Lost Athena!kitty tracker report

I didn't post this? Arrgh.

Here's the report from July 20th --

Lost!Athena kitty tracker report:

Athena's not been cowering in the bushes. She knows her stuff and is a "very confident kitty." Tracker Sam Connelly was amused that Athena mostly sticks to the sidewalks. Kitty's found water, has hunted, has rolled around like she was getting petted, but the trail was cut off at a storm drain near where she was (apparently) being petted.

The picture Sam had was either that someone found Athena by the storm drain, petted her, picked her up and carried her off. Or else they tried to pick her up, and Athena jumped away and ran down the storm drain. So we put flyers everywhere. They're hanging off the trees like Christmas ornaments, man. We have food out by the storm drain. If someone eats it, then we'll put out the cat trap.

Things I learned:

- Most lost pets are found due to flyers.
- Rain does not wash away scent trails (take that, Nancy Drew).
- Cats often return to where you lost them.
- In addition to food, leave out something that smells of you, because they're looking for you.
- Something that smells of *kitty,* however, could draw ferals, who'll pee on it and possibly scare your cat away.
- Lifelong house cats will hide near where they were lost & not move; but indoor-outdoor cats are surprisingly competent, and will sometimes even gain weight.
- While declawed cats are defenseless (can't climb!) cats with claw caps can easily get those suckers off.
- People get attached to pets they find & make excuses ("this lost dog is skinny -- must've been abused!") to try to keep them, even when microchipped.
- If your cat has a microchip especially, never give up. They can come back to you at any time.

Kitty search timeline

Kitty search timeline

July 16th - Athena's cat carrier broke (bottom fell off) outside the vet on Muddy Branch Rd as S. was carrying her out. We hunted through the bushes, put up flyers, stayed up all night where she was last seen.

July 17 through 19th - set up cat trap near where she was lost, nightly flyers and talking to people, five hours a night. Stakeout replaced by cat trap. Pet tracker out of town until Sunday.

July 20th - Pet tracker! Golden retriever on the scent, we followed Athena's path to where she was either picked up or escaped down a storm drain. Our stakeouts had been nowhere near where she'd gone.

July 21st through 24th - food set out with a wildlife camera to see if she's still in the area. Daily phone calls from people who sighted a similar cat. These don't pan out. There are a lot of tabbies in this world. S. visiting animal shelter every day. Three-five hours a day together hoofing it, handing out flyers. (July 23rd I hit the wall with exhaustion.)

July 25th - After ten days of flyers/searching/stakeouts until after midnight, I let S. know that I can't keep up this pace. Most of the hard work of posting flyers is done, but while he could get time off from work and do late nights, I had to be on a train at 7am every day. I start daytime checks of the cat trap rather than late night tramps.

July 26th - S. involves other friends in putting out flyers and setting up the trap.

July 27th - photo of Athena! She wasn't picked up and is still in the area! S. sets cat trap. He starts checking the trap every three hours. He has food both inside and outside the cat trap.

July 30th - cat trap catches wrong cat. But hey, the trap works.

Aug 1st - photo of Athena! She eats the food outside the cat trap, not what's inside. S. removes the food outside the trap. Second wildlife camera set up.

Aug 3rd - photo of Athena! She sticks her head in the cat trap, decides no, and walks away.

Aug 4th-tonight - rain. No photos.

The search continues, with fresh hope -- and frustration.