Jake got out of the HOUSE!! (ETA: Jake's back!)

Possible Jakie sighting. About a MILE away... not as the crow flies. We canvassed the area the lady said she saw him run to... and then put out a bunch more flyers on the adjacent streets. Got a posse coming to help tomorrow to search for the lil guy. IF that was him, he will have to be live trapped. It's possible what the lady and her daughter saw is a regular neighborhood outdoor cat... also b/w but possibly smaller than Jake.

Oh man... Jake... please come home.

It's funny.. when I got the call around 8 pm and the lady described where the cat she saw ran to, it's eerie. We had driven by the landmark she described -there is a barn-like shed there... I said to Doug... looks like a little barn.. wonder if Jake is there?

Keep those vibes and prayers coming... .PLEASE!!

More vibes for Jake to return home....

Keep those vibes and prayers coming... .PLEASE!!

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Absolutely, Addie.

I had two phone calls in succession this morning with reports of Jakie sightings. I rushed over there...it was near where the first sighting was... no luck. The people who called were very nice and said if need be it was ok to set a live trap in their yards to catch him. Experts are telling me to try to establish a feeding station for him first ...then trap. I went there around 7 pm ... searching for him again. The only thing I  got was the cops called on me.  

I did find a sheltered spot in the side yard of one of the caller's homes and left sardines on a stinky shirt... sprinkled baking soda around to check for paw prints.

Mostly people have been wonderful, but when I first stopped on this particular street, parked and got out...the lady's whose house I was in front of was a total witch, basically telling me to get lost.  I moved my car. I wouldn't be surprised if she is the one who called the police. I'd like to egg the front of her house, but the cops know who I am now.

I also put out sardines, stinky shirt and baking soda on the front porch. I know leaving food out overnight is a no-no ... but just in case he IS still hunkered down nearby and these other sightings are for a different cat, I want him close to home. Of the feeding stations I set up all around this house, the porch is the only one where food was eaten.  And one of the people who called said the b/w cat she saw was on her porch, only to be scared off by her barking dogs.

The only small comfort I have is that I was told several people in the neighborhood put out food for cats and other critters, so maybe he is getting something to eat. Also, except for witchie-poo ... people have been really nice, including the two cops who came out. They asked about Jake, took flyers and said they patrol this area and would be on the lookout for him.

Addie, I know this is a stupid question, but you did call all the vets in the area, the chip co., all the shelters, left flyers with all of them and such, right?
Have you told the neighbors and put flyers in their mailboxes (including in the area of the sightings) for them to check their garages?
Often scared kitties will hide in garages and will not come out when called.... You can only see their little eyes with a flash light..... This is pretty much what happened to my friend's cat.....
When the neighbor left the garage door open, she went it to check - kitty followed her home when she heard her bawling minutes later.
This was days after her disappearance.
Don't give up hope Addie

Hey, Caro. I called most all the vets in a 5 mile radius... only about 4 of them... emailed or dropped off flyers. I have walked this street and neghboring streets in daylight and evening. I now have a handheld spotlight. We used it last night. I haven't asked neighbors to check their garages, tho the ones on either side or me are cat people; I know one guy was LEAVING the door up a little bit JIC. Another lady last night let me search HER open garage... but srsly... it is a needle in a haystack.

I didn't call the chip company. This is a good idea. The chip is either regist. to me under the flag of the rescue I used to be with or to Livingston County Animal Control. I need to dig out that paperwork.

I printed up 200 COLOR copies of Jake's "lost cat" flyer and have distributed about half. We even had a call from people about 6-7 miles away who saw my flyer in the UPS store and thought that maybe they had found Jake in their yard. It was not a match.

My next move is to make large neon colored posters and put them up along the main drags.

Honestly - I am just one person. Doug cannot help b/c of his visual impairment.

I have had a couple of friends ( fellow rescuers) help me look - to no avail.

It is now the SIXTH night of Jake's disappearance and I am an absolute emotional mess.  I hope that he is at least finding food for himself.

Hi Addie, you have, have to call the chip company. If anyone gets to Jake, that's how he can get back to you, no matter where he is, in any shelter, any vet, anywhere. Update your information, and tell them he is missing, where he was missing. All shelters should have his chip info too.
It is a good idea to have flyers with instructions for the neighbors to check their garages, IMHO, and a contact to call you back.
Start closer to your house, then work on a radius. Think on how he would hide. Under what, behind what? Tell the neighbors to take a minute and look in there.
Then go to the place where he was last seen, and work on a radius also - dropping off flyers on their mailboxes.
It is said that the best times to look for them is at dusk and at night..... I know it is not the most appropriate of times, but think about it - when do you see the most amount of cats out? Not during day time..... They hide....
Call him and leave a trail. Is your garage door a bit open for him to come back into?
You just moved right? Have you checked the route to your older place? Cats are known to walk very long distances to go "home", the home they know.


:hugs :hugs
Hang in there my friend, I can't even imagine how you are feeling..... I wish there was a magic button I could push to bring him back

More for Jake! Has there been any sign of him?

Yes, still very much in my thoughts too....

