He left us for the trailer park - BUT HE'S HOME NOW!!!!

knottybuoyz

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
99
Purraise
1
Location
Iroquois, ON
Hello Cat Folks

I'm Rick, my wife is Lori. We live in eastern Ontario Canada. For the last two months we've been trying to find our orange tabby "Squirt". Squirt jumped off our boat on Big Rideau Lake while we were travelling the Rideau System on our boat.



We had to leave the area and were able to return a few days later to search for him. After three more days of searching we had to head home (by boat) and return in vehicles. We received a call about a week after Squirt jumped ship and returned to the neighboring trailer park. We caught up to him, lured him in with some food. Once we had a hold of him something spooked him and he bolted leaving us scarred and bloodied. Repeated attempts were made in the following weeks with no luck. We heard him a few times but weren't able to get close. Other park dwellers told us they've seen and heard him.



We made bi-weekly trips (100 kms each way) to feed and look for Squirt. We (with the permission of the trailer owners) to set him up with a Pet Taxi (covered in plastic), his blanky & stuffed rat. We'd leave him food. After a month or so we had to reduce these trips to weekly. The trailer owners would leave food out when they were there but it's not been a daily thing.

Well it's been two months now that Squirt's been gone. The trailers are all being closed up for the winter. Soon there won't be anybody there to feed him and when the snow flies there's no road plowing so we won't be able to get in either.

I guess to make a long sad story shorter we're looking for tips/tricks on how we might be able to lure him in and capture him. We've tried a live trap, he tipped it over and got the food out (he's a perdy smart piddy). If I could find some netting I'd make a spring trap but we'd have to stay there (which is near impossible). Anyhow, any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry for such a long first post.
 

pee-cleaner

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 6, 2006
Messages
469
Purraise
12
I have no real useful information for you, but just want to wish you and your wife and of course Squirt the best of luck. It's obvious how much you love him and how desperately you want him home where it's safe.

I hope someone with some good info comes along soon!

Take care,

Cally
 

mrblanche

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
12,578
Purraise
119
Location
Texas
As the trailer park empties out, he may get hungry enough and cold enough to be a lot more amenable to going home with you. However, I suppose it's possible someone from the park may consider him "theirs" and take him home.

I've seen it advised to put a blanket or rug from your home over the trap, and a sweaty T-shirt from whoever he was bonded with under the trap, just so he can be comforted by familiar smells.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

knottybuoyz

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
99
Purraise
1
Location
Iroquois, ON
Originally Posted by pee-cleaner

I have no real useful information for you, but just want to wish you and your wife and of course Squirt the best of luck. It's obvious how much you love him and how desperately you want him home where it's safe.

I hope someone with some good info comes along soon!

Take care,

Cally
Thanks for the kind words Cally. Squirt came to us last fall. Just invited himself in and made himself at home. When he first showed up he was wearing a pink collar!!! We're guessing once his knickers showed up someone realized he wasn't a she and turned him out. There's a lot of that goes on around here. We feed the local strays and care for them as best we can. We've rescued a few of them over the years. I'll post those stories later. Anyhow, Squirt quickly became one of the family and blossomed into a (more than) healthy 18 lb furball. Vet says that's too heavy for a cat but he's also probably still in starvation mode after being turned out to fend for himself. I don't imagine after 2 months in the bushes he's still that weight. Here's a few more pics....





That last one was the day he disappeared. He had shown no inclination to get off the boat at all the whole time. It was only when we were ashore (at a friends cottage) that he decided it was time to go. He was in a harnass and tether but wiggled his way out (which would have been a chore). He obviously got it in his head to go for a walk on the dock and did!

This is Shadow. She's our other cat. As you can see she likes to relax when she's on the boat..




And this pictue speaks for itself..
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

knottybuoyz

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
99
Purraise
1
Location
Iroquois, ON
Originally Posted by mrblanche

As the trailer park empties out, he may get hungry enough and cold enough to be a lot more amenable to going home with you. However, I suppose it's possible someone from the park may consider him "theirs" and take him home.

I've seen it advised to put a blanket or rug from your home over the trap, and a sweaty T-shirt from whoever he was bonded with under the trap, just so he can be comforted by familiar smells.
Thans for the tips MrBlanche. We have left some of Squirt's favorite toys and blanket in the Pet Taxi. We also sprinkle it liberally with catnip (his personal blend).

