MIRACULOUS REAL LIFE
Do cats really have nine lives? Carol Swanson, 57, from Leeds, has a cat that seems like it just might...
Walking through the door after work, Iwas searching for my furry friend, excited to see him after a long day.
‘I’m home! Where are you?’ I called out.
Looking around, Sox was sat upon his cat tree and I could see the little white sock-like markings on his paws –which is where he got his name from.
He jumped down and ran straight towards me.
As he meowed at my feet, I grabbed his lead and decided to take him for a walk.
We lived in a seventh floor flat, so it’s lucky Sox preferred being indoors –I still liked to make sure he got his exercise though.
My daughter Sarah, now 37, found Sox online after someone couldn’t cope with him anymore. And it was perfect timing as my last cat, Oscar, passed away aged 23, so me and my partner Christopher, now 43 , made sure to spoil Sox as much as we could.
Always running around, jumping on things, climbing in my plants –he wasn’t just a pet, he was family.
So after returning home one day in October 2021, I couldn’t wait to hear his feet scurrying towards me.
Only, as I unlocked the front door, I immediately knew something was wrong.
He would always come running when he heard people.
‘Sox?’ I shouted. ‘Are you here?’ I checked around his cat tree, but he wasn’t there.
I looked in the bedding and towel cupboard as he sometimes liked to hide in there, but I couldn’t find him in that space either.
Christopher was with me, helping me to search for Sox – we both started panicking after that moment.
We made sure to search the flat from top to bottom but he didn’t seem to be anywhere.
‘What if he’s stuck? Or managed to push open a window?’ I asked, my mind racing more by the second.
We looked absolutely everywhere we could think of.
I’d not even had him a year at the time, and even though he was always a mischievous boy, he had never run away before.
Even if this time he had, how did he manage to get out of the flat?
We had window locks that stopped them opening too far and the front door was still locked when we came in, too.
Christopher went to search outside as I called Sarah to come over so she could help look for him.
I couldn’t bring myself to go outside.
I had a feeling that he’d fallen out of the window – and I knew I couldn’t bear to find him if he had.
I waited inside for what felt like ages while they searched for about three hours in total.
They finally came inside and when Isaw they hadn’t brought Sox back w
