Oh, the relief. My cat’s back! – Helen Martin

MY missing cat turned up at the bedroom window in the small hours, miaowing to come in.

It was joy, relief, the end of tears, the elimination of all the horrible possibilities my mind had produced of what might have happened to him. Even my husband was near weeping.

Our cat has the regular habit of being in the house all day and nocturnally playing and exploring outside at night, popping in and out. He comes to a call. He eats about six times a day. All that stopped over two days. He’d missed medication for his berry-bug reaction, causing scabs and desperate scratching.

Had he been run over and made a last dash under a bush and died? Had he been stolen – there had been a bit of that going on round Edinburgh, as well as poisoning. Attacked by foxes? Unlikely. Guard dogs? Maybe.

Had he explored in a trades van and been driven off and chucked out back at their yard? He has his micro-chip – would anyone find him dead or alive? Neighbours helped me look for him. But no luck.

During the time of Covid, and having friends who had lost their partner or a family member, people would think I was berserk sobbing over a feline.

He came home hungry and thirsty, probably had been accidentally locked up, but fine. I was so happy I put his return photo on Twitter – and had 74 “likes”! It reassured me I wasn’t a pathetic nut-case, I was a pussy-cat mummy.

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