Distraught

[Sheanie]

When my Gray Cat was gone for the summer, he had been cat-napped by the nasty across the street neighbor. That bitch had live-trapped him in her back yard and drove him out in the country and dropped him off. He spent the summer being the very beloved pet of a teenage girl. When she went to college, her parents took him to the shelter, who recognized him from my photo and called me.

When I confronted the neighbor about what she was SEEN DOING, she got all in my face. I had to be restrained from putting hands on her. In my defense, I WAS pregnant and very hormonal at the time. And Gray Cat got loose by my toddler innocently opening the door. That neighbor was the nastiest woman in our neighborhood. She hurt little kids, she hurt stray pets, she abused her own children who I grew up with.

I hope your cat is spending some time like Gray Cat did, gaining weight as someone else's pet.

 

[DianaCox]

I hope so too - I'm in agony worrying he's cold, hungry, hurt - and lost.

I went to the animal shelter yesterday - broke my heart to see all the lost kitties. There was a cat whose pic looked a little like Loki, and I had to make sure it wasn't him. I discovered the microchip company LIED and the shelter did NOT get the lost cat notice, so I posted one with them.

 

[Whit]

Oh no. I'll bet somebody has him in their house. I hope he comes home soon.
Whit

 

[JackieOnLine]

the not knowing has to be awful.

 

[Jo777]

That link Jackie posted regarding looking in all the hidey-holes, like asking neighbors to let you get on hands and knees under decks was really helpful.. He may just be hiding out within 5 or so houses up or down.. I feel for you, our cats are waaaay too important to us (by non-cat owning people.) I have a lot of empathy for what you've been going through, sorry

 

[DianaCox]

Put flyers on all the houses for blocks around over the last couple of days - made up more posters in plastic sleeves, and I'm going to TAPE them with packing tape TIGHTLY to trees around the park, by the school, and at the ends of the blocks near the park at the entrances to the neighborhood - someone keeps removing the ones I put up before with pushpins. They'll need a pocket knife to get them down after I tape them up!

It's just not possible to get into many people's backyards around here - everyone has a fence, and the lots are long and thin, so the backyards are deep. I've gone into a few, but didn't see him. Last night I put out treats on the stoop in front of the door to my bedroom - no takers.

Today is 2 weeks that he's been gone. My stomach just aches ...

 

[bearmom]

Ohhh. I saw there was a new post on this thread by you and was hopeful the little bastard was tired of his grand adventure. I'm actually glad to hear of so many fences. While that may give him more places to hide, it discourages long distance travel. Complete empathy for what you are going through, and how tortuous this wait is.

I'm irked at how unsympathetic the person is that is removing your signs, and wondering if printing them double sided may help. Put your lost cat info on one side, and a plea to the person removing them on the other that only they can read if they pull it down, to please show some compassion and leave your signs up, and you promise to remove them at the appropriate time and don't intend to leave them for eternity. Maybe they'll reconsider after they pull the first one off?

Don't lose faith, and if he returns fatter than he was when he left, refrain from strangling him.

 

[hilary1617]

@DianaCox, Keep the faith, he'll come home eventually. My fingers are crossed and heart aches for you.

 

[Sheanie]

I just remembered something. We found out our nasty neighbor catnapped Grey Cat when we spoke to her next door neighbor, Eric, who was a little older than my oldest son. He saw her set the trap with canned cat food. He saw her load the cat trap into her car and ride off. He was my witness. But if we hadn't went door-to-door talking to everyone, we never would have found this out.

Maybe talk to the little kids in your neighborhood? I seem to recall you had one "sore head" you were in a disagreement with? That was the case with the nasty catnapper. We had words over the kids walking on her grass. That set her off, and she trapped our cat in retaliation.

Maybe someone knows something or saw something? Have you offered a reward? We did not, but Eric got some much-needed free dental care out of the deal.

 

[Charris]

He's still in my prayers. Praying he comes home safely. Don't give up.

 

[DianaCox]

Maybe some promising news. Keeping in mind that I have been told that indoor cats rarely go more than a few hundred yards from their homes, here is a map of our neighborhood:

The little house sign by Hadley is where we live. The first possible sighting of Loki was a couple of days after he disappeared (1) on Cleveland - where we saw another black/grey tabby, but not Loki. The second sighting was a little closer to our house, also on Cleveland - but the woman called a couple of hours after she saw him. Both of those contacts came as a result of neighborhood Yahoo groups.

A couple of days later, we got a call that someone had seen Loki in the Rose Garden (3), across Naglee, which is a fairly busy street (two lanes in each direction, trucks and buses, as well as all the traffic for the three schools we live near, plus it is a through road to Hwy 87 as well as I-880). I postered all around the park but someone kept taking my posters down (which were not cheap, were a pain to put together in a waterproof sleeve and put up with pushpins). I also posted messages on Craigslist, our local NextDoor group, the Santa Clara Animal Shelter, the schools, and put posters at Zanotto's, Bill's Cafe, and Starbux at Park and Naglee. I walked and called and walked and called all around our street, Cleveland. all around and through the Rose Garden, and Naglee, plus more posters everywhere.

