by DONALD E. BROOME
COBDEN — It began last winter when my wife Laura tamed a wild cat who was living under our back porch – and eventually she won its trust to the point it would come into the house to eat – but always wanted back out.
Then on April 6 she disappeared for a few days – but when she returned, the cat still wouldn’t stay in the house long.
Eventually it was discovered she had given birth to some kittens – but kept them hid for two more months before bringing them out onto the porch – where they stayed under her constant protection until they were four months old.
As we did not want five cats, my wife found a farmer about nine miles away who took the whole lot of them…and that was that. But we did miss one kitten very much.
Well, two months went by before something extraordinary occurred. A few days ago Laura went outside for something and I heard her shout that something had run between her feet and darted into the house – after which I heard her say, “Oh Tippy, Tippy, you came back!”
She scooped him up in her arms and brought him into the livingroom while he was meowing up a storm and making sounds I can only describe as a cat’s version of crying at being back at the home where he was born.
Needless to say, Tippy is now a part of the family after being away for over two months and travelling nine miles to get here. But, how he found his way back is one of those mysteries we hear about from time to time about animal instincts which allow them to find their way home.
For example, my son said when he was working in Alberta, he knew of one cat that covered 200 miles in three week’s time to get home.
I thought there may be someone who would like to hear this heart-warming story and perhaps might want to tell it some children who would enjoy hearing it as well.
