Need help. Missing Kitten =(

[hissy]

So what happened to the caught kitty? Did Tina keep it? I am sorry that it wasn't Tek-

 

[kteegirl24]

lacey, sasha, amy, hissy, rarepuss, charmed, maverick, caterpillar,jenny, susan, eatrawfish, yosemite and every single person who has been reading my thread and giving their helpfull responses and for caring so much. It means the world to me right now, beacuse the people around me think I should just "get over it" and they are all trying to send me links of new cats that need homes. I know they are trying to be helpfull but I'm not ready to give up on her yet (and of course it makes me feel so bad for the cats that do need homes.I wish I could take them all!),


The kitty that tina had was really cute. She didn't catch her in the carrier, she was just laying under a tree and they stood guard until I got there. She was small but looked very well groomed so I think it is probably a neighborhood cat (with a family),as she only ever see's it around 3-6PM, never at night. I'm not sure. I wanted to take it home! I have a feeling that this family will adopt it if it is a stray. The father seemed really concerned about it being outside.

I guess I will just keep video taping and hoping for a miracle.

I'll let you know if I hear anything.

Take care,

Katie

 

[amy-dhh]

Katie,

I'm so sorry it wasn't your Doodle

I know you are thinking the worst right now, but don't lose hope yet. Also, there is another possibility. Just like you saw that kitty that wasn't yours, it's possible someone saw your little furball and thought it needed a home. I know it's sad to think you'd never see her again, but that doesn't mean the worst happened... it could just be that she's curled up on someone elses couch right now bonding with a new family. I am still holding out hope that you find kitty, but if you don't, try not to think the worst... I know it's hard...

{{{HUGZ}}}

 

[sashacat421]

OH~~~~ I feel like I've been punched in the gut. Katie I had my hopes up way too high for your little one. I couldn't help it. Block out whatever people tell you -- get over it! Sheesh! Can I slap them for you?? You will when the time has come to let it go. Please don't feel guilty or bad, it took me almost 2 years. There were hours I couldn't even function, and days when the depression would not lift over my beloved tortie SiSi girl. She was my best friend of 11 years. But on May 18 last Spring, to the exact day she disappeared a year earlier, her son -my Sasha, got mauled by a coyote in our pumpkin patch less than 20 feet from our dining room window. He fought him off and survived....it took five months of healing and he's great now. The first night in ICU in the oxygen cube I went to see him and right above him, in another cube, was a tortie looking down on him, watching over him. I knew right then and there what the natural world was telling me. My knees went weak and I could barely stand. The answer was very obvious to me, one year later. And then I could let it go in my own way, although the yellow ribbon around our largest fir tree will never go.

Youl will either have her back in time or see a sign, my dear. Have that faith and NEVER give up hope. BTW does the local animal control have a hotline of kitties that are picked up every day? We do out here, they run throught them all and update every morning of what has come in. I'm unsure if I caught anywhere in your earlier posts if you've gone to the shelters to look them over.....
Be Strong.
Love,
Elizabeth

 

[jennyr]

Oh I am sorry - I know you had your hopes up even though you were trying to be cautious. Don't give up though, you never know what could happen. I am sending as many vibes as I can muster from here.

 

[rarepuss]

SOOO sorry

!! I wish i could do something, finding this cat his not your baby must have been heartbreaking.. i'd not give up yet,there's still hope

 

[caterpillar]

Katie, you would be surprised by the people who feed cats or otherwise leave out food for animals. When Mysty went missing, I posted his lost pet flyers in several city hall buildings and rec centers. Someone who happened to see the flyer called me to report that he saw a grey tabby like Mysty eating some cat food in his back yard. His wife leaves cat food out for strays and ferals. This cat was very skittish and fast and sounded to me like more of a feral cat than Mysty, but you never know. I asked the man to call me if he ever saw the cat again and he never did.

I also called the owner of an archery club nearby. I just decided to call him because he sits on a large tract of land and he may have seen Mysty. His secretary told me that they've been feeding a stray or feral all black cat, but nobody has seen a grey cat. "And don't worry," he remarked, "if I see a grey cat in the woods, I won't shoot him." (nice!

)

Then there's my dear brother who puts out birdseed, squirrel chow, and scraps for wild birds, squirrels, skunks, etc.. He told me that recently two cats have been visiting his feeding grounds.

