After Five Days On Streets, Fred Found

By Freddie the Feline

After five days of roaming street after street looking for my home that seemed to vanish one night last week, my masters finally found me. I am so grateful, that I have literally jumped with joy. My safe return is just another wonderful story of my hometown of Dixon.

Although I was born in Davis with a litter of many, a human who thought we would be cared for better by other humans left me at an animal shelter. The people who took care of us named all the animals in the shelter with names from the Harry Potter books. Since my brother and I look almost exactly alike with our black fur and only white-tipped paws, we were named after the Weasley twins, Fred and George.

We were both adopted and lived simple lives with John and Lynn Bobbitt of Dixon and their daughter Devon. As we grew, I learned to play ping-pong, golf and fetch with my owners.  My brother, George is much more calm than I am and prefers to watch. Our owners really loved us and took good care of us.

I’ve always enjoyed my home but one night, I slipped out the front door, thinking I’d just check things out. There were dogs, big machines with bright lights roaring past me, and strange places that all seemed scary. I went several days without food while I learned how to call out for the first time.

Unbeknownst to me, my family put out posters around the nearby shopping center and taped my picture to streetlights around the neighborhood. They even placed an ad in the local newspaper but I can’t read so I didn’t know. I just kept howling and looking for my owners.

Then, on the fifth night, when I was so hungry, I could have eaten a whole salmon; these two guys picked me up and called my owners. It was at 9:45 at night and they said, “Lady, we think your cat is in our backyard and he won’t shut up.” She told them her cat doesn’t meow but they told her they saw the posters at Safeway and that I had only one white toe on my paw. They lived near Patwin Park. At first, my owners were pretty nervous that these guys really had found me but John got in his car and drove to their house anyway to be sure. The guys had me in the front yard to greet him and boy was I howling--but as soon as John put me in my crate, I stopped. I smelled the scent of a familiar place. It was my crate!

John thanked the guys profusely and brought me home. When he opened the crate and I jumped on the floor, I felt every little piece of fur stand up on my body, as I was scared to death. But then, I looked around and recognized home. I ran straight to my food dish and ate and ate. Then everything clicked back into my mind of where I was and I went to my bed. My brother, George, was very happy to see me. While I curled up to sleep in my soft, cozy bed, he washed me all over until my fur was shiny and I smelled like a kitty all over again.

My owners were amazed at the thoughtfulness of the people who helped me find my home. They said only in Dixon would there be such kindness. There is no place like home!