Abandonment issues

My cat seems to have real abandonment issues.

Coming home in the car from the Humane Society, he was subdued; very quiet. All week he was extremely well behaved.

Then I had to take him to the vet's for a check up. He was hyperventilating so badly that I stopped at a park and got out, walking around with him in my arms. He cuddled right up to me, and held on tight. He was well behaved at the vet's, but had another hyperventilating session on the way home. I let him out in the front hall and, I've never seen surprise register so clearly on a cat's face before.

That was when I realised that he thought I was getting rid of him -- taking him back to the Humane Society, perhaps -- for some crime, real or imagined.

It will take a while for him to realise that I am in this for the long haul.