Should I Still Be Hoping My Missing Cat Will Come Home?

[Norachan]

That's a great story. Gumdrop is adorable. I love torbies, I have two torbie girls of my own.

I wish George had been microchipped but it's just not that common in Japan and no one checks to see if cats have a chip when they are found. And, of course, there are hardly any animal shelters in Japan. In this area there are just a few people who take in and try and re-home stray or unwanted cats.

I just got a taxi back from the vets with another boy cat that I've had neutered and the taxi took a different route than usual. We drove past a big area of waste land next to an apartment building with about half a dozen cats waiting there. They looked like they were waiting for someone to turn up and feed them. I haven't checked that place out yet, going back there tomorrow to have a look around.

You never know.......

Good luck with the search for Kuzon. I hope he has just gone on walkabout and hasn't been catnapped. It's good that he's not that friendly with strangers. George doesn't like other people either, I think anyone would have had a hard time grabbing him.

 

 

[bearvin]

Norchan, I just spent quite a bit of time reading this thread back from when you first posted it.  Your love of cats is incredible.....all you do for the ferals!!!  My heart goes out to you (and George) and all the other cat parents who have lost their babies.  I get moved to tears any time someone puts a sign up in my neighborhood about a missing cat.....I always want to call them to find out if their baby was found but am afraid of opening wounds if baby is still missing.  People either understand or they don't.  I'm absolutely convinced that all of the love you have poured onto George and all of the other kitties WILL come back to you manifold, be it in this life or the next.  Please know that ALL of us here are pulling for you and for George.  It's people like you who help restore my faith in humanity.

 

[Norachan]

Thank you Bearvin,

I feel the same way whenever I see a poster for a missing cat. There's one up in my local supermarket right now for a Russian Blue that managed to get out of his house. Poor little guy, I hope he doesn't stay lost for too long in this cold weather.

I have to admit that I'm hoping to build up some good karma by helping the feral cats around here. Maybe if I take good care of them someone somewhere will take care of George. And of course it's very hard not to fall in love with them. They have such a tough life outdoors and even a little bit of food and a kind word seems to go a long way with them.

Thanks for you support, I appreciate it.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Norachan,

Let us know if anything turns up at the new site you drove by.  You just never know.  Maybe you could post a lost cat flier nearby so if the site has caretakers they might alert you if they have seen George.

Patches came last night around 9pm so I got to see him.  He was starving.  He ate 2 1/2 cans of wet food, but he was a frantic scared mess.  When I went out to take him food, he ran to the opposite side of the deck.  He came to when I called him and meowed softly.  He gobbled and gobbled his food and I gently pet the top of his head.  He started almost wheezing and then shaking all over.  I think he was just really really scared.  I decided it was best to let him be and allow him to eat as much as needed.  Each time I went out to refill the bowl, he would just shake all over.  I still cannot get over how different he looks.  He body is sunken in and his head is so large.  If he got an ear tip it is the world's smallest one.  He really needs food to eat.  I hope he will continue to come for food so he can get stronger.  I have no idea how he survived the -39 wind chill earlier this week.  I feel sad about Patches, but know I will do what I can for him and maybe in time he will decide he wants or can tolerate human contact again. 

 

[Norachan]

Aw, ShadowsRescue! 

It must be so sad to see Patches looking like that. What do you think is scaring him? Are the raccoon still around? I can't understand why some cats prefer to be outdoors either, there are a few that I feed that I've spent the past three years trying to coax indoors, but they won't come in. This year's kittens are quite happy to be indoors though. I got three of the male kittens neutered this week and now they're all lying in front of the stove, toasting their little shaved behinds.

I put some posters up at the new site today. One of the cats there is really friendly, it must be a colony that someone is taking care of. I also realised that some friends of mine live quite close to there. They know I'm looking for George so I'm going to ask them to keep an eye out for anyone leaving food for the cats.

I hope Patches, George, Kuzon and all the other missing kitties have found somewhere warm to curl up tonight.

 

[shadowsrescue]

 
Aw, ShadowsRescue! 

