My cat is missing (see other thread! He's home!)

[mrsw101109]

Aug 28, 2014 18:08:29 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

Aug 28, 2014 18:00:27 GMT -5 mrsw101109 said:

Some pet detectives can bring a dog with them to search for the scent of the cat. Just throwing that out there.... It could be an option.

The one we are thinking of flying in would bring her search dog. We have a phone meeting with her tonight to discuss. The main issue is that the scent trail is only there for 14 days, and we are on day 13. So she would mostly be doing a physical search. 

But if she's still in the area, wouldn't the scent still be there?

[spunkarella]

Aug 28, 2014 18:10:09 GMT -5 mrsw101109 said:

Aug 28, 2014 18:08:29 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

The one we are thinking of flying in would bring her search dog. We have a phone meeting with her tonight to discuss. The main issue is that the scent trail is only there for 14 days, and we are on day 13. So she would mostly be doing a physical search. 

But if she's still in the area, wouldn't the scent still be there?

Not sure exactly how it works, but we will be asking that question tonight. 

[cajunmom]

I'm so sorry for what you're going through. There's only so much you can put yourself through, and if you're reaching that point there's nothing wrong with that or for you to feel badly about.

One little story that may encourage you, though. Just yesterday my DD's little friend came and knocked on our door, asking if our cat got out because there was a cat in our garage. It wasn't ours, but I went and looked and sure enough, it was a small tabby kitty, under my car. He was meowing loudly but wouldn't come to me, but I lured him out eventually with some treats. He was very skinny but not beat up or bedraggled at all. Luckily he had a collar and tag with a name and number. When I called them, the owners were overjoyed...he had been missing since July 10th. I brought him inside and loved on him until they came 30 minutes later and it was all wonderful.

[spunkarella]

Aug 28, 2014 18:58:06 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

I'm so sorry for what you're going through. There's only so much you can put yourself through, and if you're reaching that point there's nothing wrong with that or for you to feel badly about.

One little story that may encourage you, though. Just yesterday my DD's little friend came and knocked on our door, asking if our cat got out because there was a cat in our garage. It wasn't ours, but I went and looked and sure enough, it was a small tabby kitty, under my car. He was meowing loudly but wouldn't come to me, but I lured him out eventually with some treats. He was very skinny but not beat up or bedraggled at all. Luckily he had a collar and tag with a name and number. When I called them, the owners were overjoyed...he had been missing since July 10th. I brought him inside and loved on him until they came 30 minutes later and it was all wonderful.

That is awesome!! On behalf of spunky kitty, thank you for doing that!

[RoxMonster]

I have been following your story this whole time. I'm so sorry kitty hasn't come back yet. I don't know what I would do if Rox ran away and she wasn't coming home (our dog). I would be absolutely beside myself and can 100% understand how you feel. I, too, would want to make sure I did absolutely everything in my power to get her home.

Whatever you decide--to continue on and amp up the search, to scale back--you have to make the decision that feels right for you guys, and that will be the right decision. Your kitty is so lucky to have two cat parents who love her so much.

[asoctoberfalls]

I'm still thinking of you and praying that spunky kitty comes home soon!

[spunkarella]

Thank you all so much, again, for the continued support. I think you have more than earned a PIP. This guy is clearly not the outdoor type...

ETA: I'm sorry for any confusion! He is not home, and this is an old picture. I just thought you might like to see who you're pulling for. 

[spunkarella]

Aug 28, 2014 20:14:05 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

Aug 28, 2014 19:48:36 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

Thank you all so much, again, for the continued support. I think you have more than earned a PIP. This guy is clearly not the outdoor type...

Aw, poor guy!  This requires a new thread!!  Thank goodness he's home, I know you are so relieved.   <)

So sorry!! He is not home. This is an old picture. 

I promise to start a new thread and throw a block party when he comes home.

