Things are a bit calmer today, so thought I'd take the opportunity to give you the back story. There isn't much to it really, we've just been extremely lucky. My initial suspicion that Hendrix had got into a vehicle was proven true, although my neighbour and the company who replaced his garage door swore blind that wasn't the case, it was way too noisy and that they went straight back to their base after their work here.

I had called the garage door company at 8.30am the next day to ask them where they went or was he in their van. So I couldn't understand why I got nothing from my leafleting in our area or any of my phone calls etc, I could only think he'd got locked in somewhere or he'd been stolen or something.

Hendrix has lost a lot of collars and only once before had we been called when someone found it. So that was our first lucky break, getting a call about his collar. I rushed over to pick it up and asked them to show me exactly where they found it on a map and started leafleting there immediately. There were lots of the garage doors next door had fitted, so I called them again on the off chance he'd hidden really well in their van and had jumped out the next day. That's when I was told that actually they had gone to another couple of jobs, one of which was exactly across the road from where the collar was found.

Plenty of leafleting and a couple of potential sightings and we didn't hear anything really for nearly a week. Thursday night we got a call from someone who I'd spoken to and given a leaflet at the weekend. A tabby, very skinny around the car lot. Jon took off in his car to check it out and then he called me say he had him - and I could recognise Hendrix from the caterwauling inside the car. As soon as Hendrix heard Jon's whistle he went mental, Jon said the racket he made was terrible but helped him pinpoint him.

I have never been so relieved in my life to see that skinny bag of bones! The noise he made pretty much non stop for 12 hours those was horrible, a real distress call. Which of course freaked jagger out and he managed to pull the manual control out of the cat flap so he could escape it.

But we are getting there. Hendrix is much more himself today and is up and about instead of just sleeping and eating. Jagger is still a bit unsure but Hendrix is grooming himself again now and seems pretty nonplussed by Jagger's growls and hisses. Although so far today, even that has stopped and they've managed to be in the same room at the same time quite happily. We thought things were going to be way worse than this when jagger ran off like that so we are pleasantly surprised.

I think Hendrix is recovering from his ordeal quicker than I am! He is certainly resilient! Xx

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Clare, I am so happy Hendrix is back with you. I hope you do find something that will contain your cats to your yard and your yard only. The neighbor's cat that I'm taking care of and feeding has now been locked inside garages twice in the past two weeks. We just had a neighbor move yesterday and I had to make sure he did not sneak inside the garage or the truck since the house is now empty! It's ridiculous to have to worry constantly over a cat! Raiden, I know where he is at all times because I he is contained in the house, in his enclosure or on his leash! You were so very fortunate! You had a lot of things working in your favor. Hendrix knew Jon's whistle. Most cats probably wouldn't have answered. Another of the nine lives is used up.

I hope now you can recover and relax and Jon can enjoy the rest of his leave and hope things work out between Hendrix and Jagger. At least Hendrix is home, safe and sound. That's all that really matters.

They say that a lost cat will sort of "wait" for it's owner to find it, that sure seems to hold true. He knew "daddy's" whistle and was as excited to be found as Jon was to find him!

I'm so glad he's home and things are calming down.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn't been called about his collar....

Here he is the morning after he came home (Friday), so thin and wouldn't let me out of his sight.

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And Sunday - what's all the fuss about?

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Sweet boy. If only he could tell you what happened!

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Hi Clare, awww poor Hendrix he must have felt so scared and alone. I am so relieved for you all that you have him back I really was worried.

It's amazing how quickly they bounce back.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

It is really not easy to find a lost cat. Had Hendrix not been wearing a collar with Clare's phone number on it, she would have never known he had traveled 11 miles away. Most people look in their immediate area. Even if your kitty or pet is microchipped, there is no guarantee that a finder is going to have it checked out. I've "adopted" many stray and haven't had them checked out. I just give them a home. More than 50% of cats that go missing are never reunited with their owners. Hendrix needs to write a book about his adventure.

But, all's well that ends well, and I'm sure Hendrix is happy to be back home!

Collars can fall off cats and dogs. Hendrix's collar had fallen off. Someone picked it up. The first collar I put on Raiden was lost in 20 minutes when he had a cat fight. I have an extra one here, but have never put it on him as it would interfere with the harness. I've thought about putting it on the black and white kitty I take care of, but he loves to go back in the woods behind our house and I figure that collar would last a day or two and be missing having been caught on a branch.

Any cat can escape through an open door! You just try to limit their exposure to the outside. Tags with the pet's name and your phone number can really help someone finding the animal to know that it has an owner. But many owners don't even think to microchip their pet.

This is all so familiar, my cat Harvey, before bengals were on the scene was microchipped, when he went missing he was 8 years old, I was so sure someone would find him by his microchip, but it wasn't to be.

I waited a whole year for him, making phone calls, putting up posters all the usual, but I never heard a thing.

This is when after a year, I heard about bengals and got my first one.

I am just so pleased for a happy ending with Hendrix.

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Clare
Magic (brown spotted boy born 31 March 2012)
Pearl (seal Lynx Point girl born 1 October 2015)
Bristol, UK

To be truthful -- it NEVER occurred to me to check for a chip! The cats came to me and I just took care of them. Raiden was that way. He showed up (as did four other cats) after my Bear went missing (he was microchipped--the first cat I ever had microchipped). I took Raiden to the vet because he was limping. They checked and he was chipped. His owner wanted to rehome him, so I got a bengal. The b/w cat started hanging around my house and it took me two weeks before I gained his trust to get him in a carrier and take him to the vet to see if he was chipped. See, I learned ...... and he was! Although he refuses to stay with his owner due to the number of cats they have (like 15), he is being cared for at my house with a heated cat house and 2 heated beds for the winter time. Now I will continue to check for microchips when a stray comes around. But many people don't think about it! I didn't! And I'm not a bad person. I'm not trying to steal someone's cat. I became quite educated after my Bear went missing and I spent weeks searching and mailed out 1,800 flyers and postcards. If someone found him -- they may not have thought about a microchip either. There are stories all over the internet on pets that were reunited with their owners years and years after their pet went missing -- thanks to a microchip that was never checked earlier. It just happens. Which is why it's better to have a collar on a pet -- because that usually signals the pet has an owner. Tags on the collar are even better as long as the collar is located on or off the cat.

I have both of mine micro chipped but they do not wear collars. If Blondie turned up at someone's house they would think they hit the lottery she is so sweet and amazing. Grace on the other hand would do her beaver impersonation and get turned out quickly. There is a high wall around my community and everyone knows each others pets but if someone didn't I think they would get them checked for a microchip if they were able to catch them.

Grace did get out one time when the landscaper cut the bottom of the patio screen. My neighbor across the lake texted me because she could see Grace jumping against the screen trying to get back in while Blondie frantically followed her meowing.

I was completely heartbroken and distracted from work. So happy to hear the resolution. Shows that persistence pays off.