It must be so sad to see Patches looking like that. What do you think is scaring him? Are the raccoon still around? I can't understand why some cats prefer to be outdoors either, there are a few that I feed that I've spent the past three years trying to coax indoors, but they won't come in. This year's kittens are quite happy to be indoors though. I got three of the male kittens neutered this week and now they're all lying in front of the stove, toasting their little shaved behinds.

I think he is petrified of me.  He has turned so feral.  He also usually comes in the middle of the night when all is quiet.  Last night it was warm.  There were kids out shooting hoops.  He must have been starving to venture out for food.  I just wanted to cry upon seeing him in this awful condition.  He is truly emaciated.  Shadow was in the shelter when Patches arrived.  Shadow never even attempted to come and investigate.  He must have known that Patches was in a very fragile state.  I have tried to send messages to him that in order to get the wet food he needs to come before 11pm.  We will see what he does tonight.

I hope that you will hear something from the fliers you posted.  I truly believe he is out there and either being well taken care of or lost.  Keep the hope alive!

 

[asherdash]

I'm sorry to hear about Patches condition. I have been following your updates. I have fed several strays and a feral colony for the past few years and I am always heartbroken when some disappear. I go feed them every day, sometimes more than once and I have to admit that I still look around EVERY DAY hoping to see some I haven't seen in years. A few of them take off for months sometimes. When I first moved here I didn't have any cats and I started trying to catch a feral that I would see every few days. He began to deteriorate really bad and even though it was going to be heartbreaking, I wanted to take him to the vet so he would not suffer anymore but he never ever let me get close and wouldn't go in traps. I would put food out and he would eat it and then sit in the sun. Eventually he stopped coming around. We are now in the slow process of getting another cat to trust us, he was abandoned by some previous tenant. We(all of here on this site) do what we can. You have a very big heart. Keep the faith!

 

[luvnickles]

Originally Posted by ShadowsRescue  

Patches came last night around 9pm so I got to see him.  He was starving.  He ate 2 1/2 cans of wet food, but he was a frantic scared mess.  When I went out to take him food, he ran to the opposite side of the deck.  He came to when I called him and meowed softly.  He gobbled and gobbled his food and I gently pet the top of his head.  He started almost wheezing and then shaking all over.  I think he was just really really scared.  I decided it was best to let him be and allow him to eat as much as needed.  Each time I went out to refill the bowl, he would just shake all over.  I still cannot get over how different he looks.  He body is sunken in and his head is so large.  If he got an ear tip it is the world's smallest one.  He really needs food to eat.  I hope he will continue to come for food so he can get stronger.  I have no idea how he survived the -39 wind chill earlier this week.  I feel sad about Patches, but know I will do what I can for him and maybe in time he will decide he wants or can tolerate human contact again. 

Oh no...this is very distressing to hear. I wonder if there is a cat behaviorist at your local shelter who might advise you?  I can't imagine what is keeping him away.  He let you stay close enough to pat the top of his head when you were feeding him...I suppose there was no way to grab the scruff of his neck and bring him in?  You know better if that would have traumatized him....I just want him inside with you so badly!  I hope the weather starts to improve.  Please keep us updated and don't give up hope that he will survive the Winter and that something will change.

Norachan,

I am hopeful about your new spot.  I agree with ShadowsRescue...do try to get a message to possible feeders in the area.  I wonder, do you have any way of organizing feeders or at least communicating with them so that you all know who is feeding where and can exchange info on any "new" cats that show up?

I would love to map all the feral colonies in my area since stray cats that are out for a long time can tend to congregate....especially if they have a dedicated feeder. 

I had the house to myself this weekend and built a roaring fire.  It was very relaxing and meditative.  There is such power in fire so I wrote a special prayer for Patches, George and Kuzon and placed it into the flames so that it could be part of that intense energy.  These three cats are loved and wanted and need to come home!!!

