History Main / APetIntoTheWild

This is more common with cats than other pets. Dogs and cats are the most popular animals for xenofiction; however, in most developed countries, stray dogs are uncommon. They're either rare or are quickly caught by humans. Stray and feral dogs are seen as more of a hazard, and are more inherently dangerous (dogs can kill a human, whereas small cat species can't kill a human) than a stray cat is, though stray cats are considered more hazardous to the environment than their canine counterparts, and even feral dogs tend to be more tameable than feral cats. In contrast, stray and feral cats are a common sight even in urban areas.

If they do somehow make it past their first few weeks without being killed or rescued, they'll likely have less-than-fortunate lives filled with hunger, parasites, and danger. Not even feral animals live long (feral cats have a lifespan around 3-5 years in contrast to pets who live 13-20 [[note]]feral barn cats are an exception, as they often live past (and even way past) 20 years old because they eat a healthier, more species-appropriate diet and are less overburdened by toxins than most indoor-only cats.[[/note]]), nevermind pets who have to learn survival skills as adults. Alas, watching a dog die of starvation isn't exactly fun so most stories (even darker ones) whitewash the harsher aspects.

* Subverted in ''Literature/WatershipDown''. All of the Watership Down rabbits are males, and they need does to breed with. They find out that a nearby farm keeps hutch rabbits, 2 males and 2 females, so they decide to help the hutch rabbits escape to the wild. The owners show up mid-escape. [[spoiler:Both females and one of the males get away, but Hazel is shot in the leg by one of the farmers.[[/spoiler]]

* Subverted in ''Literature/WatershipDown''. The rabbits need does to breed with, so they try to help a group of females escape their hutches. It doesn't work out because their owners find them mid-escape.

** Violet's kits were born as kittypets however they wanted to become warriors. Violet let Ravenpaw take them to New [=SkyClan=].

** Horses belong to the New York City Police Department start roaming around the city, looking for food in garbage cans. Once the cities start to crumble, they leave the city and head to the beach, where they eventually evolve into shorter but stockier and beach-dwelling horses.

* In ''Webcomic//{{PRISMWING}}'', Indigo was kept in a bug container before she was set free, implying they were a former pet.

->'''Duchess''': "[=McKinley=], Lupin said all dogs are descendents of wolves."
->'''[=McKinley=]''': "A long time ago, yes".
->'''Duchess''': "Lupin says it wasn't ''that'' long ago. Anyway, she believes that it's time we stopped living with people. Time to be independent again, to get back to the wild the way we once lived. That's what she said. And it's what I'm thinking of doing."

[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/{{The Good Dog}}'' by Avi is about a Malamute named [=McKinley=] who meets a wolf named Lupin. Lupin is trying to persuade dogs to leave their owners and join her pack.

* ''Literature/TheGoodDog'':
** The plot revolves around a malamute who meets a wolf that wants dogs to join her pack.
** Duchess is a greyhound who has ran away from her abusive owner more than once.

** Pufftail spent his first few years as a pet cat but he was never comfortable with the routine of being a housepet. Eventually, he runs away after his old neighbor Major accidentally gives him the idea of abandoning his new owners.

* ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp''

** In the sequel, ''Disney/LadyAndTheTrampIIScampsAdventure'', Lady's and Tramp's only son Scamp is a rowdy puppy who wishes he could live on the streets. His father Tramp has settled in nicely to life as a pet and is very against his son's desire. One day Scamp escapes from home to join up with a local gang of junkyard dogs. He befriends a puppy named Angel, who unlike him wants to become a pet. Scamp soon learns that being a stray isn't as fun as he thought it would be, and in the end both he and his girlfriend return to his owners.
* ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'' is about a White Shepherd named Bolt who accidentally gets lost. Besides having no experience on his own, Bolt also believes he's a superhero due to being raised on a TV show since puppyhood. He befriends a stray cat named "Mittens" and a hamster named "Rhino" that help him survive. Ultimately Bolt returns to his owner and [[spoiler:his friends [[FromStrayToPet get adopted]] by her too]].
* In ''Disney/TheAristocats'' a molly cat and her kittens are left to die by a butler who is mad that their wealthy owner [[PetHeir gave her cats her inheritance and not him]]. Duchess and her children must find their way home with the help of a stray named Thomas O'Malley. Ultimately they return home and Thomas [[FromStrayToPet gets adopted too]].

* ''Literature/WhiteFang'': It turns out that White Fang's grandmother had been a village dog that escaped into the wild, mating with a wolf and eventually having Kiche. Kiche herself lived with humans too before going into the wild, where she mates with One-Eye the wolf and gives birth to White Fang. Eventually, the trope is subverted, as Kiche returns to the village with her son.

* ''Literature/{{Stray}}'' by A.N. Wilson is about a cat named Pufftail throughout his life. He has been owned by several owners (both abusive and kind), been abused in a lab, and lived as a stray on the streets.

This is more common with cats than other pets. Dogs and cats are the most popular animals for xenofiction however, in most developed countries stray dogs are uncommon. They're either rare or are quickly caught by humans. Stray and feral dogs are seen as more of a hazard, and are more inherently dangerous (dogs can kill a human, whereas small cat species can't kill a human), than a stray cat is, though stray cats are considered more hazardous to the environment than their canine counterparts, and even feral dogs tend to be more tameable than feral cats. In contrasy, stray and feral cats are a common sight even in urban areas.

* ''Literature/DogsOfTheDrownedCity'' stars a German Shepherd named Shep who, after a hurricane forces the humans to evacuate, has to leave his home and venture into the surrounding area. Along the way he befriends other dogs who are now on their own.

* ''Literature/TheLastDogs'' is a book quadrilogy about humans leaving their pets behind because of an outbreak of a virus called Praxis. The main protagonist, a Labrador retriever named Max, sets out onto the streets and into the wilds (along with a dachshund named Rocky and a Yorkshire terrier named Gizmo) as they look for their humans and solve the Praxis mystery together.

* ''Fanfic/LadyAndTheTrampIIIFamilyTroubles'' ends with a DistantFinale where Angel and Scamp, now fully grown, run away from home to live together as strays.

** A stray dog named "Lucky" (who was born a pet) manages to escape his enclosure at a pound after an earthquake. He finds out the humans have evacuated the area and left their pets behind. Lucky and several other abandoned dogs form a pack. The Leashed Dog pack, which eventually became the Wild Dogs pack, spent a long time trying to get used to the fact they'll never see their longpaws again. Sunshine, a Maltese and an Omega, was the most attached to hers and will likely never get over them.

* ''Literature/{{Pax}}'' the fox was domesticated as a kit, and left in a forest several years later. He almost starves, but Runt catches food for him.