Vanishing Act - The Story of Jace

Jace, a cross-breed Maine Coon is the focus of this story. Rescued and adopted off the street by a first-time cat owner, who then allowed a vet to persuade her to not only neuter Jace but also do a front paw declaw at the same time… Jace’s story might have ended where he went home to recover after the surgeries and lived happily ever after. But, that was not to be. One day his safe little world changed, and he found himself suddenly uprooted, living at the home of his owner’s boyfriend along with two cats and three boisterous dogs. Jace was not happy with these living arrangements. It didn’t take long for him to realize this is not how he wished to live.

One day, Jace found his escape out of a window. One of the dogs had pried up a screen in the window leaving a huge hole. Jace was able to wiggle out of the hole. He was free! His owner, realizing what had happened, rushed outside and found him. Scooping him up, she began to take him back inside, when the dogs inside the house began to bark. Jace struggled against her grip and suddenly he was free again. Scooting across the street, he slid under a parked van. By the time his owner made it across the street, Jace had vanished!

Feeling that Jace would surely return by dinnertime, his owner returned to her home where she repaired the window screen. (Any time a cat escapes its home, you should always try leaving that escape hatch open, so the cat can return the same way). It is one way of getting your cat back. But now, Jace’s home was cut off from him; and so his story begins…

As dusk rapidly approached with no sight of the Maine Coon mix, the boyfriend decided to call out a search party. Family members were contacted and came over to the home. Strange cars and people that Jace didn't really know were now filling up his yard beating the bushes and calling for him. This activity only added to the confusion of the cat, and is it likely that he went farther away to a calmer place.

At no sign of the cat in the following days, fliers soon went up, distributed throughout the neighborhood. The website www.lostapet.org was found and through surfing the website Shannon (the mom to Jace’s owner) stumbled on a link to a website run by a pet detective by the name of Carl Washington. Shannon decided to call Mr. Washington to see if he could help.

When Mr. Washington is contacted about a missing pet, the first thing he does is obtain information from the person about the pet. Then he drafts out a profile. Looking at various maps of the area, both aerial and geographical he sends out this profile along with the following tips:

Sprinkle dry dog food up and down the block close to the curb line. This will bring the cat out of hiding and into the street lights where he can easily be seen by other people. The odor of dry dog food carries farther than dry cat food does and cats will generally come out and investigate. Don't throw down a lot of food, just a little, and spread it out, so the cat has to work to get enough to eat.

Put fliers up near the trial of the food so people know what your cat looks like and will be on the lookout. *Always keep current photos of your cats in the event that they do get outside. If you can, show full-body shots and not just head shots.*

Take canned cat food (commonly called wet food) and open a few cans. While walking the dog food trail, take the canned food and fling it down near the fences and lawns, so it spreads out on the ground. Make sure it is widely spread out. The cat needs to be out long enough to hunt for it and be "spotted" by someone. Don't fling the food in the street or near the street, otherwise the cat is in danger of getting hit by a car. Spread about three cans every block this way, work only at night, when the cats typically come out to hunt and eat.

Make up extra-large posters with photos of your cat. Put them on the sides of your car. Use the plastic strapping tape to attach the photos/posters to your car (any residual adhesive left over can be taken off by using rubbing alcohol). Park your car at a busy corner during rush hour. Bring a container of coffee to keep you alert. Have a pen, pencil and paper handy, and put your emergency flashers on. Sit there about an hour-and-a-half during morning, noon and evening rush hour. Early morning commuters will now be on the alert for your cat.

Mr. Washington's initial profile cost $60.00 His statistics show that these profiles where he has marked the most likely spots your cat is hiding, are quite accurate. If your cat is not found quickly after following all his detailed instructions to the letter, Mr. Washington will be available by appointment only for hire.

Shannon followed Carl Washington's advice on the profile, but Jace stayed well-hidden. So Shannon placed a phone call and hired Carl to come and aid in the search.

This would not be Carl’s last trip in this quest to find Jace, but when he arrived initially, he immediately began to take charge of the process. He placed two large posters of Jace on the sides of his truck, and using special floodlights, he lit the panels of the truck up to call more attention to the cat. Along with his dogs, he and Shannon began to knock on neighbor’s doors, showing the photos and asking if they had seen Jace. In the first twenty-four hours with only three hours of sleep, Carl and his team began a relentless hunt for this cat.

Carl’s team consists of his two top tracking dogs: CoCo a brown miniature Poodle (highly trained in scent detection) and Rocky, a Jack Russell Terrier (trained to listen to even the slightest of sounds). With Shannon to accompany the team, the group set out, knocking on people’s doors, trying to gain permission for the team to get into the properties and look for Jace. One property that was gated off (Carl told me later in a phone interview) held his interest. The woman who owned the property also had dogs and she would not allow the group to enter. The home was close enough within the circle that Carl is sure that Jace was holed up there, scared by the woman’s dogs and unable to move. Most of the other people within the area were helpful and accommodating. Some even brought out coffee and treats for the weary team! There were several people who *thought* they had seen him, but Jace remained elusive and the first trip out was unsuccessful. After three full days and two nights, Carl called it quits and headed with his team back home.

Shannon did not give up. Certain that Jace was out there and needed her help, she began pounding the pavement with posters talking to anyone she could, asking them if they had seen him. She made up new fliers and had them laminated and gave one poster to every house on the block. As she went door-to-door she found three people within a certain radius, who informed her that they had seen Jace! Already leery of false leads, Shannon questioned each person carefully. They were able to identify the cat’s unique markings on his back and on his sides. He had been seen pursued by another cat of the same coloring just south of the railroad tracks. Shannon rushed home and put in another call to Carl Washington. For the second time, Carl and his team headed out.

Again the routine, baiting the streets with cat and dog food, knocking on doors, setting up posters and the second search began. At the end of the third day, Jace was spotted- once again being pursued by a cat that looked remarkably similar. At Carl’s command the dogs gave chase, but it had rained twenty-four hours earlier, and the cats and the scent vanished. The team combed the area, but once again Jace had managed to elude them. Carl packed up the next day and headed home. Shannon was heartbroken but still determined to do all she could to help Jace. Now, she stepped out of the box, this time she contacted a local animal communicator who agreed to tap into Jace.

The communicator told Shannon that Jace had escaped from the home, because the home was too chaotic and he couldn’t handle it anymore. He had hidden and would stay in hiding. He did not want to go back to the home he had escaped from. Through a series of sessions, the communicator informed Jace that if he went back to the garage and into one of the three traps in there and waited for Shannon, she would then take Jace home to live with her and her six cats. Shannon had the communicator make a promise to the cat that she would never let him live in that house again. Three days later, Jace appeared in one of the traps!