Forgive me if this seems long-winded...I'm still shaking from what happened and still can't stop crying...
For the past 2 weeks there's been a cat that comes by and stalks my doorway crying every night, all night. I think my neighbor who moved abandoned it because I remember seeing an almost identical cat in their window sill. I contacted the humane society but they told me I'd need to catch it myself and bring it in, which is a problem in itself since whenever I open the door it runs off, but still within sight. Also, it dawned on me that if I do take it in, and it doesn't get adopted that it would be euthanized and I can't let that happen. I then contacted the no-kill shelters in my area and they all told me they're full. Well, I feel sorry for the cat so I figured I'd at least feed the poor thing as it's probably starving, so I've been feeding it tuna and giving it water daily now.
Well now I've opened up a whole new can of worms by feeding it as it's started scratching my door and JoJo has started to go crazy knowing there's a cat out there. So earlier tonight I scooped JoJo up in my arms and opened the door to shoo the cat away and somehow JoJo wriggled his way out of my grasp and ran after the cat!! OMG, the sheer terror I was in. They ran into this wooded area behind my building and he was gone. OMG I still can't stop crying. I walked around calling his name for over an hour. I even stopped and sat on the ground hoping he'd find me himself. I was beside myself thinking I'll never see him again.
An hour later I was mourning him terribly and I didn't know what else to do. Then I saw a black shadow and my heart lept in my throat thinking it was him, but it was the cat! Yet my beloved JoJo was still gone. I walked back to my front steps and sat there crying. I sat there for over half an hour because I refused to go inside knowing he was still out there!! Not to mention it was dark now and the thoughts in my head were tearing me apart. Then about 10 minutes later (almost 2 hours since he ran off)...I saw him walking around sniffing the ground about 100 feet away! I was still panicking because I know if I try to chase him he'll run, as he thinks it's a game. So, through my tears, panic, and prior agony, I playfully called his name as I ran in the opposite direction towards my front door and thank GOD he followed me!!!
He is now safe and sound again, but I am still a wreck. I can't stop shaking or crying. The thought of losing him wasn't what terrified me the most. It was the thought of what could happen to him out there...all alone. The most terrible thoughts entered my mind during those 2 hours.
He never ran off when he was younger, but the past couple months it seems like he wants to run out the door every chance he gets. I know tonight was a special circumstance since there was a cat right there, but he tries to run off all the time. He ran out once before but he was always within sight and only a few steps ahead of me, since his desire was to get to a piece of chicken outside my neighbor's door (slobs), and another time my mom let herself in and he bolted out but thankfully he loves to see my mom so he ran back inside after her. But nothing as terrifying as tonight. Please tell me someone...anyone...what can I do to stop him from running off? I've decided that rather than holding on to him (which apparently doesn't work!), I'm going to start putting him in another room when I need to open the door, but I also need to know what I can do to change this behavior. I'm a flight attendant and soon he'll be staying with a close friend of mine while I'm flying, but there's always people coming and going there. So now I'm petrified at the thought of leaving him there, or anywhere else for that matter.
