Had a scare today. Seymour didn't come home last night - usually he's in by 11 and sleeps in until around 4 or 5 am. Then he goes out and hunts some mice and comes in again and is here when I get up. Last night - no Seymour. This morning - no Seymour. Got home from work - still no Seymour.

All I could think of was he had been hit by a car or worse been attacked and killed by the raccoon that keeps coming into the house. Seymour is very territorial and fights a bit. Finally at around 9:30 tonight he saunters in - straight to the food. He is filthy - his white paws are brown and when I pick him up he smells like must and oil. Locked in someone's garage is what we figure. There are tons of old buildings and garages in our neighborhood - good mice and rat pickings for cats. Bad when you get locked in. Needless to say I am relieved.

I'm glad Seymour's OK! About the raccoon... I used to have one as a pet (I had a strange father). I also had a cat, a tiny thing, that kicked the raccoon's *ss every time! Even when the raccoon was almost three times her size, if the cat ever entered the room when the raccoon was there, he'd go running. From what I've seen, raccoons are most dangerous around water, where they can drown animals. Hope Seymour (and the raccoon) live through any encounters!

That Seymour! We are so happy he is finally home. Piesy and I chanted 'oh cat, please come home!' and re-read the book you gave us when Cat vanished for 2 weeks. Cat came home looking fat and handsome ...we think he was hanging at the country club down the road where there had been a recent Fish Fry Weekend. WELCOME HOME SEYMOUR!!