 

[shadowsrescue]

 

Originally Posted by ShadowsRescue  

Patches came last night around 9pm so I got to see him.  He was starving.  He ate 2 1/2 cans of wet food, but he was a frantic scared mess.  When I went out to take him food, he ran to the opposite side of the deck.  He came to when I called him and meowed softly.  He gobbled and gobbled his food and I gently pet the top of his head.  He started almost wheezing and then shaking all over.  I think he was just really really scared.  I decided it was best to let him be and allow him to eat as much as needed.  Each time I went out to refill the bowl, he would just shake all over.  I still cannot get over how different he looks.  He body is sunken in and his head is so large.  If he got an ear tip it is the world's smallest one.  He really needs food to eat.  I hope he will continue to come for food so he can get stronger.  I have no idea how he survived the -39 wind chill earlier this week.  I feel sad about Patches, but know I will do what I can for him and maybe in time he will decide he wants or can tolerate human contact again. 

Oh no...this is very distressing to hear. I wonder if there is a cat behaviorist at your local shelter who might advise you?  I can't imagine what is keeping him away.  He let you stay close enough to pat the top of his head when you were feeding him...I suppose there was no way to grab the scruff of his neck and bring him in?  You know better if that would have traumatized him....I just want him inside with you so badly!  I hope the weather starts to improve.  Please keep us updated and don't give up hope that he will survive the Winter and that something will change.

Patches will never be coming into the house.  He is a feral/stray cat.  He lived on my deck with Shadow from August 2011-April 2012 then he disappeared from April 2012-September 2012.  When he came back last year it was never steady.  He'd come for a week then leave for a week.  He was very different.  I had tried and tried to trap him to have him neutered, but he would never go near the trap.  Finally last March I was able to trap him.  Upon his release the next day he took off.  He did not return until late November.  He was gone 8 months. 

My hope for him was to return to his home base.  I was his source of food and shelter.  We had developed a relationship that allowed me to pet him and brush him.  He would come just inside my sliding door ( but I had to leave the door open).  He is very independent.  He became a part of our family, but I do not think he will ever be a house cat.  I also have 2 other ferals, Shadow and Stellar who also live in the shelter on my deck.  I have done a program with all of them called TNR (Trap Neuter Return).  I trap them, neuter them and release them to the same area.  I have done this with 4 cats.  It is heart breaking to know they will not live in my house, but I am giving them the best life possible. 

Patches has now been here 4 straight nights.  On Sunday night he was much less scared.  He allowed me to pet him all over without being so frantic.  Shadow and Stellar came close by while he was eating to check things out.  Last night it was raining so I didn't get to stay out with him.  He eats at least 2 cans of wet food each time.  He even stopped by at 6 am this morning!  I assume he is staying/sleeping nearby. 

I hope for news of Kuzon and George each day. 

 

[Norachan]

Hi Shadows Rescue,

I was going to ask you if you thought that the TNR might have been what scared Patches off. I guess if he is the kind of cat that likes to wander it's only natural that he would take off for a few days after that. Do you think that something might have happened while he was wandering to make him scared of people? I've TNRed quite a lot of cats over the past few years and the longest any of them has disappeared for is 48 hours. Maybe there is something else scaring him? If he hangs around and lets you pet him it doesn't sound as if you are the one he is frightened of.

I'd like to bring the whole colony indoors, but some of them just won't step through the door. Actually, two of my own cats only come home to eat. If there is a blizzard forecast I have to lock them in the house and they hate me for it.

LuvNickles, thank you for the prayer.

I have tried talking to a few people who feed colonies. Two people saw my George Missing posters and called to let me know there were stray cats near their house but other people I've spoken to won't admit to feeding strays. I don't blame them, not everyone likes cats and I guess they don't want to cause any trouble for themselves or their colonies. I have a Japanese friend who lives close to the latest spot I found, I've asked her to keep an eye out for anyone feeding them. I think people might respond to her a lot better than they will to a foreigner. Plus, my Japanese isn't as good as it should be.

How is it going with the search for the other missing Siamese cats in your area? Have any of them come home yet?

 

[shadowsrescue]

 
Hi Shadows Rescue,

I was going to ask you if you thought that the TNR might have been what scared Patches off. I guess if he is the kind of cat that likes to wander it's only natural that he would take off for a few days after that. Do you think that something might have happened while he was wandering to make him scared of people? I've TNRed quite a lot of cats over the past few years and the longest any of them has disappeared for is 48 hours. Maybe there is something else scaring him? If he hangs around and lets you pet him it doesn't sound as if you are the one he is frightened of.

