
UPDATE: After 12 days, Bert was finally found! Thanks so much for everyone who helped me to bring my baby back home. I'm the happiest cat mom ever.
I hate to report this, but on Sunday night, April 23, 2017, my 13 year old orange tabby cat, Bert, went missing. This cat is like my baby... I've had him since he was just 2 weeks old and I had to bottle feed him. He acts like I'm his Mom, and I miss him so much!

On Wednesday, I had what I thought was a really good lead, when a girl called and said she had him, but she didn't leave a phone number (I have to face the fact that it was probably a prank). I feel like I was just dropped hard on my butt. I've been flyering the neighborhood, posting on Craigslist, NextDoor, Pawboost... I even did a pet amber alert.... but none of those methods has brought him home, as of yet.


For the last year, every time I'd look at him, I'd feel this sense of joy, and a surge in my heart, knowing I was given a second chance with him. I'd hug him a little harder and could literally feel my heart get bigger when I'd look at him. I love this cat so much. Bert is truly like my baby - I've had him since he was just about 2 weeks old, and had to bottle feed him after his Mom ran away - so he kind of thinks of me as his Mom. If I'm in the TV room talking to my husband, he hears my voice and runs in to sit on my lap (which kind of annoys my husband, as he is allergic and we try to keep the tv room a cat-free zone). Needless to say, this has been really devastating for me, not knowing if he's hungry, injured, scared, or even alive.
To be going through all this again, feels like a cruel joke in so many ways. I planned to spend all of Monday shooting and editing a video, that is a badly-needed part of my business. I'd even bought some materials on Sunday, to be able to make the video. My plan was to garden in the afternoon / evening on Sunday, and then go inside and write out the points I was going to cover in the video I'd shoot the next day. I've been extremely busy working on other projects and was finally at a point where I could be done with everything else, and get back to work. I was really looking forward to it!


Well, on Sunday, I finally had some time to spend a few hours pulling some weeds, and decided to commit the late afternoon to finally cleaning up the yard. I felt really good about how many weeds I was able to get rid of. It was soo bad!
Sunday was a beautiful day, and as I have many times in the past, I set to work in the yard with my kitties hanging out in the area. I've always enjoyed having the cats hang out with me while I work outside... especially because I haven't had time to work outside for such a long time. And I haven't had a lot of time to spend with them, so this way I was killing 2 birds with one stone.

After I lost him for 48 hours last year, I made sure to get Bert microchipped, and to also make sure he is always wearing a collar with a nametag.
Now I realize that, I had made way too much of an assumption that having these things meant that he would be safe in the front of the house. Just because he's friendly, and he always hangs out in front with no problem, and I've gotten him back before... I shouldn't have had that false sense of security, that if he ever wandered again... I could get him right back.
At some point during my gardening, a woman from the dog rescue organization told me that something got mixed up when she was editing the dog rescue blog I created (I finally decided to make other people administrators because I just can't keep up with it myself). Some of the tabs got linked to the wrong pages, and this needed to be fixed since I knew people would be looking at the blog that day (we've been sharing the links on Craigslist, Facebook, and Next Door regularly). So I went inside and I ended up working on the blog for an hour, to try to fix the issues and make some updates. By the time I got back outside, it was getting close to 8, and the sun had already set. I don't recall whether I saw Bert when I went back out, but I'm pretty sure I did, because I think I would have noticed his absence and started looking for him. I regularly walk out to the street to make sure the cats are staying off the road.
I usually keep weeding until I have a completely full yard scraps bin (or two, if my neighbors lend me theirs). And this sometimes means I am still working in the dark. My thoughtful husband came outside and brought me his headlamp that he uses for hiking, and it worked great.
At some point, I looked down the sidewalk and it appeared that Bert and our other cat, Milo, had wandered down to my friend Laurie's house. I had shined my headlamp down the sidewalk and saw two set of cat eyes shining back at me, and assumed it was Bert and Milo. Now that I think of it, I realize there is a chance one could have been my other cat Nixie, but actually do think it probably was Bert (I would still guess it was him, but will never know for sure).
I called them to come back, and they appeared to be headed my way, so I went back to work. I have a tendency to listen to business-related educational tapes the whole time I'm working, so I suppose I was a little distracted. Milo, who is completely miserable being indoors (he was a solo cat in the past who loathes having roommates) is like the neighborhood mascot and wanders a little (just down a few houses and back these days). While I don't like the idea that it is more risky for him to spend so much time outdoors, it's a risk I've had to weigh over the years, with the amount of happiness he clearly gets from being a mostly-outdoor cat.
I filled up the yard scraps bin, pulled it behind the gate, went inside (probably around 930 pm) and then called the cats in for dinner.... but Bert never showed up. So, I went down the sidewalk to look for him. I have taught my cats to associate the sound of a tambourine with food, so when I shake it, they all come inside. But for whatever reason... Bert never came.
I circled the block a few times, looking for him, shaking a tambourine, calling his name, shaking a can of cat food... but again, he was nowhere to be found.

Again, this cat is like my child, and I feel responsible for his welfare. He seemed to think I was his Mom, since his real mom ran off as soon as she got the chance (she didn't understand why she'd been trapped and probably thought she was going to be killed).

The part that is hardest for me to deal with is, not knowing what happened to him. I am glad that he got a microchip, at least, because when he went missing last year without one, I couldn't bear the thought that he could wind up hundreds of miles in any direction and I'd have no way to ever track where he was.
After I got Bert back last year, I made this video, talking about the importance of having a microchip. In the video, I say I've had Bert since he was 3 weeks old, but I just realized, he was more like 2 weeks old. I recently saw some kittens that I was told were just 2 weeks old, and Bert looked just like that when I got him. He couldn't even walk yet. In this video, I said I didn't know how he got out. I later realized that he'd snuck outside while I was doing our taxes. I kind of hate looking at this video because I look so haggard... what you look like when you're crying for 2 days and barely eat or sleep.
If I ever get the chance to do another video, with him in it, it will be about this experience, and the dangers of letting your cats stay outside for too long. Yes, I know, it's not recommended. Sooo many animal rescue groups say you shouldn't let your cats outside. I guess I did it not only because the cats enjoyed it, but because I felt very overwhelmed having 4-6 cats in the house at a time (especially while my husband is allergic). But I guess I had a false sense of security that just because nothing really bad had happened to him in the past.. then it wouldn't in the future. And apparently I had wrongly assumed that just because he had a collar with an address... that meant someone would bring him to my front door if they found him.
The last time I saw Bert in the daylight, he was prancing towards a small white butterfly. I don't fully remember if this was before or after I went inside... it may have been before. I do try to check in on them and make sure they're all within view, but I've had a lot on my mind lately, and realize I didn't do this as much as I could have... especially since it had gotten dark.

The day that Bert went missing, I'd actually gotten up early to be able to film some of the dog rescue people in action. I wanted to show what they do... getting up early, driving lots of animals to get fixed, rescued, and receive medical care. And I also wanted to film some of the hardships like having to clean up lots of dog and cat pee and poop. When you have lots of rescue animals, it can be really hard, and really time consuming, to keep your house clean.

A cat or a dog is a huge responsibility, and I am fully aware that, over the years, I have not been fully equipped to take care of all the cats that have come into my life. But I couldn't bear to take them to the pound, knowing that they would be euthanized, OR that if they weren't euthanized, then some other cat that was there, would be.


I will continue to look for Bert, and am still hopeful that he will be found. Please, whoever is reading this, send some good vibes our way. I would give anything for him to come home safe.
Laura

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