Maryam lives in the Gaza Strip as far as I can tell and she is a cat lady. She looks after stray cats and I guess she also rescues them. She might operate TNR as well. She has a Twitter following and on her Twitter page she has tweeted that one of our favourite cats that she rescued, who she calls Silver, has gone missing. She said that he was saved in the war during the bombing. And that he has a lovely character and likes to play. She said that he decided to leave her and she feels very sad. It is a very poignant short statement which caught my attention.
I tweeted a response to say that I think Silver might not be that far away. He looks like a young cat and my guess is that he has returned to what he considers to be is ‘home range’ (his home), which is the place where she found him. After two months in her home, he had not quite disconnected from his original home. My advice to her was to go back to where she found him and search there. She might be lucky.
He may even come back of his own volition but I think that is less likely than finding him where he used to live. I wish her a tremendous amount of luck because Silver has no doubt gone back to a life which is much less good than it was when living with Maryam. It sounds illogical to people but he’s done it because he is driven to go back to his natal home. It may be the place where he was born and to which is connected. It is purely instinctive and against his best interests although he doesn’t realise that. I am speculating about what happened. What I am saying is not fact.
As he is a handsome cat there is a possibility that someone took a fancy to him and has taken him. That is a big guess but it seems possible. If that has happened it is game over.
SOME MORE ON FELINE HOME RANGES:
Why do cats visit other homes and people if they have an owner who cares for them?
How many cat scratching posts do you need in a multi-cat home?
Does feeding a domestic cat blunt their desire to hunt?
Signs that a cat can’t establish his territory outside their owner’s home
Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.
I do know there is a cat rescuing in Gaza, where I do not know but they been taking them off the streets and housing them in Southern Gaza. I’m assuming the cat shelter in near the dog shelter as they are helping each other with resources.