I'd like to bring the whole colony indoors, but some of them just won't step through the door. Actually, two of my own cats only come home to eat. If there is a blizzard forecast I have to lock them in the house and they hate me for it.

The first time he left it was because he wasn't neutered yet.  Once neutered it was still his will and drive to wander.  Each time I have talked with an animal communicator they told me that Patches did not want me to neuter him and if I did he would not return.  I knew this going into the process, but felt strongly the reproduction needed to stop.  He felt I violated him and he felt he couldn't trust me.  As time went by, his bitterness towards me started to fade.  He also remembered the kindness and love I have given him.  I was also told that he did experience some scary events while away.  He has been to the point of starving a few times as well as injuring a front shoulder.  I think he is frightened because he hasn't had human contact for so long.  He has reverted to almost complete feral behavior.  He is also unsure of the new feral, Stellar.  He wasn't here last year.  Also last winter I had another feral/stray hanging around.  He was causing all kinds of trouble.  I TNR'd him too and it settled him a bit, but he and Patches would have great yowling sessions.  Patches is not a fighter at all and this new cat last year really scared him.  The cat from last year was definitely a stray with some definite feral behaviors.  I ended up trying to find him a home or shelter late last spring.  I exhausted all my options and brought him into my house.  It has been a great challenge, but things are improving.  So I do believe Patches may be leery of Stellar.  Shadow who was Patches' buddy while he was here is leery of Patches as well.  It will take some time for Patches to feel comfortable again.  At least he is coming regularly to eat and I know he is alive.  I also know he will most likely take off again.  It is what makes him happy.  He also wants his own territory.  Mine is all taken with the two I have as well as a neighbors cats.  He says he wants lots of space!  I think he will always be a constant worry to me.

 

[luvnickles]

ShadowRescue - I didn't realize that Patches was so wild originally.  More of his behavior is understandable now, i suppose.  Heartbreaking though...  But wonderful to hear he has been back around for 4 days straight!  I will build more fires and burn more prayers!!

Now if only George and Kuzon would show their faces to SOMEone...

Simon the Siamese and Princess...the "sort of" Siamese have still not been seen.  I am tracking a Siamese out in the old feral colony where we TNR'd some tabbies over christmas, but all I am getting on film are rats and raccoons.  He was around near the time we were trapping but haven't seen him since.  Also, the tabby that we returned hasn't been seen either.  I wonder now, hearing the way Patches reacted after being trapped, if she has also taken off for new digs just in case the nasty humans come back with that rotten cage.  Still putting out food though.  can't bear to think of her or the Siamese coming around looking for something and nothing being available.

Simon's owners want to positively ID the Siamese in the feral colony and I don't blame them, but I have poured over the film from December and looked at every picture they have given me and I don't think it is Simon.  I will give it another week or so, but I am anxious to set up the camera somewhere else and begin the search again for Kuzon.  He isn't out at that feral colony....

I got a call from a well meaning man who thinks there is a badger operating in the creek behind my street.  I've walked that creek and found no body nor any trace of fur.  I suppose that doesn't really mean anything but do badgers and bobcats (we have them too) really hunt healthy cats?  I've heard both answers..."no, only unhealthy or injured ones..." and "yes, they are wicked good hunters of small dogs and cats...."  Ugh.  Anyone with any real experience on the subject???

 

[Norachan]

Badgers? No, I've never heard that before. Not the badgers we get in the UK anyway, they can't move fast enough to catch a cat and they eat stuff like bugs and rodents. There was a badger set in the bottom fields of the riding stables I used to hang out at when I was a kid and none of the stable cats ever came to any harm. Unless badgers in the US are a totally different species.

We don't get bob cats around here so I don't know about them. In this part of Japan we get tanuki, an Asian raccoon dog which don't eat anything bigger than a mouse, fox and Asiatic black bear. My vet and the forestry commission assure me that fox can only take kittens, they wouldn't tackle a full grown cat. I've only ever seen them a couple of times and they're scrawny little things, much smaller than the fox we get in the UK. I'm not sure about the bears but I think if a bear came out of the forest, walked all the way through town and ended up near the lake shore, which is where I live, someone would have noticed it.

