On 2019-10-07 10:33 a.m., Mahoney, DC wrote:
Of the two cats I had then, Mandy was usually the one with the Empress
of the Universe attitude and the determination to explore said
universe, but during that period, the more laid-back Betsy decided to
act up.


My most memorable BCT happened around 2008, when Nancy and I were moving
from Iowa to Illinois. I moved about a month before Nancy did, to let
her supervise the movers and get the house rented while I started my new
job. About halfway through that month I drove back Iowa and picked up
the cats, loading them into the back seat of my pickup. The trip wa
uneventful, but when I got to Illinois I couldn't find Amelia.

I searched everywhere in that truck but found no sign of her. I started
to worry that she had snuck out of the truck when I stopped for gas back
in Iowa. I was getting well and truly panicked when I remembered that
all the cats had RF locator tags on their collars. I went into the house
and dug out the receiver, and sure enough it showed Amelia's collar as
being close. I used the direction finding feature on the receiver and
tracked Amelia to the back seat of the pickup. When I rested my head on
the floor of the truck and shined a flashlight under the rear seat,
there was Amelia.

Apparently she got frightened by the ride and hid as far under the seat
as she could get.

I was once driving home with a friend who'd picked up a kitten, but
had no carrier. The little sweetheart went right to the middle of the
floor under the front seat, and dug her claws into the carpet. We could
find her, but it took a long time to coax her out!

There ARE cats who like travelling, but none of mine did. Friends had a
big white male cat, rescued from a snowbank as a kitten. They frequently
drove between where they worked and where their relatives lived, a
matter of 343 km (213 miles) one way. The cat just took it all in
stride. He didn't even need to be restrained in a carrier or try to take
off if they stopped for something. He was an indoor/outdoor cat, and
when in their original hometown, he was also an indoor/outdoor cat who
shared the house they usually stayed in with another cat. I've never
encountered such a cat!

--
Cheryl