I'm thankful for: My cat! He came back!

On October 20th I wrote the post My Cat is Missing. On November 20th he came home! From full moon to full moon. He just showed up, meowing at the door! He's skinny, has some intestinal parasites, but is otherwise healthy. He lost 3lbs, but he's in relatively good shape. So, he's on medicine for the parasites and we're filling his belly with kitten food for now to get him some extra nutrition.

Our other cat showed signs of stress the first week he was gone (licked away two patches of hair), but has been thriving since. She has been around more often, playful, and didn't seem to mind at all that Milo was gone. Upon his return, she's back to hiding and she's growling and hissing at Milo! If it's not the kids it's the cats!

Where he's been is a mystery. He came home clean. Clean! There's no way he's been outside for 30 days. The day he disappeared it was very rainy and he always comes home (quite muddy) to clean, dry off and warm up. To stay alive he must have had access to food and water. I had wondered at first if he'd possibly gotten stuck in one of the newly constructed houses down the street from us, but there have been people in and out of them, so he would have escaped. However, there are also a few houses for sale that are empty. One of which has seen no activity for about a month, so it's possible he snuck in the garage or the house the last time they were there. That house is directly across the street from the cat he fought with just days before disappearing. He has been known to sit in the driveway watching that cat. I can imagine, if he was stuck in the house that he had access to toilet water, but what about food? Unless they had a mouse problem, Milo should have died of starvation long ago. The vet said after 3 or 4 days his body would start to shut down, but test results showed that even his liver function is fine. So, I'm stumped. And curious. But grateful that he's back. Perfect timing for Thanksgiving! What are you grateful for this year?

Already yearning for another adventure outdoors.
But I'm not letting him out!