What we're afraid of when the trailer park closes down for the season is there'll be nobody around for him to turn to for food or shelter. He'll likely move on when that happens and we'll loose track of him. When we first lost him we plastered the entire area with posters. Everyone and I mean "everyone" within 10 miles knows who "Squirt" is and who he belongs to. On the downside he was lost close to Portland Ontario which, as we've been told, has one of the largest populations of feral "Orange" cats! *sigh*

I think we'd be happy if we know Squirt had a new home. That's kinda a "Catch 22" though!
 

krazy kat2

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 14, 2001
Messages
8,085
Purraise
41
Location
Somewhere in Georgia
He is beautiful! I bet someone took him in. I hope you find him, though.
He doesn't look too big as your vet said, he looks like a big boy. My RB Bridge kitty, Leo, also a red tabby, was 22 lbs, not hardly an ounce of fat on him. His shoulders came nearly to my knees, his head was as big as a softball.
 

pami

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Messages
17,482
Purraise
17
Location
Birmingham
Oh my gpodness I could not imagine, my heart goes out to you.


Is there anyway that you can go and stay for at least a few days there? Take some old cat litter that he or Shadow have used (if you have any left) you need to lure him to you by things that smell familiar to him. Clothes (that are dirty and have your smell all over them) blankets that have your smell.

People swear by Kentucky Fried Chicken (without the bones) to lure cats.

You can borrow/rent a humane trap (from a local rescue group) to have the familiar smelling things in, so when he goes to them you can permanently catch him, but someone really needs to be right there nearby.

Hes a beauty, so is Shadow, sending so many positive vibes your way that you get your little boy back home with you
 

graciecat

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
3,365
Purraise
4
Location
In Steelers Country!
I don't have any real advice to offer either...I was going to mention the chicken and something either you or your Wife had worn to help trap him..but that's already been mentioned.

I just wanted to say that he's just beautiful as is Shadow.

Sending many and Prayers that you're able to locate Squirt very soon.
 

skimble

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Messages
930
Purraise
13
Location
MS
I can share what I have done. The best luck I have is with the brand Heart of the Earth traps. http://www.animal-traps.com/animal-trap-dog-medium.html

The medium dog trap has gotten us many of our larger cats. He is a large cat so this might work better for him. You can borrow one from a shelter or vet. Tell them you need a medium dog trap. Don't say it's for a cat or they will try to talk you out of a dog trap.

Make sure trap is very clean.

Tie the trap door open and feed him in there. Next time set the trigger. If you don't get him, keep putting food just inside the door with the door tied open. Then set it after a few times.

Line the bottom of the trap with soil or newspapers so he will not have to walk on the wire bottom.

Food to try as bait that works for many are fried chicken from a fast food place, stinky canned fish (sardines, mackrel, salmon worked great), barbeque got me several cats, dog food, or any favorite food you remember he likes.

The larger trap may be the best effort. Post in the "Caring for Strays and Ferals" section. Some will have more ideas to offer. I wish you the best.
 

rotobay

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
265
Purraise
7
Location
southern California
Oh poor Squirt! He's a handsome fellow and thankfully looks like he had been well fed before his escape. I'm sending lots of good luck vibes for his safe return home.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #15

knottybuoyz

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
99
Purraise
1
Location
Iroquois, ON
Heading out soon to look for Squirt again. This has pretty much been a weekly pilgrimage to the trailer park. It snowed this week and the trailer park has shut down for the season so I'm not very confident that he's still in the area. It's been three months he's been lost now so we're also not that confident he'll come to us. We'll bait him with food if we can hear/see him. We always leave food too. Don't know if we'll have many more opportunities before the big snows hit to look for him. Send vibes.

It's time to come home Squirt, 'nuff foolin' around big boy!
 

krz

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Aug 24, 2008
Messages
594
Purraise
13
I am praying you find him and he comes home!! Keep updates coming and I think it is great how dedicated you are to bringing him home again.
 

wyatturpsmom

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 4, 2006
Messages
246
Purraise
1
Location
California
Oh, my goodness. I've just been reading about Squirt. Most of the advice I've seen here I've used to trap (when necessary) strays, except the KFC (I'll keep that in mind). Sending vibes and prayers you will find him soon.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #20

knottybuoyz

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
99
Purraise
1
Location
Iroquois, ON
We were up on Saturday for a look around and replenished the food supply. Something's been eating the food and dragging the stuffed rat out of the pet taxi. We're going to go up again next Saturday and spend the entire day to see if he comes back for the food and trap him if we can. We spent a couple of hours last Saturday afternoon at a cat rescue shelter near here (300 cats) and it just reinforced how much we miss the silly lil' sh*t! The cat lady there gave us some tips that we'll try to lure him in. If we don't get him soon we'll have to let fate take control and hope that he approaches somebody for help that knows we're looking for him.

I don't know what he's thinking. This has got to be better than sleeping under a trailer when it's -40 degs outside!

Stay tuned...
 
Top