[spunkarella]

Aug 28, 2014 20:18:54 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

Oh crap, I'm sorry .  I was so excited, I told my husband lol.  I can't wait for the homecoming thread.

This is just his general state of exhaustion from having to walk from the food bowl to the chair. I can't imagine what we are in for when he gets back. 

[blondemoment123]

You and kitty are still in my thoughts. Id be devastated if one of my babies got out. You're such a great cat mommy.


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[spunkarella]

We talked to the second detective with the tracking dog. She could come next weekend for $800 total. She doesn't expect to actually find/recover our cat that day, and she estimates there is a 50% chance her dog would be able to pick up on a trail that would give us a better idea of where in our neighborhood to focus on setting traps.

I think we are leaning toward not having her come...we can afford $800 and would do it in a heartbeat if odds were better. But this kind of feels like grasping at straws? I don't know, what do you think?

[compassrose]

Aug 30, 2014 7:57:12 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

We talked to the second detective with the tracking dog. She could come next weekend for $800 total. She doesn't expect to actually find/recover our cat that day, and she estimates there is a 50% chance her dog would be able to pick up on a trail that would give us a better idea of where in our neighborhood to focus on setting traps.

I think we are leaning toward not having her come...we can afford $800 and would do it in a heartbeat if odds were better. But this kind of feels like grasping at straws? I don't know, what do you think?

I think at this point, it's whatever gives you peace of mind.  If you think doing this will let you go on your vacation feeling like you did everything possible, then go ahead.  But if you think you'll be just as frustrated (since the odds of actually finding the cat sound slim), I'd pass.

[mrsw101109]

Aug 30, 2014 7:57:12 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

We talked to the second detective with the tracking dog. She could come next weekend for $800 total. She doesn't expect to actually find/recover our cat that day, and she estimates there is a 50% chance her dog would be able to pick up on a trail that would give us a better idea of where in our neighborhood to focus on setting traps.

I think we are leaning toward not having her come...we can afford $800 and would do it in a heartbeat if odds were better. But this kind of feels like grasping at straws? I don't know, what do you think?

If it wouldn't hurt you financially, I say do it.

[RoxMonster]

It's a tough place to be in. If you can afford it and you think it would give you peace of mind that you did everything in your power, then I say do it.

[patches31709]

Aug 30, 2014 7:57:12 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

We talked to the second detective with the tracking dog. She could come next weekend for $800 total. She doesn't expect to actually find/recover our cat that day, and she estimates there is a 50% chance her dog would be able to pick up on a trail that would give us a better idea of where in our neighborhood to focus on setting traps.

I think we are leaning toward not having her come...we can afford $800 and would do it in a heartbeat if odds were better. But this kind of feels like grasping at straws? I don't know, what do you think?

I follow someone on facebook who tracks and finds missing dogs, and she works with a number of people who find lost cats. If you can afford the $800, I would do it.

[applecrispy]

Aug 30, 2014 7:57:12 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

We talked to the second detective with the tracking dog. She could come next weekend for $800 total. She doesn't expect to actually find/recover our cat that day, and she estimates there is a 50% chance her dog would be able to pick up on a trail that would give us a better idea of where in our neighborhood to focus on setting traps.

I think we are leaning toward not having her come...we can afford $800 and would do it in a heartbeat if odds were better. But this kind of feels like grasping at straws? I don't know, what do you think?

If I could afford it I would spend it. Are you going to have her come out?

[spunkarella]

Sept 2, 2014 20:40:39 GMT -5 applecrispy said:

If I could afford it I would spend it. Are you going to have her come out?

No, we decided not to have her come here. It was a difficult decision, but after talking with her more, discussing weather in our area lately, etc. the odds that she would be able to find something helpful seemed pretty slim and she acknowledged that too. I really appreciated that she was realistic about the possibilities and didn't just try to sell us on hiring her. We can technically afford it, but it's still a lot of money and energy to put into an approach that is unlikely to have good results (according to both our detective and the new one with the tracking dog).

