear this because the cat had appeared at their house a few years earlier and ever since that first day it had lived there. The cat spent the days outside but always came back home in the evening! Once they understood what was going on they had a good laugh at it and let the cat carry on.
OMG! Cats are like that though. They are sneaky little manipulators and I LOVE THEM. Mine is one of the worst and he gets whatever he wants, of course MEOW
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This is a good lesson to keep your cat indoors. Cats that are allowed to go outside have a significantly lower life expectancy.
I really enjoy this misreadings sometimes. It's funny and interesting with what ones brain comes up when a text is completely wrong understood. Instant imagination-overdrive. Sometimes way better than the text I'm reading (not better than cat-stories of course =) )
Load More Replies... When we moved house, I was terrified that our cats (which used to be free roaming cats) would freak out and run off. So, they became indoor cats after that (with plenty of enrichment of course). I think it was a really safe decision. Now, 7 years later, my mum still has one of these cats. She's allowed to pootle around the garden because she's so old that she can't jump the fence anymore..! Some animals just don't want to stay in, though - I used to have two pet skunks (they have absolutely zero homing ability, so they had to be well contained). During a refurb of their space, they were kept in a utility room for a few days. Well... they dug their way out. Straight through a brick wall. One of them came and found ME, the other one required a huge search in what was a dilapidated building site of a house... we found him though!
When I was growing up in the suburbs, nobody kept their animals indoor during the day. Nearly all of our pets were eventually hit by cars. One cat (Momma Kitty—nobody got their pets fixed either) lived after being tumbled by an auto, but she lost most of her teeth and her personality was drastically, negatively changed. On the other hand, the kitty love of my life—the late great Petrushka—lived to be 16-1/2. I finally sent him on his magical mystery tour when his kidneys just couldn’t stay hydrated. This was more than 20 years ago and I still miss him.
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STUPID LITTLE GIRL! I AM GLAD HER FACE IS COVERED! SHE MIGHT BE THE ONE OFF THE BOUNTY PAPER TOWEL COMMERCIAL SNEAKING UP ON HER POOR DAD WITH A TOY SWORD AND DRESSED UP AS A STUPID LITTLE PIRATE WHICH IS SO ANNOYING WHEN YOU HEAR HER SAY "AHOY" THE CORN HOLES HIM UP THE A*S WITH HER TOY SWORD, BRAT! BITCHLET! NO MORE PIRATE COSTUMES FOR YOU YOUNG LADY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE GROUND AND BEING SHIPPED OFF TO BOOT CAMP!
Same thing happened to me with my son! I couldn’t believe he made it back to me and remembered my face.
When I was 7 or 8 my parents were going through another divorce so my mother sent my sister and I to stay at my grandmother's house in Indiana for the summer. My grandmother didn't let me bring my cat so Bootsy stayed home with my mother. Bootsy was my best friend and every day I called my mom and the first thing I asked was "How's Bootsy?" Mom told me he was fine. After 3 months we come home, I jump out of the car and first thing "Where's Bootsy." My mother admits that Bootsy has been gone for 3 months. I scream outside for him for about 30 minutes, then I spot him, my fat cat had lost all his weight and he was running towards me, excess skin flapping in the wind and meowing frantically. My mother was livid after months of searching for him and organizing our entire neighborhood to search the woods. I told my mother if she got divorced again I would stay at an animal shelter with Boots because I was never going to grandma's again.
I really need to get my cat chipped wasn't a requirement in ND but now we are in FL. I'd go crazy without him. He's always been an indoor cat!! He wouldn't survive. 🙀🙀thankyou for bringing this to my attention!!
Happy pet stories make my day. Tom-tom was a real nutter, I must say.
An Australian friend told me that his cat used to spend the night outside and be standing outside the door waiting to be let in again every morning. One day the cat returned with a collar around his neck. There was a telephone number on it so of course, he called them to tell them to get their greedy hands off of his cat! They were very surprised to hear this because the cat had appeared at their house a few years earlier and ever since that first day it had lived there. The cat spent the days outside but always came back home in the evening! Once they understood what was going on they had a good laugh at it and let the cat carry on.
OMG! Cats are like that though. They are sneaky little manipulators and I LOVE THEM. Mine is one of the worst and he gets whatever he wants, of course MEOW
Load More Replies... This is a good lesson to keep your cat indoors. Cats that are allowed to go outside have a significantly lower life expectancy.
I really enjoy this misreadings sometimes. It's funny and interesting with what ones brain comes up when a text is completely wrong understood. Instant imagination-overdrive. Sometimes way better than the text I'm reading (not better than cat-stories of course =) )
Load More Replies... When we moved house, I was terrified that our cats (which used to be free roaming cats) would freak out and run off. So, they became indoor cats after that (with plenty of enrichment of course). I think it was a really safe decision. Now, 7 years later, my mum still has one of these cats. She's allowed to pootle around the garden because she's so old that she can't jump the fence anymore..! Some animals just don't want to stay in, though - I used to have two pet skunks (they have absolutely zero homing ability, so they had to be well contained). During a refurb of their space, they were kept in a utility room for a few days. Well... they dug their way out. Straight through a brick wall. One of them came and found ME, the other one required a huge search in what was a dilapidated building site of a house... we found him though!
When I was growing up in the suburbs, nobody kept their animals indoor during the day. Nearly all of our pets were eventually hit by cars. One cat (Momma Kitty—nobody got their pets fixed either) lived after being tumbled by an auto, but she lost most of her teeth and her personality was drastically, negatively changed. On the other hand, the kitty love of my life—the late great Petrushka—lived to be 16-1/2. I finally sent him on his magical mystery tour when his kidneys just couldn’t stay hydrated. This was more than 20 years ago and I still miss him.
Load More Replies... STUPID LITTLE GIRL! I AM GLAD HER FACE IS COVERED! SHE MIGHT BE THE ONE OFF THE BOUNTY PAPER TOWEL COMMERCIAL SNEAKING UP ON HER POOR DAD WITH A TOY SWORD AND DRESSED UP AS A STUPID LITTLE PIRATE WHICH IS SO ANNOYING WHEN YOU HEAR HER SAY "AHOY" THE CORN HOLES HIM UP THE A*S WITH HER TOY SWORD, BRAT! BITCHLET! NO MORE PIRATE COSTUMES FOR YOU YOUNG LADY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE GROUND AND BEING SHIPPED OFF TO BOOT CAMP!
Same thing happened to me with my son! I couldn’t believe he made it back to me and remembered my face.
When I was 7 or 8 my parents were going through another divorce so my mother sent my sister and I to stay at my grandmother's house in Indiana for the summer. My grandmother didn't let me bring my cat so Bootsy stayed home with my mother. Bootsy was my best friend and every day I called my mom and the first thing I asked was "How's Bootsy?" Mom told me he was fine. After 3 months we come home, I jump out of the car and first thing "Where's Bootsy." My mother admits that Bootsy has been gone for 3 months. I scream outside for him for about 30 minutes, then I spot him, my fat cat had lost all his weight and he was running towards me, excess skin flapping in the wind and meowing frantically. My mother was livid after months of searching for him and organizing our entire neighborhood to search the woods. I told my mother if she got divorced again I would stay at an animal shelter with Boots because I was never going to grandma's again.
I really need to get my cat chipped wasn't a requirement in ND but now we are in FL. I'd go crazy without him. He's always been an indoor cat!! He wouldn't survive. 🙀🙀thankyou for bringing this to my attention!!
Happy pet stories make my day. Tom-tom was a real nutter, I must say.
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