We have, of course searched the locality, we are surrounded by an industrial areas, wasteland & ruined buildings, places were she loved to roam & hunt but no sign.
When we lived in Hull in a built up area Poppy rarely went far & didn't hunt but since becoming a boat cat she has increasingly enjoyed being outdoors & has gone from catching small mammals to just play with to eating them once or twice a day ( just leaving small piles of entrails outside for me to clean up!)
She is well known to the other boaters & our Lock keeper Graham as she is such a character, as Graham commented she has become part of the scenery when he is in his cabin, often showing off by climbing trees & running back & forth across the lock gates. Just a couple of days before she went missing I commented to Graham that I didn't really need a dog as when I went to the bins she would come with me just like a dog walking to heel!
Mark & I had several discussions around the fact that her lifestyle wasn't always safe, she crosses a busy road to get to one of her favourite spots & goodness knows what she gets up to when she is roaming around but we have to accept that she loves being outdoors & we couldn't keep her in.
1st thing every morning she is at the doors demanding to be out BUT she always came back, she loves her afternoon snooze on our bed & we are so worried that some harm has become her, I can't imagine that given the bitterly cold weather we've had she would not have come home if she could.
We have been told that a couple of mink have been spotted near the visitor moorings & a fox is regularly seen, could she have become prey? It's the not knowing that's worst, she may have decided that she wants the outdoor life full time or gone off for a while, if so I just hope she's enjoying her adventure.