We are continuing with traps, our wildlife camera, flyers, calling from our yard, and walking the neighborhood. Odds are we won't find him while searching on foot, but it's important to me that we stay "visible" to our neighbors so they continue to look and help. We also got a new tip to lay down a fish trail of mackeral juice around our yard with a trail going three houses out in all directions. And we had another call last night about a potential sighting and we have a trap and camera in that area.

[explorer2001]

Hugs. Good luck

[compassrose]

I know it's hard, but you guys are doing everything right. Your kitty is on my mind, and I'm sending good thoughts that he comes home soon!

[spunkarella]

Sept 3, 2014 8:37:24 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Good luck - it sounds like you made the right choice. Just keep your yard smelling good and have someone check the shelter daily/every other day while you are away.

I forgot if you said this, but do you have some kind of shelter set up? He may not go into the trap, but maybe if you had familiar stuff out (but under shelter), he would come hang out and sleep there. Like some of his bedding/cat tree, litter box, etc. Stuff that smells like home to him.

Yes, we have his favorite blanket on our patio chair, and our patio is covered. We also have cameras aimed at the trap to see if he comes and checks it out but doesn't want to go in. So far we haven't seen any sign of him.

We plan to have someone checking the shelter definitely. I hope we can also find someone willing to set the traps at night and check/unset them in the morning.

[lime]

Fingers crossed for you guys!

[Deleted]

I just wanted to come in and share my story. Our indoor only cat Theo got out when he was younger in our huge apartment complex. He was a born in the wild and a very timid boy indoors. We lived in a ground floor apartment and my husband accidentally left the screen door open one night. By the time we realised this, both of out kitties were outside. One we captured right away, Theo we couldn't capture at all. We ended up setting many, many traps with stinky food. We captured 4 baby skunks, 3 stray kitties, and grump oppsum lol. Still no kitty. Finally, a month later, my neighbor came rushing over and said "Hey, I think I found him, come quick!" So we did, and found a very, dirty and sick cat hiding in a hole ready to come home.

It does take a lot of time and patience, but you can capture them!

[spunkarella]

@motorboatmygoat thank you for sharing! I keep thinking "any day now" and I just feel (could be wishful thinking) that he is still somewhere close and okay, just not able to come home yet.

[VacayVaca]

I had a friend have success by putting some personal items outside with her smell on them. She put a pair of jeans she had worn on her porch and the next night, she was woken up at 3 am by her cat standing on her jeans outside loudly calling to her. Since animals have a stronger sense of smell, a scent will indicate home better than other items. I know you have the blanket outside, but maybe the fresh/strong scent will help.

[spunkarella]

Sept 4, 2014 16:19:40 GMT -5 VacayVaca said:

I had a friend have success by putting some personal items outside with her smell on them. She put a pair of jeans she had worn on her porch and the next night, she was woken up at 3 am by her cat standing on her jeans outside loudly calling to her. Since animals have a stronger sense of smell, a scent will indicate home better than other items. I know you have the blanket outside, but maybe the fresh/strong scent will help.

Ooh, I like the idea of putting the day's dirty clothes outside each night. Easy to do and should keep our scent nice and strong. 

[curbsideprophet]

I hope your kitty comes home soon.

[spunkarella]

We caught something on one of the cameras last night that *could* be him. Or any other long haired cat... It's in the area of the latest potential sighting but still relatively far from our house.

For it to make sense, he would have been transported under a car about 0.3 miles to a stop sign near the closest highway. We are putting our sleuthing materials in that area in full force tonight!

It's hard to tell because the cat is so close to the camera, kind of sniffing it out. We are doing the same camera, plus another camera facing it so if he sniffs one out, the other camera will hopefully get a better shot. Plus a trap with stinky food and some of our clothes inside. Trying not to be too excited but fingers crossed!

[compassrose]

Good luck tonight!

[KaraOrNot]

Good luck!

[krystee]

Good luck! I hope it's him!!