When I called the local animal shelters, I found out that they often get reports from people who have found cats (like Tina) and who are taking care of them until owners are found. I received many phone calls from the local animal shelters describing cats that may have been Mysty. As it turned out, none fit Mysty's description.

Try posting some flyers on main streets, hand them out to city hall and rec center workers, churches, schools, veterinarian offices, etc.. You can even try calling the local animal warden, police, and fire depts, supermarkets, shopping centers, churches, schools, gas stations, or any place where your cat may be found. Hungry, lost cats may seek the comfort of buildings such as supermarkets, gas stations, and grocery stores.

Good luck in finding your kitten!

 

[kteegirl24]

You guys have so much great advice! Unfortunately you also share the same heartwrenching experience and for that I am truely truely sorry. Geez nice thing of that guy to say that he won't shoot her (him?)! I guess our little guys and girls are out there eating some place!

Sasha your story is heartwrenching as well. Coyotes are my biggest fear out there for her... your Sasha must be one tough cookie!

We don't have a hotline that lists found cats, that is a good idea, but we do have just the local dog officer number whom i call once a week to update him to know that I'm still looking. Also about 15 giant posters are hung on telephone polls around my area. I'm worried that the town will only let me keep those up for so long as you can definitely see them from your car (that was the point in me making them so noticiable). You can't see my flyers from the car. I had put those in the mailboxes of the area surrounding my house (about a mile radius around). All the vets and shelters have a flyer. I'm still trying and I'm going to keep up with the buffet. I haven't lost hope yet entirely. I'm just sad.

 

[sashacat421]

Of course you are. This is a long ordeal and it's so very emotional. I'm so sorry. I continue to read every update. The one good thing I had in all of my ordeal trying to find SiSi was that way out here in the boondocks, I could post a sign for as long as a I wanted. So I made a huge white posterboard sign, about 8 x 8' and with orange spray paint stencils all it said was "Where's SiSi?" and my phone + brief description. It got everyone's attention. One lady called me just to say her heart cried out the first time she saw it, and she knew I must be a in a lot of pain. I nailed it to the biggest elm tree on the road into our neighborhood and there it was until the first snows (about 6 months). Taking it down was very, very emotional for me. I do understand....you also have been running on a lot of adrenaline and it is subsiding a bit now too.....

 

[laceydf]

Just now popping in for the first time since Saturday. Come on Tek, come back home!!!

 

[kteegirl24]

no updates yet. I keep doing the buffet and taping but my kitty never shows. Only the other two cats and now, racoons ugg. I have moved the food onto a table and am still taping. Now that it's been three and a half weeks,I think it's time to pass out another flyer saying "still missing" to each house within a one mile radius. It will be well over 100 flyers in mailboxes but I have to do it. I have been contacting my animal control officer once each week to update him. I contact the major shelter and the 2 vets one a week as well to update them. They all have flyers. I think i'm going to send another updated flyer though to the 15 closest shelters and animal hospitals in my area. If I could just catch a quick glimpse of her on video in my yard I would breath a whole lot easier and could maybe sleep at night again just knowing she's alive and close by. Right now, I still have this feeling that she is still alive- a strong feeling she is- I just don't know where. She was really inquisitive and got herself into some places somehow, like kittens do- closets that were shut (apparently after she was in there), an entertainment center behind the glass doors (she had her ways!), but she always called out and I'd find her and set her free. She worried me because of that.. so I'd have to say that my biggest fear is she got trapped somewhere and was calling where no one could hear her, and I couldn't help her. I jsut try not to think about that though. I try to think maybe she's out there having a good time. Maybe, like one of the posts I read on here, maybe she just hasn't successfully mated yet so she's still out there waiting. I read a post (forgive me for forgetting which one exatly, I have read 1000 success stories in the past 3 weeks just hoping), but her female unspaid cat was found two months later in a mans garage. He called animal control, and that's how she got her back, and suprisingly enough she wasn't pregnant. That's why her vet thinks she was gone so long... so maybe the same thing is happening. I just want her to be safe, and happy, and not pregnant. Even if she was, if she came home, I would keep them all! Make sure each one is spayed and chipped. =(

Sorry for rambling.. I just keep holding on.

ps. I also have been putting an ad (with a picture) in the local paper each week since she went missing. I put it in for two more weeks today. Paper comes out on Thursdays

 

[laceydf]

aw!!! Bless you heart!!! That last post made me cry!

I'm with you, I just wish Tek would show that cute little face on camera so our faith could be restored a bit!!!

