Sid, the Most Loyal Cat We Would Ever Know

Sid (pictured above), hanging outside the house, most likely waiting for his next meal.

We've been back from Louisiana for some time now, but life's been slower here without the daily guided tour of a swamp or near-safari, so I haven't found much home-life material to be blog-worthy, that is until our cat, Sid, disappeared.

To be honest, Sid disappeared before we even returned from Louisiana. We had been back for about a week, when Nick came back to the house from taking a walk with Nola one evening and saw the "biggest coyote" he had ever seen.

That night, we mourned Sid's inevitable loss. We knew that he had become part of a food chain that saw him on the winning-end of things most of the time. We got out his kitten pictures. We cried, and ultimately came to the conclusion that he had a great life, and will always be remembered as the most loyal cat we would ever know.

The next day, Rocky was batting at the door and whimpering. Nick checked to see what Rocky was so upset about, and lo and behold, Sid was sitting outside, just staring in at the house.

When he realized he had been spotted by us, he started to bail, so we had to entice him back with a special treat of tuna. He stayed long enough to eat, then left again.

Nick was very seriously convinced for about a week after that we had just encountered Sid's ghost. Turns out, it wasn't his ghost. It was all Sid. He just moved up the street to somebody else's house. His new owner came by just a few days ago and apologetically explained to Nick that they "didn't mean to take Sid, he just chose them."

Oh well. What are we going to do? I've had Sid as a pet for 13 years, and due to his temporary break from 3 cans of Fancy Feast a day, he decided he had to move out and find somebody else. I have yet to meet the new owners, but did stop by their house to bring some catnip toys, a hairbrush, and a box of Fancy Feast, just as a way to say, "No hard feelings." (Well, to say that to the humans, but to make Sid feel really bad about totally ditching us.)

Anyhow, the people weren't home, but I did see (I swear, no creepy voyeuristic peeping required to catch this, as you could see it through an open window right next to the front door), but they had a huge cat calendar on the fridge, and I realized that Sid, while loyal he may not be, is one smart cat.

Here's Sid with Jon Thomas (our other cat) when things were still going well. Apparently, according to our neighbors, he still visits Jon Thomas when we're not at home. Ouch.