The William saga unveiled..

[Luke]

For a few months on and off William has been dissapearing for days on ends, then returning, then going again, it began at the start of summer. I was convinced that due to his disposition of being a tart, he had took up lodgings elsewhere under the title of tigger, or ginge, or fluffy, and was playing his role out quite convincingly.
However I had started to notice that lately when he returns, he looks a bit unkept..a bit unloved. I attempted to collar him, as Maxwell too now is, to make them visually look a bit more owned...being "just william" he managed to get said collar off before he even reached the bottom of the garden, so that didn't work too well. But I did collar him again..with a disk with details on.
I just received a phonecall, from a very nice lady about a mile or so away...she lives on the other side of the fields that are to the rear of where we live..she rang to say that my lovely fluffy ginger and white puss had spent lengths of summer...get this...
sleeping/living in her henhouse and that she often finds him asleep in the hay when egg collecting, that she had presumed he was just a well kept wanderer but thought she'd contact me when she saw the collar and tag to inform me of his lodgings.
I can only assume he goes to catch the mice (she said she has a big problem) and stumbled across this little house whilst over the fields hunting..and potentially roamed a bit further then usual, and found his own cat holiday cottage.
He's a daft sod he really is, most cats would abuse their freedom to gain extra meals at homes 1,2 and 3..he takes lodgings in a henhouse...he really is the oddest of boys, he always has been "just William" ever since days old!

[angieh]

What a fascinating story Luke - so glad that you have found out the truth of Just William's summer whereabouts. How nice of the lady to phone you - I guess you are all happy now - you know where he's going, the lady knows that he has a caring home and William gets his pick of the mice!!!

[Squirrel]

*laughs* what a brilliant end to the story.

[dandysmom]

So the mystery is solved! I guess he doesn't need to scrounge food from the lady if he's eating his mice .... does he? What an interesting story.

[truthisouthere]

What a darling boy!! Outdoor access cats always have a 2nd home.

My Putney did exactly the same thing, only he used to wander off in the wee hours and we never knew where he was or what he was up to until the lady on the farm down the road knocked on my door one day asking whose cat it was spending days in her stables and yard having a field day keeping the rat population down!! He was a city gent found wandering the streets of Putney in London just crying; a real hit with the lady cats here (despite being neutered) and such a sweet and protective gentleman towards my other cats. Caught 4 mice, voles, shrews a day when he 1st moved in ('to the country'), he had a full life *sigh*.

...Like dear Putney, your boy is having a whale of a time!

[angieh]

We know that our Pip goes into one neighbour's house behind us. She's a nice woman that I am on friendly terms with - I said to her what a cheeky monkey he is and I hoped she didnt mind. She said he's a lovely gentle boy and no bother. Just learned today that he spends a lot of time in the Manor House garden, catching their mice!

[calismum]

That story did give me a smile. Good that you know he is safe when he disappears.

[Velvet]

What a fab boy he is, a true gent to help this lady out

[Shelley123]

What a lovely story, thanks for sharing. Fancy choosing a hen house, maybe the hens are good company.
I once had a beautiful white cat that shared himself around two other homes. I used to drive pst these houses and see him sat on their window sills, inside.