Don't give up ever!
Wishing I were there with you to help find little Tek,
Lacey

 

[gailc]

I've been following your story and am so sad to read that she hasn't come home yet.
A tip the local animal shelter gave me is keep your signs simple. When Sheba was missing (a story for another time) the description was her basic color and my phone number. It was easy for people to remember. They had told me too much of a description and listing a reward could potentially attract unsavory types of people.
Sierra once was missing for 2 weeks-we spotted her under some pine trees but she wouldn't come to us- I don't remember how we finally lured her in the garage but she was under the truck we opened the house door and said her name and she ran in and up to our bedroom and crawled under the covers and stayed there for 24 hrs.
No injury marks or anything like that but she did have a bit of a personality change in which she was a little more skittish around us. We never did figure out where she was or what happened. I believe the will to come home exists in our cats and I hoping for your kitty to come home to you soon. Keep up the faith!!

 

[caterpillar]

I've been following the thread, too. One of the animal shelter workers told me that a cat will lose its sense of smell when the weather is cold. Cats' sense of smell is extremely important to them in finding their directions or their way home.

I wonder if that's what happened to Mooie cat. He left before a snowstorm hit, then went missing for five weeks. During that five week period we had cold weather and more snow. Another oddity, why did this other strange white cat just appear when Mooie returned home?

If a cat is neutered or spayed, wouldn't it be more difficult to navigate outside as they no longer spray or mark territory? Thse neutered and spayed cats are also picking up the smells and urine markings of other cats.

If any of the moderators or cat experts here could answer these questions, I would really like to know. Thanks!

When the animal shelter worker told me about the cats' sense of smell lacking during cold weather, I just tossed her comment aside as being some old wives' tale, but what she said could very well be true! I've never heard of this before. I've heard that a cat will always find its way back home.

Gail, that was interesting about your cat hiding under some pine trees. I think that's where cats hide out; under pine trees, spruce trees, and evergreens. Evergreens block the wind, snow, and rain, and a cat is very difficult to see underneath them. What happened to Sheba?

 

[kteegirl24]

yeah that defintiely makes sense. I hope now that the weather is warming up, she will be able to smell us since I have been opening the windows now every chance I get. with spring winds hopefully it will travel further and she will make her way home.
Hey, Mooie cat did it eventually!! =) Thanks gail and lacey too as always.. your support means so much! I don't feel like I'm going through this alone.

last night on my way home I went the route of where the first sighting was a week after she went missing and low and behold a little kitty runs across the street just line mine, so i pulled over, grabbed some cat food and went over to this person's front lawn and crouched down. This friendly kitty came right up to me! It was bigger than my cat but she's been gone a month, coulda grown, looked exactly like her only no white paws =(. Very friendly but it definitely wasn't her. I belive this is the cat that the boy thought was mine that first week.. so who knows! Keep on looking. Making more signs, that are a little more basic (good advice!) and hope for the best.

Take care!

 

[gailc]

Caterpiller,
look for my thread on this forum-"big news on Me and Sheba" you will get the scoop!!

 

[laceydf]

oh!!! So close...that stinks that it wasn't her! I hope that little kitty has a home, he/she sounds precious!

You're definitely not in this alone...we're all here for you!!!

Still praying for Tek's return!

 

[caterpillar]

Gail, that is just terrible! Somehow I missed your thread. How could anyone be so evil and cruel?!

We have some free roaming neighborhood cats and one cat loves to enter garages and climb on cars. That's the worse that a cat can do; leave some pawprints on people's windshields! Even if a cat poops on someone's property, the cat poop is beneficial to soil and wildlife, as is rabbit poop, the best fertilizer, and we have clumps of rabbit poop in the back yard. Someone shooting a cat has absolutely NO excuse for such deliberate, evil cruelty!! Your poor cat! My prayers are with you!

Fortunately, I have never heard of anyone shooting a cat around here, but what also angers me are the drivers who speed, are not cautious knowing full well of the wooded areas, and don't give a care if they hit an animal. I've seen several dead cats on some of the main roads last year and it breaks my heart to see them. Some passers by out of kindness will place a blanket or cloth over the cat or remove its body from the road.

 

[yosemite]

Have I missed something? Someone shot your cat? I don't see that in the replies!

You poor thing - you must be beside yourself. My warmest thoughts and prayers to you.

 

[laceydf]

huh????