Khyber passes up alert level rules
It takes more than a national lockdown to curb the wandering ways of one Nelson traveller.
Khyber the tabby cat has made a habit of turning up his nose at alert level rules by refusing to accept a house move across the city and returning to his old neighbourhood 5km away.
It’s happened at least seven times, with the three-year-old cat getting his escape act down to a couple of hours.
Khyber, also known as Hairy Baby, began his escape acts shortly after owner Amelia Tutaki moved out of her rented Tasman St home in mid-February due to her landlord undertaking renovations.
Tutaki, her five-year-old son Luca, and Khyber moved to a temporary flat on Waimea Rd while she sought a more permanent rental.
However, Khyber aka ‘‘Hairy Baby’’ had other ideas, beginning his recidivist offending by slipping out the window and turning up at Tasman St four days later.
‘‘The house I was in is the only place he’s known up until now and he’s become quite accustomed to that area of town,’’ Tutaki said.
After retrieving Khyber from her former Tasman St neighbour Kathleen Matheson, Khyber seemed to settle down.
‘‘He’d get agitated from being inside, so I let him out during the day and he’d come back an hour later, so I thought ‘well, that’s good, everything will be fine’.
‘‘The next time I let him out he didn’t come back.’’
As a kitten, Khyber befriended Matheson’s own tabby, an older female that had ‘‘taken him under her wing.’’
With every return visit, the welcome was still being extended as he sought out the familiar environment of his old home.
‘‘I give him breakfast and there’s a bed made up for him, so he can have a sleep,’’ Matheson said.
‘‘[Kathleen] has been really lovely,’’ Tutaki said.
Khyber appeared to have refined his travel times during his numerous escapes.
After taking days during his first trips, his most recent escape, during lockdown, took just over two hours.
‘‘I understand he was let outside around 5am, when I got up to let my cat inside around 7.15am there he was as well,’’ Matheson said.
Matheson hoped Tutaki was able to find a new dwelling for herself soon — even better if it was in the vicinity of the familiar Nelson East area that Khyber seemed to gravitate to.