Current situation

He has returned this morning. Tracey sent me a message via SMS reporting some neighbours across the street from me had spotted him sleeping on their outdoor lounge. When they tried to catch him, he made a bolt for it and disappeared.

I had a quick shower and got dressed, then went outside to have a look around. Sure enough, he was across the street, and on seeing me, immediately came running. The bed bug is back. I think it’ll be supervised outdoor access only from now on.

Unconfirmed sightings

At around 6PM on Friday, whilst I was searching the back yard with a headlight, I did spot what appeared to be two green eyes like Sam’s reflecting back at me, the headlight however seemed to spook the cat and it disappeared, not seen since. This would have been in the back yard / fence between the properties 92 / 94 Settlement Road.

Later around 8PM, I did another walk, and saw another cat, not unlike Sam frolicking around Eranga St / Katoa St… however I also know there is a cat that lives in that area very similar to Sam (possibly a Burmese or Russian Blue). This cat dived under a parked van.

Update 2023-07-01T18:09 With the help of neighbour Tracey, I was able to get a photo and a small post sent to ‘The Gap Grapevine’ Facebook Group. Via that group, a resident in Tamboura Ct reportedly saw a cat matching Sam’s description around mid-day Friday. Tracey and I did a quick search in that area, and I re-visited that area this evening, walking up to where the old quarry was, crossing Settlement Road, and walking back. Thankfully no signs of fresh road kill, but no cat either.

Areas searched

I have done several walks around lower Eranga St. / Katoa St / Kaloma Rd / Settlement Rd, down to Chaprowe Rd. Neither the cat nor any signs of road kill were observed along the route.

I also did a walk down around Michalea Cres, with no sightings.

Description

• Name: Sam
• Sex: Male
• Breed: Russian Blue / Domestic Shorthair Cross
• Age: Very close to 8 years old
• Weight: 10.4kg at last weigh-in
• Temperament: Usually quite relaxed, but is known to give people a nip
• Desexed: Yes, but some parts (“decorative” in function now) remain
• Microchipped: Yes, HomeSafeID tag ending in …1857
• Collar: No
• Diet: Eats a mix of roo or beef mince and dry biscuits usually a large teaspoon of mince and ⅛ cup of biscuits morning and afternoon. At present he’s on metabolic biscuits to try and get his weight down.
• Health issues: none other than having a bit of weight on him.
• Veterinary Clinic: The Gap Vet Surgery, corner Settlement Rd / Waterworks Rd, The Gap.

Contact details

No longer relevant.

Has he been known to roam before?

Yes, but usually the pattern is he’ll visit neighbours for a few hours, then return home.

Prior to me adopting him in 2020 from my maternal grandmother (who had suffered a fall that would later prove fatal), he had been known to occasionally go out on multi-night jaunts, but until now had always come home after an hour or two.

Outdoors access

He is normally let out in the mornings (as he is an outdoor cat) with the expectation that he’s back in a few hours. At 3PM he’s normally inside bellowing for dinner, so we usually will shut the door at that point and keep him indoors overnight.

There are no “cat doors” at our property.