Quincy the Long Lost Cat!

It was Carol's Birthday and Jeff and I drove in to town with her present in tow.  When we arrived, Jeff explained to her and Tom "We brought you a present. We actually picked it up in the ditch on the way to town. It's in the car- you should come take a look." Jeff was really setting up the stage for a birthday present that sounded "real special," but once Tom and Carol saw the gift, they couldn't believe their eyes.

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When Jeff and I moved onto the family farm last October, we inherited more than just a lovely house and yard. We also became de facto owners of three new pets- Abby, Tom and Carol's Golden Retreiver, and two cats named Peanut and Quincy.

You've probably seen Abby in some of my photos before, and may even feel like you've been introduced. I write about the dogs a lot, but I haven't spent much time writing about the cats. You may think they're just farm cats, and in some ways you'd be right, but Peanut and Quincy are both quite tame and have very distinct personalities. Especially Quincy.

Here's a photo of me and Quincy from last November.

Quincy is quite possibly the most tame, friendliest cat I have ever encountered. I grew up with two cats as family pets, and they were both pretty friendly, but Quincy might even have them beat.  He will follow us around on the farm, soliciting attention at every chance he gets. He purrs if all you do is look at him the right way. He loves to be picked up and held. He loves his cheeks and teeth (yes, teeth) rubbed, and of course, scratches behind the ears. If you're working on something and not fully paying attention to him, he will hop onto your shoulders and start meowing for attention. When working in the garden, he will get right in between you and the plants so you are forced to either pet him or pick him up. Even if you're only picking him up to move him out of the way, he's still happy because you picked him up.

Quincy is also a good mouser, which is essential on farm. We feed him cat food, and he sleeps inside the garage (with Peanut and the dogs) every night, but he has still held on to his predatory instincts and can routinely be seen hunting mice, or even stalking a gopher hole, waiting to pounce.

As he's aged, Quincy has also become more keen on the idea of being a house cat. We won't allow him inside, but he thinks he belongs in the house. He has found very clever ways to stealthily wait right outside one of the doors to the house and will sneak in very quickly when the door opens for someone coming or going. We always catch him almost immediately, but I think everyone would agree that it's somewhat endearing how he tries to make his reverse-escape into the house when the chance arises.

All in all, Quincy is a top notch cat. He loves to be around his people, and he's a good hunter, to boot.

Which is why we were all very sad and surprised when he went missing.

Quincy would occasionally take a few days to wander off. I liked to think that he was taking little hunting safaris out in the farm fields. He would always be back within a day or two, however. But one day this past January, he was gone and he didn't return within his normal time frame of 3 days at most. We began to worry. It was the dead of winter and we wondered how a tame farm cat could survive?

As days turned into weeks, and then into months, we had all given up on the thought that Quincy would return. We had a few theories as to why he would have left that we bounced around among the family. He doesn't tolerate some dogs very well, so the most popular theory was that a dog had maybe chased him and he got fed up and left. Since he had always returned before, we thought he probably would have come back again if he could. So, that left us to wonder if...he couldn't come back.

We went about our routines on the farm, and then this past Sunday, something happened. Jeff and I were driving to town for Carol's birthday, chatting in the car to pass the time. We had gone not quite half way, when Jeff braked suddenly. I asked him what was going on, and he just replied... "Cat..." I hadn't been thinking about Quincy for some time, so my first thought was-- did he just see a mountain lion?!

But as he backed up to the place where he saw the cat, I saw him. I peered out the window at an orange ball of fur and said "...Is it?!"  I couldn't believe my eyes! Was it Quincy, our long lost, beloved farm cat?

We stopped the car, Jeff got out, and called to the cat-- "Quincy?"  And he hopped right up from his spot and came right up to Jeff. It had to be him! Jeff picked him up and together we examined him in the car. It really looked like him, but it was that feeling of disbelief- like, it can't actually be him, can it? I pulled up my phone and found an old picture of Quincy from last fall. We compared markings and they were all a match. Confirmation!

Quincy in the car last Sunday.
You can kind of tell his left ear is not the same as it was right at the tip.

So, Quincy had somehow made his way from our farm, in the dead of winter, to another neighbor's farm eleven miles away. Other than what looked like a frostbite hit to the tip of his ear, he appeared to be in fine condition, and boy was he ever happy to see us! He rode on my lap the rest of the way to town, purring and nuzzling the entire way.

We thought about calling and telling Tom and Carol that we had found him, but Jeff thought surprising Carol with Quincy as her birthday present would be a great idea. Really, what we should have done was wrap him up in a box a la Christmas Vacation... "She wrapped up the damn cat!" but we didn't think of it until later. Plus, we actually like Quincy and wouldn't have wanted to traumatize him in that way.

In the end, the expressions on Carol and Tom's faces when they saw Quincy were priceless. There may have even been a few tears. Quincy spent the evening in high style, too. While we humans enjoyed Carol's birthday dinner with friends, Quincy the cat feasted on canned tuna and pieces of steak trimmed off our own birthday meal. He was certainly welcomed back with love and open arms.

Quincy got to dine on some meat scraps! Eating like a king!

As the evening drew to a close, Quincy joined Jeff and I for our return back to the farm. Again, he purred the whole way home. Each morning as I walk out to my car, Quincy is there to say hello. If anything, he's maybe even MORE affectionate upon his return to the farm. We are so glad to have him back, and the other animals seem to be, too. I've seen he and Abby nuzzling each other quite a bit. I think they missed each other the most.

Abby, Quincy, and the other cat is Peanut.
Quincy and Peanut are actually brothers- they are litter mates.


Quincy and Peanut greeting each other upon Quincy's return. 

The only mystery that remains is why did he leave, and how did he spend his time while he was gone? We've been entertaining ourselves with silly stories. One suggestion was that Quincy had wrestled two badgers at once and of course came out victorious. Also that he had met a wise old mole who showed him the ways of the world. Quincy will never tell us what he did in his travels, but he does tell us that he's glad to be back. We can tell from his affection, purrs, and happy cat smiles.

Have you ever had a pet that left, and then returned?

What do you think Quincy did while he was away?!