Tuck returns to the wild April 29, 2024

April 29, 2024

After having him as our upstairs resident for more than six months, Tuck – the alley cat – insisted on being let out onto the street again, and we complied.

For several years, he was the terror of the neighborhood, often coming back to us so wounded he was willing to remain indoors for extended periods while he healed.

But his last bout with the other boys left him nearly crippled and wounded, making us vow to turn him into a house cat.

We tried. We got him to the vet, but he was too tough to handle and the best they could do was giving him his rabies shots.

He was hard to handle even for me, the hand that fed him, and I have a number of scars resulting from doing something unexpected near him, resulting in deep bites and long scratches.

On the other hand, he loved to sleep on my chest (with ample covering to keep his claws from digging too deeply into my flesh) where he purred and received pets.

For months, he rested away from our other cats, the exclusive resident of his personal penthouse, being fed the best of food, although he often made requests to leave, but even he seemed to understand he still needed much more healing.

But with the change of weather, he grew more and more restless (and was strong enough again to pose a real risk).and from time to time nipped at us, sometimes leaving deep wounds.

He sat in the open window and pined for outdoors, which made him even more restless and dangerous, and more than a little unpredictable. Calming devices did not work. He did not get distracted by toys (although he loves catnip), and finally, over the last week or so, he grew so furious, we were scared to approach him. Last night, he snarled at me as I made up the bed, and trapped me on one side of it, making me fear that he intended serious harm if I did not comply with his request.

Reluctantly, I did, opening the front door for him to walk out, which he did. He didn’t run out or flee immediately, sniffing the porch for whose been there in his absence, and then the front yard, before vanishing into the night, a gray ghost I’m uncertain will return or if he does, will be return wounded as badly as he was before since other tougher cats have taken over his realm.

I’m assuming he’ll come back from time to time if only for food. I don’t think we’ll convince him to come back inside. He’s too wary and ornery to get fooled by a trap.

The remnants of his indoor life are still around me, the food dish, the water bowl, the toys he dismissed, the few tins of fancy food I kept him abated with, a spirit that haunts me, and will haunt him if I never see him again.