Maybe it is the other male cats that are keeping Patches away. There a couple of big toms around here that often have yowling contests. George is a big cat but he always tries to avoid fights, maybe he heard two of the other toms going at it and took off?

 

[roxie]

Norachan, sorry it's been so long since I checked on George and the other missing kitties. I had another surgery December 31st. By January 2nd I had pneumonia. That crap is hard to get over! I had to do a lot of reading to get caught up on everything. I hope you have some good luck with the new site. I still believe George is out there. Send him a message that vacation is over! Time to come home. I know you miss him and worry about him. I believe in Karma. You and others have done so much for feral cats. Your babies have to come back to you.
Shadows Rescue, I'm so glad Patches is coming around more. I hope he calms down some.
LuvNickles, I hope you get a positive sighting of Kuzon soon.
Now that I feel human again I can say my nightly prayers for all these precious kitties and their special parents. Keep up the faith, hope and love. When it comes down to it, that's what life is about and what keeps us going.

 

[luvnickles]

Thanks Roxie.  We need a positive sighting of George too.  Where in the heck do these cats go???  there are feral colonies everywhere...you'd think we would be able to find ours...  so very frustrating!

 

[Norachan]

Hi Roxie,

I'm sorry to hear you've been so sick. That sounds terrible. I bet your kitties all missed you while you were in hospital. It must be nice to be home again.

Still no sign of George. I've been back to look around the new spot I noticed cats in a few times. My posters are all still up and the cats seem to be there late afternoon, but not at other times. I still haven't seen anyone feeding them though.

It is frustrating LuvNickles, your right. I've seen dozens of feral cats this year. Some of the big toms migrate and I'll spot them miles away a few weeks after I first see them. But no George.

 

[micheleasley]

When I first got Severus last November, I had only had him for under a week when he got loose. He wriggled his way out of my bedroom window, into someones enclosed yard and over the fence into the street. I was positive he wouldn't make it back because 1.) He would have no way of knowing his way back to me 2.) There was a ton of construction going on, so he was likely terrified and 3.) He was a baby. I figured that either he was so cute someone would just take him in, or he would end up squished under someones car or some of the construction equipment.

It was winter time and when I went to bed that night I was crying my eyes out, positive that if he was still alive he would freeze to death in the cold. Several weeks later, however, I was waiting outside for my sister to come down the street so we could walk to the train station together when the two of us heard a howl. My Sevvy ran from underneath a car with his tag in his mouth, (the collar was gone) and climbed up my leg. He had a patch of hair missing but he was my Severus, all in one piece.

I am positive that your George will come home. PLEASE don't give up hope!

 

[Norachan]

You're really lucky that Severus came home again. Is that him in your avatar?

Thanks for telling us his story. I love a happy ending.

 

[micheleasley]

No. The boy in my avatar is Sirius. 

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• micheleasley
• Jan 16, 2014

 This is my Sevvy., There are cases of pets being missing for months, even YEARS and eventually finding their way home. When Severus was missing, I kept it in my heart that even if he never made it home to me, I was sure that someone would see his sweet face and care for him, even if I couldn't. Better he be safe in someone's home than out in the cold and dangerous city, looking for me.

I am hoping with all of my heart that your lovely cat will make it's way home to you. 

 

[ilovecatesxoxo]

I admire your determination to find your George:-)
Don't ever give up hope I too lost my dear Kipper and searched everywhere for him I was terrified that he had been run over/taken by a shelter or God knows what.
But then after almost four months of frantic searching he sauntered up to me on a chilly autmn morning and started begging for his breacfast as if nothing happened!! He is kept strictly indoors unless in his pen but I sometimes take pity on him and let him out to play with my other cats Fabby and Bramble but he has a collar with a bell and contact number and is micro chipped and neutered and I make sure that they are fed the best food. haha!

Never give up hope your doing great!!!