Rufus is originally from Luton in Bedfordshire and has just only had his first birthday. I missed his actual birth by an hour as his very-young mom held out till far too late at night. His mom's owner was unable to cope with kittens after a few weeks so Rufus came to live with me early, at just 5 weeks old.

I became a surrogate mom to him. I taught him to play, to clean himself and to hunt. (The hunting seemed like a good idea at the time, but he's become far too good at it! At least I know he can feed himself now) He would sleep tucked under my chin, or on my pillow next to my head.

We moved to Bristol at the start of September, so I could attend university. We moved into a shared student house (Keys Avenue) 3 streets over from where I am now. The old-new house is in a very similar area but on the other side of the busy main road.

After 3 days at the old-new house I opened the  magnetic catflap then, once Rufus was through, went with him into the garden and explored with him. We did this several times for short periods then I allowed Rufus to explore on his own. He always came back for mealtimes (6-7 a.m., snack at around 6 p.m., supper around 9 p.m.), and for the first week came back to use his litter tray also.

Typically, Rufus would go out after breakfast, return around 10 a.m. and sleep till his snack, go out till supper then return and play for a while before settling down to sleep again, he'd then once more go out around 3-4 a.m. before returning to wake me for his breakfast.

During our time at Keys Avenue, Rufus brought me a live mouse and 3 spiders. He also became scared of the very-large Polish gentleman who lived in the basement flat below our house.

On 17th September my old-new housemates arrived and one found out she was allergic to cats. Straightaway Rufus went to stay at my sister's house in Newport. He was kept in, ate normally, and played a great deal.

I moved into this house (Hottom Gardens) on 18th September, sprayed my normal perfume around the house then Rufus moved back on 19th September. He immediately took to the house due to its multitude of tiny cupboards, nooks and crannies, and high shelves. My new housemates love him, and Rufus developed a fast bond with my male housemate, choosing to sleep on his bed while he was out during the day.

There's no cat flap here, but a double-doored rear porch. I let Rufus out to explore the morning of Friday 22nd September and went with him into the rear garden. We stayed outside in the enclosed area for about an hour then I took him back inside. We went out again together around midday for another hour, then again in the evening for just over an hour.

Saturday 23rd September we went out together in the morning and he explored outside the garden. I stayed in the garden and he came back regularly to check I was still there. At one point I returned to the house to fetch a drink, leaving the outer rear door open and inadvertently closing the inner rear door. Rufus found me by climbing through the fanlight between the rear porch and the kitchen.

As he was getting on so well I let him stay out while I was out during the day on the Saturday, with the outer rear door left open and the inner rear door locked. My housemates say he came in and out a few times via the fanlight to check whether they were there. I kept him in Saturday evening and he kept bringing me enormous live spiders.

He went out after breakfast Sunday 24th at around 7 a.m. We didn't see him at all during the day so at night I left the outer rear door unlocked and open, with the inner rear door locked. Unfortunately, one of my housemates got up during the night, presumed Rufus must have come in by then, and locked the outer rear door. I discovered when I realised he hadn't come for his breakfast and opened the door around 8 a.m. Monday 25th then called him. He came immediately from over a garden fence.

Around midday Monday Rufus tried to follow me out to the shop on the main road so I carried him back to the alleyway access to the rear of the garden here. He sat at the alleyway and watched me go. We didn't see him again until the early evening when he got into a face-off at the outer rear door with a long-haired black tom from next door. Rufus backed down and ran inside, the tom tried to follow but I chased him out. As Rufus was still using his litter tray I put a little of his used litter by the rear door to mark his territory.

Rufus went out again, and returned after a few hours with a few little scrapes (presumably from the tom). Due to these I locked the outer rear door.

Rufus asked to go out around 4 a.m. Tuesday 26th September. I let him out and left the outer rear door unlocked and ajar but not wide open.

He's not been home since.