Three days after Smokey moved, he escaped out a window. As first-time cat owners--of a former indoor/outdoor cat at that--we had no idea we weren't supposed to leave him alone with an open window. We reported him missing to the local animal shelter and searched around the neighborhood, but we didn't think we would ever see him again. We guessed that he was heading back to his original home, perhaps in search of his former owners or his mother and brother who still live outside.
Then three weeks later, on a Sunday morning, we got a call from the animal shelter that someone had sighted him about a mile away. We were ecstatic and after some communication with the spotter, we headed over to look for him.
He wasn't around, but we happened upon a woman walking her dog who said that she had seen Smokey hanging around the condo complex all week. It didn't hurt that someone was leaving food and water out for him. He was extremely friendly and had walked up to her and her dog showing no signs of fright or nerves. He and the dog sniffed each other before Smokey rubbed up against her leg. That morning she had seen him rolling on the floor with a few of the neighborhood children. After conferring with her husband and another search, they told us they would call when Smokey came back.
They called us not two hours later. We found them sitting on the sidewalk and Smokey under a car nearby. There he was. We had to coax him, but we managed to get him home in our car.
Promptly after arriving in our apartment, he slipped under the couch and stayed there for a good couple of hours.
Then he slept and slept and slept like he had never slept before.
"Ahhh, why are you bothering me. I am sleeping...."
As you can see, he's getting pretty comfortable in his new home.
