Mokito: Traveling Tails

Today is a good example of how hectic life has been most recently.  It took me more than three years to learn how to relax (successfully achieve NOTHING and stay busy doing it).  Wouldn't you know, the first time I don't feel GUILTY about my slowed down pace of life, all hell breaks loose.

Pablo left the house for work at 8:30am.  We have vacancies on the San Pedro Nohpat property, and at 8:40am a couple came by the office(house) to see photos of the rooms for rent.  Shortly after they arrived, my friend Mike came for daily pool exercise.  Once he got settled in, I attended to the couple who decided to rent the room.  After the necessary details were in tact, I headed out to chat with Mike, opting to skip today's pool experience. I was already getting plenty of exercise.

The doorbell rang.  I figured it was either the upstairs tenant who doesn't know we changed the lock while he was away, or the botellon delivery guys...who I needed to talk to about their promotions and of course, buy drinking water.

Instead it was my friend/neighbor Jill.  I thought she was here to pick up the giant bags of catfood another friend of ours left here to donate to Evolution, the animal rescue shelter where Jill works so hard.  Jill seemed rather animated, and was excited to tell me that Mokito might have been found.  He's been missing since Oct.23rd.  Another neighbor/friend Julie is missing her cat, "Rattie", and as she was hanging posters a woman mentioned she hadn't seen THAT cat, but she'd seen a different "fine cat" that was living in the bodega across the street.  She described Mokito.  Jill explained to me that "fine cats" are those who likely have or have had people, unlike the feral cats who have always been homeless savages.

I locked Mike in and drove off with Jill in pursuit of Mokito.  We found Julie and Steve were chatting with the woman Jill'd spoken about.  They'd called "Mokito" and the cat came to them.  Evidently one of them was able to pick him up -  he was inside Julie's van when we arrived at the scene.  I called his name and he cried out, exactly the way Mokito would do!  I opened the door, he came right to me, sat in my lap, where we all cried.  Julie drove me home, where Mokito seemed to calm down when he saw our house from the outside. He'd been so patient and happy in my lap in the vehicle.  "Mokito" greeted Mike, who'd been waiting to leave my house for God knows how long.  Even Mikey seemed a little teary eyed (ok, I'm probably exaggerating, but he was touched!) seeing Mokito back.  Mikey had blogged about Mokito's disappearance!  He is a special little guy and has been missed by all. 

I carried the cat into the house, and sat him down at the food bowl in my bedroom.  When I went to get a can of soft food for him, the other cats had become curious.  Moka was the first to growl and make scary noises reminiscent only of her giving birth....and none of the other cats seemed to recognize the scent of this GEMELO DE MOKITO.  Granted, Mokito would smell differently living in a warehouse for a month, having been to territory uncharted by these homesteaders.  The Mokito was thin, causing me to remember how thin, hungry and wild Buster came home after being missing in this crazy city for two months.  I was only 98% sure it WAS Buster back then!  But it was Buster, and he recouperated well...to this day he only rarely exhibits his feral side.

I decided that Mokito needed to be alone for a little while, to eat more tranquilly; calm down.  I started putting the other cats(4) out the door into the dining room - one at a time. I got them out and remembered I had Mike, Julie, Jill, Steve....AND the bottled water guys....ALL still waiting for me at the front gate.  I thanked everyone, frantically shoved them all out on to the street (sorry, friends).....and went back to lots of howling and growling.  (NO blond or Polish jokes please) I hadn't closed the cat window in the bedroom, so the curious four had re-entered the not-so-tranquil scene.

When I finally had just Mokito in the room, I was petting him as he sat in my lap. I started looking at his face. It looked different. Although Julie commented that not many cats look like Mokito, we remembered how MANY looked like him during the animal sterilization clinic we worked last year.  He got down to eat more food.  Since I have his photo on my desktop, I started comparing faces. The cat eating while the others growled did not have the same facial markings as Mokito at all.  The wide part of Mokito's nose is all white, with an even reverted V-shape up into his forehead. This cat had HALF the white nose.....

 This is a close up of OUR Mokito...not the impostor! The New Mokito had the dark (his) right eye, but less white nose.

Eventually New Mokito hid in the bathroom, and I opened the door and window.  There's nothing worse than being locked in AGAIN if that's what happened him to him this past month.  He snuck out and investigated the patio area.  He jumped up that tree the way old Mokito would.  Right now I have NO idea if that was our Mokito.....whose markings showed up differently with his weight loss and feral attitude, or just another "fine cat" who thought he had found an acceptible new home, only to be disappointed and FREAKED OUT  by the presence of a queen and entire commando!  By the time it occurred to me to take a new photo........he was up the tree and over on the other side.

Finding Mokito gave Julie hope, who just lost her cat yesterday.  I hate to tell her it wasn't Mokito she found, and since I'm not sure, I think I won't.  This is RAT, who goes by "Ratty", tho' I'm not sure how he spells it.  He was lost Nov.17th around 75th and 66th, centro, just like Mokito.  St. Francis, you've got double duty now!