Thank you ,everyone. No, no sign. Just talked at length with a fellow cat rescuer who has had cats escape or find escaped cats. She is convinced that my scaredyboy is still close by. She suggested pulling any food that I am putting out and setting several traps. It may take a while, but she is convinced if he is hungry enough he will come out and into a trap. In the meantime, I guess I need to be prepared to catch and release critters.

Carolina said:

You just moved right? Have you checked the route to your older place? Cats are known to walk very long distances to go "home", the home they know.

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Perhaps you should check with your former neighbors. We had a second cat for a couple of years because her family moved several towns over, and ZsaZsa kept coming back along heavily traveled roads. They took her back when they moved really far away (Croatia), because they figured she wouldn't try to return "home" from there (though they built an enclosure, just in case). My parents also ended up adopting a neighbor's cat. He'd moved miles away after his wife had died, and Ginger kept returning to her old hunting grounds. Both were indoor/outdoor cats, but that might not make a difference.

jcat said:

Perhaps you should check with your former neighbors. We had a second cat for a couple of years because her family moved several towns over, and ZsaZsa kept coming back along heavily traveled roads. They took her back when they moved really far away (Croatia), because they figured she wouldn't try to return "home" from there (though they built an enclosure, just in case). My parents also ended up adopting a neighbor's cat. He'd moved miles away after his wife had died, and Ginger kept returning to her old hunting grounds. Both were indoor/outdoor cats, but that might not make a difference.

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he might be headed, or be around the condo already.....

AddieBee said:

Thank you ,everyone. No, no sign. Just talked at length with a fellow cat rescuer who has had cats escape or find escaped cats. She is convinced that my scaredyboy is still close by. She suggested pulling any food that I am putting out and setting several traps. It may take a while, but she is convinced if he is hungry enough he will come out and into a trap. In the meantime, I guess I need to be prepared to catch and release critters.

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She probably knows what she is talking about... It seems so likely he's still in the area.

I'm wishing you loads of support and good vibes for the very best outcome.

Mani said:

She probably knows what she is talking about... It seems so likely he's still in the area.

I'm wishing you loads of support and good vibes for the very best outcome.

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mani, we are not saying she doesn't. In normal circumstances, yes, that's what I would think too... However, addie just moved, and Jakie lived his entire life in the condo.
my dad`s cat, Maria, did exactly the same thing as jcats post is describing, from miles away, going as far as entering in the elevator, going up to his floor, and scratching on the door for him to open. The mistery remains on who pushed the button for her :lol3:
when cats are used to a place, they tend to return, they are known to do that. All we are saying, is to cover all basis. That's all.

First- thank you to everyone supporting me in our efforts to find Jakie and get him back home. I have been checking at my former address. Searched in the dark with a spotlight last night. I had put flyers on people's doors or gates with a handwritten note saying this missing cat LIVED at XXXX Barrington and may return here. Pls call if you see him...etc. NOTHING.

My friend who knows tons about cats - ferals, semi, housecats... really thinks he is close but too scared still to approach.  They lent me a wildlife cam which I set up last night... unfortunately, the camera malfunctioned...

I went online, found the mfg, found the manual and the troubleshooting section and I THIIIINK I fixed the problem. I set it up and it took pics of ME... sooooo....

This evening - traps around the property and camera on the front porch. Or maybe the cam needs to be along the woods??? IDK.

This friend did tell me a story of a cat that was dropped at the owner's parents house b/c the owner was moving out of the country. They were warned NOT to let the cat out,but they did. It took a couple of weeks to get the cat back. They had search parties out every night, tore apart neighbors' garages, etc. NO CAT. NEVER SIGHTED!

But they were finally able to trap him ( he was on the property or adjacent all along just really, really well hidden.)

I am trying VERY hard not to lose hope; Doug is really down in the dumps.  But I do much better if I stay focused on tasks that could bring Jake home.

OK. Sunday night. This is now the 10th night that Jakie has been gone. He went out that window Friday, Aug 17 around 11 pm and it is now Sunday, Aug 26 at 8:40 pm. I set up a feeding station on my front porch and SOMETHING is coming to eat the food. This time, the food is inside a draped live trap.. .I used a garbage bag b/c it is supposed to rain. And for that reason, too, I am not setting up traps along the wooded lot line per my cat expert friend. Also got the game cam working. It malfunctioned last night so the food was consumed w/o any evidence of who was there.

Actually caught a little black kitty one time. I let him/her go... then afterward thought, "what if this was someone's missing pet?" or "what if this cat needed help?" Then I began to feel horribly guilty.

So both are in place. Hope I have the cam positioned ok. I am a noob at this. Say a prayer that it's Jakie coming to eat, not a possum, skunk, raccoon or a stray or neighbor's outside kitty. I am so sad, heart is SO heavy ....I feel as tho' I have lost an important family member. And I have.

You're covering every possibility, Addie.  Whether he's made for his old home, or still in the area, you really couldn't do more than you're doing.

I just can't imagine what it must be like, and really do think of you and Jake often. 

Hopefully he's picking up on all the love and you'll find him soon.

More that he'll go into the trap!

OMGOMGOMG... set the trap and the cam on the porch. This is the only real image captured. I thiiiiink this is Jakie.

Definitely food in the trap. If you're going to stay up, you probably don't need the camera as long as you're awake. Do you think he'll come to you outdoors? Could you sit in a garage or car?