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I don't know how far the cat got, but I had a similar experience with moving into a new house. The previous owners had to leave without the cat because it myste

I don't know how far the cat got, but I had a similar experience with moving into a new house. The previous owners had to leave without the cat because it mysteriously left about a week before they had to move and didn't show back up. Three weeks later, a very scrawny cat showed up at my door and wouldn't leave. I let it in and fed it and then got in contact with the previous owners. They drove two hours back to get the cat. The wife was beside herself with joy. The husband told me quietly he'd hoped he'd never see the cat again. Sorry, buddy.

ourmandave 6y ago
We lost our cat and months later got a call from the shelter. The neighbor down and around the corner had saved him from his dog and brought him in. They IDed him from the chip. Later at the vet, they told us cats can get lost being only a few houses away. I imagine it's a whole different perspective seeing things from one foot off the ground.
- detritus 6y ago
  Yeah, I'm sure I read a year or two back that Cats have an odd sense of direction in which they don't 'join up' different paths - say, that from out of the front of a building, to that out of the back. Rings true with a cat we have in our building here which simply cannot register that the back door has access for it, so waits out front no matter how inclement the weather. Mind you, it IS a cat - so likely purposefully being an arsehole for some particular reason.
  - KMag 6y ago
    To be fair, I know lots of people who will walk 2 sides of a triangle because they know how to get from A to B and A to C, but just don't have a sense that B and C are rather close. I think they feel there's probably a shortcut between B and C, but they just don't have the sense of direction to just walk in the general direction from B toward C until things start looking familiar. I also can't count the number of times I've argued with someone about the direction to walk because their phone's compass is off in a dense urban environment. They insist on walking the direction they think Google Maps is telling them to walk, only to have the whole map spin after walking half a block when the compass gets its bearings. I've seen the same person dumbfounded several times by this.
    - Spooky23 6y ago
      I’ve done that in myself in Manhattan. I always travel there by train and would take a circuitous route by train, only to realize when driving last year that I was like a 10 minute walk away!
      - KMag 6y ago
        When I first got to MIT, some students told me how to get to CambridgeSide Galleria mall: either walk to the Keandall/MIT T (subway) station and wait 20 minutes for the free shuttle bus to the mall, or take the red line, switch to the green line in central Boston, and head out to Lechmere station. The mall is a few minutes' walk from Lechmere station. I took the free shuttle bus once, and realized the mall is 5 to 10 minutes by foot from the MIT/Kendall T station. I don't know how you make several runs by shuttle bus to get a few things for your dorm/fraternity room and don't realize it's silly to wait for the bus. If the weather is bad, or you're coming back with a lot of things, that's one thing, but it's generally silly to wait for that shuttle bus. I knew more than one MIT student who thought it was a long way to the Galleria because of the long wait for the shuttle bus or the long T ride into Boston and back out. Of course, this was before smart phones, and I'm not even sure Yahoo maps were popular my freshman year, so these students probably never looked up the location of the Galleria a map.
    - grey413 6y ago
      I hate it when map apps spin. Just absolutely hampers any ability to develop a bigger picture idea of how you're navigating, and is terribly confusing when the app gets your heading wrong, as your friend found out.
      - KMag 6y ago
        I don't like self-orienting phone maps, but people who never learned to properly read a map are likely to have trouble with maps that don't self-orient. They're better off with self-orienting maps, even if the self-orienting map sometimes are incorrectly oriented.
      - katbyte 6y ago
  - filoeleven 6y ago
    This condition can be present in humans too. > Not to be confused with healthy individuals who have a poor sense of direction, individuals affected by DTD get lost in very familiar surroundings, such as their house or neighborhood, daily. Someone who has it explained to me that seeing the same room from a different direction doesn’t even register as the same place. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographical_disorientation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographical_disorientation
  - ShawnCleverdon 6y ago
    Please stop perpetuating the myth that cats are "arseholes". Cats, much like dogs, and every other non-human on the planet, have different drives and understandings than a human. Just because we aren't capable of fully understanding those drives isn't a reason to denigrate them. The next time your cat does something that is outside of your understanding, please have a little compassion.
    - PeterisP 6y ago
      It's not about understanding, it's about alignment of drives/intentions. Humans who are arseholes have drives and understandings that are vey human and reasonably understandable, but they're arseholes nonetheless simply because these drives are in a bit of a conflict with what others around them would like to and they don't care much about the desires of others - just like most cats.
    - detritus 6y ago
      Illiterality gets me nowhere.
    - helloworld11 6y ago
      And some humans apparently also completely lack a sense of tolerance for humourous criticisms of animals.
  - toast0 6y ago
    That sort of explains why my barn cat likes to spend a day going in one door of my house and out another. We do have a lot of exterior doors, so it's kind of like the Scooby Do hallway scene, but with an orange cat asking to come in and out.
  - rlander 6y ago
    That’s weird. We moved to a new house and I was surprised one morning to see the cat scratching the upper balcony door, waiting to be let in, even though he’d never used that particular door until that day. He seems to always wait by the door that’s closest to the nearest awaken human, regardless if he’s ever used that entrance.
- clairity 6y ago
  i found a kitten crying under a car in front of my building 2 1/2 months ago. after i bathed him and fed him (he gulped down 3 helpings of food!), he set up camp like he owned the place, to the dismay of my dog and cat. i learned later he’d been outside for about 4 days. i found the owner, who lived a couple blocks away, via his chip as well. she was in recovery from an accident and was reluctant to take him back, so i fostered him for 2 months. a couple days after i finally returned him to her, she tried to give him back to me (which i had initially suggested to do if she didn’t want him) due to misbehavior and prodded by an apathetic boyfriend. but after reassuring her and talking through training ideas, she kept him and so far has been happy with that decision. he’s a very energetic but also very loving little guy.
  - ourmandave 6y ago
    You're good people, clairity.
csomar 6y ago
> he husband told me quietly he'd hoped he'd never see the cat again. Do you suspect he's involved in the disappearance of the cat?