Three days ago, I was putting up more signs, and saw a mailman three blocks south of our house, and showed him the poster - and he said he saw a cat like that on the corner of Boston and Olive (5: several blocks away) in the bushes around a parking lot in front of a New Age-y business ("Ta’s Healing Center") - lots of weird plantings and such - (https://www.google.com/maps/@37.325...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1szRuWA5xUJUDCqjy7LbAAew!2e0) - but I had no luck, though I went there repeatedly over the next few days.

Yesterday and today, I walked around and put flyers on every door in another wider circle around our house. I got a phone call from a woman two blocks over and up the street (4 - yes, out of order), who thought she saw Loki, but it was on a neighbor's roof behind a house that is one street away on Cleveland, where there are THREE black and grey tabbies. Today, I put up more posters, only this time with PACKING TAPE - not impossible to remove, but the assholes who've been taking my posters down will need a knife. I put extra labels on the ones I put up around the Rose Garden asking them NOT to remove the posters, and that I will take them down when Loki is found.

While we were doing that today, I got a call from someone who had moved out of a house on Wabash (6) that is being remodeled - she said her daughter, who lives next door, called her on December 1st and asked her if she had her cat with her, because one just like him (black and grey tabby) was on the porch - but it was not her mom's cat. So we went over there, and the daughter's boyfriend said the cat had taken off down the block even further south - so off we went. At the end of the block where it crosses Olive, we were a short block from the Healing Center, and I walked over there again, and some people across the street on the corner (7) were in their garden, so I asked them if they'd seen Loki - and they said they had seen a cat like that THIS MORNING!! So we pss pss pssed and called him and shook the treat container till we had no more spit. I put up even more posters around there.

I went back twice more, the second time just after it became dark. Someone was outside on Wabash, and I gave her a flyer, and she said there was a lady around the corner - ON THE SAME CORNER where the Healing Center and the people in the garden who saw him this morning! - who does cat rescue and feeds ferals!! I walked back around the block and left a flyer on her door.

About an hour ago, she called me and said she is pretty sure she saw Loki THIS EVENING ON HER PORCH, eating at the feeding station!!! She says she's pretty sure it's him - he's in the company of one of her ferals, an older female, and he's following the feral around. The rescue lady thinks he's been eating there for a few days by the amount of food that's being eaten. She has her own traps (!!), but she is old and has a bum leg and her boyfriend wasn't home, so Charles and I went over and helped her set up the trap with catnip and his favorite treaties that I brought with me.

I am so excited - maybe we'll have him back in the next day or so!!

IF - it is him. I'm trying to prepare myself to be disappointed.

LOKI - COME HOME!!!

 

[DianaCox]

Jean, I cannot believe someone would do such a horrible thing to you and to your cat - and I am AMAZED that you were eventually reunited with Gray Cat!

I am trying to not get my hopes up - but I want to go camp out in front of the Cat Lady's house. Or get the RV and park it in the Healing Center's massive parking lot (it is weirdly large - I don't have any reason to drive by there in all the years we've lived here, but I've never noticed the place before, and can't imagine they have that much business that it is worth keeping that land as a parking lot - it is big enough to put two $850K+ new houses on).

 

[JackieOnLine]

HOPE!

and bless the woman who feeds the ferals.

 

[Sheanie]

Diana, first of all, in light of your most recent, long, post, I now believe Loki is out getting some old lady ass. Second, and this pertains to nothing, the Healing Center is probably a euphemism for the sex trade in some form. Just an FYI. We had one of those by us, it turned out to be prostitutes working as massage ladies of the night. So keep Charles away from THAT place while looking for Loki. And finally, there are A LOT of really nice, honest people in the world. But there are a few sadistic bastards sprinkled in with them. The honest ones are VERY willing to tattle on the sick ones. But be careful if you are offering a reward. Remember me telling you about Imposter Cat? She was one of those sick people. Took my reward for a cat that so closely resembled mine, the only difference side by side was that Imposter Cat never could find the litter box. Which is amazing, if you think about it. You live in a house that contains a box of cat shit. Cats SHOULD be able to sniff that out, but IC never could. When we got Grey Cat back, it was uncanny how much they looked alike. Grey Cat did NOT like IC at all. And he was one laid back dude. Never fought once, until he met IC.

True Story. Not one I tell people in real life. Unless they know Mrs. Jamison, the Nasty Neighbor. Oh, and I called the police on her. They said it was legal, what she did. Trapping a loose cat on her property.

Keep checking back with the people who "sighted" cats like Loki. I would park next to the feral cat feeder's house at feeding time. With binoculars and a ball cap.

 

[Sheanie]

Oh, and take a snack.