WWYD? The reappearance of my kidnapped kitty
Some of you may remember that my adopted kitty, Belladonna, disappeared for a 2 weeks last March, and then reappeared briefly for a couple days and then disappeared apparently for good.
For 5 months now I've faithfully left food for her in the barn, and it does disappear now and again. I was hoping that maybe when the winter weather came she'd come home.
And then yesterday I was walking the dogs and there she was, sitting on a neighbor's deck, looking like she owned the place. So after the walk I returned to their place -- they live across the street, kitty-corner to me. She was gone, but the new renters were home, so I knocked at the door and asked about the dilute calico cat I'd just seen there.
To make a long story short, back when Bella first disappeared, when I thought I could "see" her trapped inside somewhere looking out a window, that was what had actually happened. Apparently the previous renters "kidnapped" Bella, and after living there for several weeks she came to think of it as her home. She's been hanging around their place and the place next to that for 5 months...and nobody ever thought to see if the fat, healthy and friendly cat might actually belong to somebody. Instead they fed her and encouraged her to stay there.
And then when they moved, they dumped her. When the new people moved in, Bella walked right in their door "like she owned the place." So they've been feeding her too, and giving her shelter on the rainy nights last week.
Of course, nobody who felt so "sorry" for the well-fed, healthy and friendly cat felt sorry enough to actually get her shots. So I let the new people know that she was taken from me before I had a chance to get her rabies, feline leukemia and other shots.
This Wednesday, when my vacation starts, I'll be getting her back to take her for her shots.
What I don't know is how to teach her where her home really is. When I brought her home before, everything was perfect. She was happy to leave the shelter, she didn't know the area, it was the dead of winter, so she was happy to have shelter, food and water in the barn. By the time spring came, she was well set in her home here.
Now she thinks her home is across the street. I can't keep her in the barn -- she knows how to climb out under the eaves now and the weather is nice enough that she wants to go out. I can't explain to her that these nice people who let her stay in her house don't care enough about her to take full responsibility. The last renters dumped her when they moved, and these two will as well. I pretty much offered her up to them, but they already have 2 cats.
I'm pissed as hell. I'm pissed at the heartbreak those thieving assholes caused me. And I'm pissed at the mess they made of my cat, not to mention the risk of disease they have caused her. She was so happy here before they kidnapped her. Now she doesn't know where she belongs. And I don't know how to fix it. If I keep her crated in the barn, she'll be miserable and will run away at the first chance. If I don't keep her crated, she'll go back to where she "thinks" she belongs.
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They're furry little mercenaries, pretty much. 
I just wish she hadn't been dumped again, and right in front of me.
In any event, she made her decision this morning. I noticed on the dog walk that, unlike yesterday, there weren't any food dishes on the deck. But on return, I saw her sitting on the deck, so after putting the dogs in, I headed over with the little carrier.
The instant she saw me headed back, she took off. She couldn't see the carrier, which was hidden behind the chest-high brush by the side of the road. But she saw me headed for her and ran for it.
I've been dumped. 
I once had a male I found trapped in one of my Have-a-heart traps set out for raccoons that we set up in the barn lofts. I couldn't get a vet appointment to get him neutered and vaxxed for 24 hours so I put him in my barn's viewing room to hold him til the appointment but keep him separate from the rest of the barn cats.
He sprayed, howled, cried and ultimately broke the window and screen off one of the windows and jumped out - 50 feet to the ground! (My viewing room is built on an upper level overlooking the indoor arena). He also was friendly and approachable. Let us pet and brush him. But he would not be confined.
There's not much you can do magical thyme. Anyone whose lived in a rural, farm situation understands that sometimes you are dealt a bad hand with the feral population and can only do what you can. Sounds like you have a plan. Hope it works.... 