ourmandave 6y ago

We lost our cat and months later got a call from the shelter. The neighbor down and around the corner had saved him from his dog and brought him in. They IDed him from the chip. Later at the vet, they told us cats can get lost being only a few houses away. I imagine it's a whole different perspective seeing things from one foot off the ground.

detritus 6y ago
Yeah, I'm sure I read a year or two back that Cats have an odd sense of direction in which they don't 'join up' different paths - say, that from out of the front of a building, to that out of the back. Rings true with a cat we have in our building here which simply cannot register that the back door has access for it, so waits out front no matter how inclement the weather. Mind you, it IS a cat - so likely purposefully being an arsehole for some particular reason.
- KMag 6y ago
  To be fair, I know lots of people who will walk 2 sides of a triangle because they know how to get from A to B and A to C, but just don't have a sense that B and C are rather close. I think they feel there's probably a shortcut between B and C, but they just don't have the sense of direction to just walk in the general direction from B toward C until things start looking familiar. I also can't count the number of times I've argued with someone about the direction to walk because their phone's compass is off in a dense urban environment. They insist on walking the direction they think Google Maps is telling them to walk, only to have the whole map spin after walking half a block when the compass gets its bearings. I've seen the same person dumbfounded several times by this.
  - Spooky23 6y ago
    I’ve done that in myself in Manhattan. I always travel there by train and would take a circuitous route by train, only to realize when driving last year that I was like a 10 minute walk away!
    - KMag 6y ago
      When I first got to MIT, some students told me how to get to CambridgeSide Galleria mall: either walk to the Keandall/MIT T (subway) station and wait 20 minutes for the free shuttle bus to the mall, or take the red line, switch to the green line in central Boston, and head out to Lechmere station. The mall is a few minutes' walk from Lechmere station. I took the free shuttle bus once, and realized the mall is 5 to 10 minutes by foot from the MIT/Kendall T station. I don't know how you make several runs by shuttle bus to get a few things for your dorm/fraternity room and don't realize it's silly to wait for the bus. If the weather is bad, or you're coming back with a lot of things, that's one thing, but it's generally silly to wait for that shuttle bus. I knew more than one MIT student who thought it was a long way to the Galleria because of the long wait for the shuttle bus or the long T ride into Boston and back out. Of course, this was before smart phones, and I'm not even sure Yahoo maps were popular my freshman year, so these students probably never looked up the location of the Galleria a map.
  - grey413 6y ago
    I hate it when map apps spin. Just absolutely hampers any ability to develop a bigger picture idea of how you're navigating, and is terribly confusing when the app gets your heading wrong, as your friend found out.
    - KMag 6y ago
      I don't like self-orienting phone maps, but people who never learned to properly read a map are likely to have trouble with maps that don't self-orient. They're better off with self-orienting maps, even if the self-orienting map sometimes are incorrectly oriented.
    - katbyte 6y ago
- filoeleven 6y ago
  This condition can be present in humans too. > Not to be confused with healthy individuals who have a poor sense of direction, individuals affected by DTD get lost in very familiar surroundings, such as their house or neighborhood, daily. Someone who has it explained to me that seeing the same room from a different direction doesn’t even register as the same place. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographical_disorientation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographical_disorientation
- ShawnCleverdon 6y ago
  Please stop perpetuating the myth that cats are "arseholes". Cats, much like dogs, and every other non-human on the planet, have different drives and understandings than a human. Just because we aren't capable of fully understanding those drives isn't a reason to denigrate them. The next time your cat does something that is outside of your understanding, please have a little compassion.
  - PeterisP 6y ago
    It's not about understanding, it's about alignment of drives/intentions. Humans who are arseholes have drives and understandings that are vey human and reasonably understandable, but they're arseholes nonetheless simply because these drives are in a bit of a conflict with what others around them would like to and they don't care much about the desires of others - just like most cats.
  - detritus 6y ago
    Illiterality gets me nowhere.
  - helloworld11 6y ago
    And some humans apparently also completely lack a sense of tolerance for humourous criticisms of animals.
- toast0 6y ago
  That sort of explains why my barn cat likes to spend a day going in one door of my house and out another. We do have a lot of exterior doors, so it's kind of like the Scooby Do hallway scene, but with an orange cat asking to come in and out.
- rlander 6y ago
  That’s weird. We moved to a new house and I was surprised one morning to see the cat scratching the upper balcony door, waiting to be let in, even though he’d never used that particular door until that day. He seems to always wait by the door that’s closest to the nearest awaken human, regardless if he’s ever used that entrance.
clairity 6y ago
i found a kitten crying under a car in front of my building 2 1/2 months ago. after i bathed him and fed him (he gulped down 3 helpings of food!), he set up camp like he owned the place, to the dismay of my dog and cat. i learned later he’d been outside for about 4 days. i found the owner, who lived a couple blocks away, via his chip as well. she was in recovery from an accident and was reluctant to take him back, so i fostered him for 2 months. a couple days after i finally returned him to her, she tried to give him back to me (which i had initially suggested to do if she didn’t want him) due to misbehavior and prodded by an apathetic boyfriend. but after reassuring her and talking through training ideas, she kept him and so far has been happy with that decision. he’s a very energetic but also very loving little guy.
- ourmandave 6y ago
  You're good people, clairity.

csomar 6y ago

> he husband told me quietly he'd hoped he'd never see the cat again. Do you suspect he's involved in the disappearance of the cat?