Freya’s moving adventure
The cat came back with a little help from neighbours old and new
Moving house causes major upheaval for all the inhabitants, whether they have two legs or four.
Human beings have the heavy load of organizing, sorting, discarding, packing, unpacking and reorganizing, but, at least they know the reason for the chaos and believe that there will be light at the end of the tunnel of disruption when they are resettled in their new home.
Not so for the family pets. They face inexplicable and constant disarray. Favourite sleeping places are covered with boxes during the packing stage. Strangers come and go all the time. Former safe spots are no longer secure.
Dogs generally cope as long as their people are at hand. They take comfort in the togetherness. Cats are much more easily upset by change and more at ease in familiar territory.
I was aware of the potential problems ahead when we moved from a rural multi-storey house last November. We “flat-sized” to a bungalow in town. As it backed onto a park, I thought all would be well for the animals after a careful introduction to home resurrected with the same furniture, sunny sleeping spots and the right food and water in place.
And so it seemed, at first. The dog and both cats loved the yard and the spacious deck. Marnie, my Irish setter, and I took long walks to explore the neighbourhood, occasionally followed partway by Freya, my Norwegian Forest cat. Storm, my North American shorthair, rarely ventured further than the deck or the front step. At around 16, his wandering days were over and he slept most of his days away.
Both cats had come to me as strays and both were clear about loving the great outdoors. Although it might have been possible to force them into the indoor-cat mould, they would have been unhappy. And, as all cats are escape artists, they would probably have moved on as soon as they could. Both are microchipped so that they can be identified quickly if they do wander. As it is, Storm has been with me for 14 years and Freya for five, with the exception of one week in May — some five months after our move.
By this time, I had relaxed and assumed that everyone was completely resettled. Certainly, Storm had responded positively to his new environment immediately and seemed completed at ease and Marnie had given the expected, “OK, my people are here” reaction. Freya grumbled a little (probably hoping to find a forest nearby) but always came when I called, except this time.
I checked every two hours that night and, by next morning, with my anxiety level rising by the minute, began an organized search and attempted to get the word out far and wide. This involves preparing and putting up posters — community mailboxes are really useful in this regard — calling all veterinary clinics in the area, informing the humane societies and the Ottawa Valley Lost Pet Network, placing advertisements in newspapers and, courtesy of my very kind neighbour, announcing Freya’s disappearance on Facebook and the local online newspaper. I also went door to door in the immediate area. Although nobody I spoke to had seen her, everyone promised to let me know if they had any news.
I enlarged my search to our former neighbourhood, some five kilometres away, to let the neighbours there know that Freya was missing — just in case she had trekked back to her old home. No luck at first, then the new owner of our former house said that a tabby with a fluffy tail had just run into the woods behind the house when she drove home. I also had calls from some of my other former neighbours willing to watch for Freya.
Over the next two days, Marnie and I went walking near our old house, taking the routes I had followed regularly. Finally, Freya joined us, acting as though this is how we usually spent our days. I scooped her up — noting that she did not seem to have lost any weight during her week of adventure — and drove her home.
Since then, she seems to have accepted that she belongs at her new
address, but I still feel comfortable at night only when everyone is safely home.
And her adventure made me more aware than ever of the importance of connecting with those around you. Old and new neighbours and friends played a part in Freya’s return — by helping me search, checking in while she was gone or calling to say that they were happy she had been found.
Finally, if you lose or find a pet, the best way to ensure that a loved animal returns home is to put the word out as widely as possible.
This evening, Sept. 18, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., everyone is welcome at the Compassionate Ottawa’s Community Forum at the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre, 200 Coventry Rd.