Scrub's Gone Missing

We fear that our mostly feral cat Scrub has finally met his end.  He's not returned home for nearly four days.

When we first brought home our dog Piper, Scrub left for a longer time.  Eventually he returned, skinny and disheveled.  Reluctantly he would mew at the side door and only relent to be let in through the garage, where he'd eat and then escape back outside.  It took him about a year to comfortably return into the house.  But Scrub was never really a comfortable cat.

The story goes that he came from a family of feral cats that lived on the roof of one of our friend's parents' house.  Apparently he fell off around six weeks old.  They took him in to save him.  Then we adopted him.  It took a while for our home to adjust to Scrub.

The first to have trouble was Beatrice.  She is an often grumpy calico with a charitable side.  We figured she was out to kill the kitten Scrub because she would hiss and pin him down with her claws drawn. Turns out Scrub was just dirty.  Having left home so early, he never learned to groom himself properly.  Beatrice, spayed though she is, found the motherly instincts inside of her to teach Scrub good hygiene.  Our wonder and disapproval of her apparent mistreatment of Scrub turned to gratitude once we figured out her intentions, and he stopped coming home with unkempt fur.

Having made his peace with Beatrice, Scrub turned his attention to the mice and rats around our house.  We live near a very rodent infested field.  Occasionally the little critters venture into our yard and even the garage.  Not anymore.  Scrub was probably the mos expert mouser I've ever seen or heard or read about.  Granted, it was disturbing to see him through the kitchen window biting the head off of a mouse.  And he tended to leave one organ (usually the stomach) at our side door as a token.  But it was nice to be done with rodent problems.  Honestly I'm a bit worried that if he does not reappear, we are going to have to readdress the mouse issue in some other manner.

Scrub was affectionate.  Unfortunately he was not socially competent. Like many cats who leave their family of origin before it is time, he had dysfunctions.  When he was on the bed or couch with you, he constantly kneaded at your legs and your shirt and, if you let him, your head.  More annoying still, he'd drool... out of his nose.  He never quite learned to cozy up and purr.  As soon as you reached out to him, he'd drive you away with his incessant kneading and drooling and mewing.  That made it hard to get close to Scrub.

I suppose, though, that we never completely understand how close we are to other living beings until circumstances remove us from each other. Turns out we all miss Scrub a lot and hope he makes his way back home.

Comments

[mDuo13]

I hope you get to see Scrub again. I know that one spring a couple years ago, our cat (an indoor-outdoor cat who was also separated from his mother too early and has some his own dysfunctions) vanished for a few days, but eventually he did come back, so don't give up hope!

[Roger Swainson]

Does Scrubs disappearance count towards the 100 Things Challenge?

[Donna]

So you're down to 99 now?

Seriously, I was very touched by the tale of scrubs and posted a link (and photo) on a pets blog I contribute to at www.dailybreeze.com. When I was growin gup, we had a cat named Tom who would vanish for days on end. But he always came home. :)
Do keep us posted. ............
http://www.insidesocal.com/pets/2008/06/scrubs-gone-missing.html

[Airwin]

Did scrubs already return. Or is he still missing? As a cat owner I know what this is like.

[Mobody]

I had a tom cat that would take off for days and sometimes even years. The longest was 4 years with a return. Finally he left for good. I am pretty certain he had found a new home that he liked as well or better than ours :(

I also have a friend who takes in cats to foster. She has a feral named Ari who has been living with them for a few years. All her cats are indoors now (unfortunate traffic accident). Ari is not very social but she has fallen "in love" with the instant hot tap on the sink and will actually allow petting if she is laying against it. (no danger of scalding, it no longer works, but is still hot). Many people would not consider a feral cat a pet but I have a lot of respect for those that take them in.

[Nina Ruth]

Poor Scrubby! (Eustace Clarance Scrub, for those Narnia-inclined). He will be strangely missed. You can have my dog to replace him if you'd like...she's kind of like a cat...only not...

:-D