Briar disappeared around 11:00Am. It was a rainy day. I was concerned because he had been out for a while. He usually stays in when it's wet outside.
Around 5:30PM I received a call from animal control. She said that he had traveled to Rio Road and she knew he was a bit far from home. She knows Briar. When I drove down there to pick him up her cart was parked out in front of the house.
"Thank you so much for calling" I said to her.
"You know, I didn't really recognize him because he didn't have his collar on, so I scanned him and your name came up. Good thing you got him that chip" she replied.
"He didn't have his collar on? Oh no, he must have lost it", I said.
She then explained that Briar had been hanging out at the house all afternoon. He was inside and that the people who lived there were really nice.
When I walked in, I met the smiling family, and the mother had a story for me.
"I came in the living room, and he was sitting here in the living room staring at my dog. So I put him out the back and shoo-ed him away. Two minutes later, he came through the cat door, and he was back in the living room, sitting right here, staring at my dog again ike he belongs here. My male cat was in the other room and was oblivous to him. Then, I put him outside again and I had to take my son to practice, and when I was on my way home, there was traffic here on Rio Road, and I looked and he was laying in the middle of the street, and cars were stopped on both sides. I didn't want him to get hurt so I picked him up and put him in the garage and called animal control".
I thanked her for keeping him safe, explained that he wanders a lot, and that he usually has a collar and tag on but must have lost it.
Thank goodness for that microchip. It was only $40 when I adopted him from the SPCA to have it implanted. Kit, our other cat disappeared, and our worst fear was that he was taken to the SPCA and euthanized. I wanted to avoid that with Briar all together so I requested to have the Home Again microchip. Now, all they need to come up with is a gps tracking device small enough for a little feline. I'll buy that.