Chino's Incredible Journey

Those that follow me on Twitter or have access to my Facebook know that I have another cat, I did not choose to get another one as I thought 3 were enough to keep me company, instead this gorgeous creature found us.

It was a lovely sunny day on the Sunday, 1st May so I decided I would spend some time weeding the back garden, as my health is still not back 100% I have to sit on the floor to do each section and then move to the next, whilst sitting on the floor this kind of manky evil looking cat appeared, not one I had seen before but I was really surprised to see how friendly it was, it stayed around me all the time I was in the garden and even was still out there after I had come back in.

The next time I ventured out the back was Tuesday 3rd May after work and this sorry looking cat came running out of my shed meowing at me, it looked starving so I fed it, the poor little cat then came into the kitchen and ate my 3 cats dinner, as soon as I tried to shut the door it ran into the garden.  The next morning I opened the door to see if it was still there and again it came running out of the shed, this time I left it some food and water outside.


By Friday morning I was quite concerned because it look like a pedigree cat, so convinced that it would have a microchip I took it to the vets (me and Chino off to vets in piccie below)  and sure enough it did, I called the company the chip was registered with and learnt that he was called Chino and about 5-6 years old, they tried to contact the registered owner but they had moved and no one knew where she had gone.  I instantly called round all the vets and gave them all the information I had about him and had also advertised him as found on nationalpetregister.

Over the weekend Chino had been coming into the house from the patio doors, eventually he learnt how to use the catflap and found his space on the bed, my 3 did not seem bothered about him apart from Tiffany but that was just because she was jealous of the attention, by Tuesday I did not think that we would find the owner but had a telephone call at work and then is when I learn't of his sad story.

His owner had gone through some personal issues and was left homeless so she found new owners for Chino and his brother (I was horrified when I found out he had a brother as he was on his own).  That person promised to keep them together but unfortunately her children had an allergy to the cats, so Bagpuss (Chinos brother) was put in a cattery and Chino was given to someone in a flat in Kings Heath.  His owner wanted him back but I wanted to find out more as she had given up ownership so really he did no belong to her anymore, was her accommodation stable enough to have him back, what was best for Chino?  After an emotional conversation with his first owner I told her I was not happy to unsettle him again as he was very relaxed and seemed really happy at home with me and the girls, I could not imagine what the poor thing had gone through, being rehomed twice, seperated from his brother and then either abandoned or lost.

The next day me and his 1st owner spoke again as I was feeling a bit guilty and wondered if I was being mean, oh thank you to @supernatural, @chellelouou and @tarquaydrawers for reading my rambling emails and helping me rationalise the situation, anyway she had come to the decision that as he was settled he should stay with me, she was very anxious as she wanted to make sure that I would take good care of him, I promised to keep in contact with her and now she is a friend on my facebook so she can see regular pictures I post of him and I have told her she is welcome to come and visit in a couple of weeks to put her mind at rest and see how well he is doing and what a loving home he now has.

A couple of days later she sent me a mail through Facebook as she had found out where in Kings Heath Chino had been rehomed, I looked this up on google maps and was stunned to see how far he had travelled to find his forever home, the map below shows where he started from to get to me, obviously he may not have stuff to the paths lol

I still think its nothing short of a miracle that he found his way to my house and everytime I look at him my heart breaks as I see the trusting eyes and happy content face and I just cant help but think how can someone abandon him like that.  I do also wonder if maybe someone dumped him in the field next to my house and maybe he followed the girls home as there is no way mine would have gone that far, infact I know they dont even go out to the road and very rarely go out into the front garden.

Who would have thought a little lost soul would want to come and live with me, I feel so honoured and think that maybe my mum guided him to me as she knew I would do what was best for him, I am also amazed at how well my 3 get on with him, they just accepted him like he has always lived with us.

The only thing left to do for him now so that he feels part of the gang is to give him his own twitter account as he cant be known as a sassy sisfur, but I cannot think of a name that would suit him, if anyone has any ideas please post below, there is a prize up for grabs which is great if you are a cat or a cat owns you, kindly donated by @phoebeiscrazy.

Time to go and snuggle with my lovely furry family, Chino is never far from me and has to be touching so he knows that I am not going anywhere, I my new extended family so much..............

Shellie B