Why’d that little cat have to go off and do that? My boyfriend and I were just starting to get things worked out and things have been better than before. We were talking about things, <TMI alert> I’ve been so much less inhibited with sex now.
Then, his cat Theodore goes missing. We go out to the garage and check on our bikes, because we’re going to start taking CalTrain and biking to work instead, and Theodore sneaks out of the house, at 10pm Sunday night and hasn’t been seen since.
My sister spent all of Monday looking for him at the Humane Society, paging through photos of deceased ones, looking through cages, and asking all of our neighbors.
It doesn’t look good.
I’m hurting for my boyfriend and for myself also, because Theodore was such a beautiful, sweeet cat. He’s out there alone, and he’d been de-clawed. My SO has had him for 7 years. He comes to live with me and…
I know people will think–come on. He’s just a cat. Can’t you care about people all over the world dying? About animals raised in pens to be killed by us? About World Peace? But he brought my SO comfort, he brought us both happiness. My SO is having to deal with his HIV meds causing all sorts of side effects, and he needs that tiny, delicate little cat to feel happy. Damn.
My Kitty up and disappeared for two weeks last summer. It was heartwrenching and traumatic. Esp, since like yours, she’s declawed.
Kitty was gone for a full 2 weeks and came home minus several pounds. I put up posters and left one with my phone number at both the Humane Society and the City Shelter. I put food out back and looked every night and morning.
Kobaltblu, best wishes for you, the BF, and especially the kitty.
One of ours, Domino, ran away once, before I lived with him, for almost three months. Mr emilyforce (then emilyforce’s boy toy) was bringing him to his new home, and Domino got spooked between the car and the house, wrestled himself out of mr. emilyforce’s arms, and ran like hell. He was in lousy shape when he finally got found, but he WAS FOUND.
So… it gets harder every day that passes, but kitties can be pretty resourceful, and I bet yours will be OK too. Fingers crossed!
We just came back from flyering the neighborhood. I made up some flyers at work in Adobe Illustrator (hey, if I can do anything for him, I can use my graphic skills at least) printed them on the color printer, and drove around to utility poles. Then, we came home and I made dinner. He’s a zombie right now, just staring off into space. We don’t want to say what we’re both thinking.
Theodore’s very trusting, and one of his good qualities, which isn’t so good in the world, is that he isn’t afraid of anything. There are a couple of people who own pit bulls in this neighborhood, and one night I saw a racoon going through our trash. He’s a tiny thing also. My sister thought he was still a kitten when she first saw him.
I read your messages just now and completely lost it. SO didn’t ask why. He knew.
Kobaltblu, my heart goes out to you. Did your SO live nearby? You may want to put posters up in Mr. Theodore’s old neighborhood as some animals have a keen sense of “direction”. Please keep us posted.
He moved to where I live in San Mateo from San Francisco. He moved in with me just a couple of months after we met at a Halloween party, and I was never so sure of anything before when I asked him if he would stay for good.
He told me he was HIV+ before we had our first date, and said that people have treated him as if he was dirty. I’ve never done that. He’s also got a severe hearing loss. I try to understand what to do, and to be considerate. To see the world from his eyes. To appreciate the days we’ve been given. We’re good to each other.
That’s why this messes me up so bad. Those things out there you just can’t control, that you don’t see coming. Those days, you’re not sure if the “I love you’s” you’ve said will cover it. Theodore was great for that.
Have you checked the garage thoroughly? Also, are there any crawlspaces or storage spaces that it could be hiding in? Any trees nearby that it might have crawled up?
We just checked the garage, crawlspaces, and some of the neighbor’s storage sheds. Since he’s declawed, he can’t climb anything. When he wanted to be held, he’d stretch up against your pant leg, and frantically try to grab anything he could to lift himself up. It was funny to watch, since he looked so determined.
SO talked to me tonight. He’s in shock, of course. He moved out here 5 years ago from West Virginia, and Theodore is his link to family. Nobody else is near, except for his sister in Seattle.
God. What must this be like for parents of missing children? I can’t even imagine, and don’t ever want to.
OK. My BF was checking his messages, and asked me to check my home voicemail, because his cell had poor reception.
After listening, I called back the number left and talked to a neighbor we don’t know, saying that he saw a cat hanging around his front door. He lives just another block over. He saw the flyer later, and thought he’d seen the same cat. Afterwards, he tried to catch him but couldn’t.
Later, he was driving to his contracting job and saw a Yellow Taxi company which has their car yard nearby. Apparently, this taxi company’s employees take pity on some feral cats and leave food bowls nearby. He suggested I check this yard, because Theodore might have run there after he got spooked.
Unfortunately, I have a marketing meeting to go to, and some major account projects I have to complete, or else I’d leave my job and go look for him. David doesn’t want to hear any of this, because he doesn’t want to get his hopes up.
Kobaltblu, I’m in San Mateo also–just north of downtown. If that’s the right area, how about a description so I can keep an eye out for the little guy?
That probably is your cat over by your neighbor’s place. See if you can call back and find out what time of day he’s seen the cat, maybe you could drive by and call for kitty.
I went over and talked to him. He’d seen Theodore (or a cat that looks like him) at 10:30pm. When he opened the door, there was a cat behind him that looked just like my own cat, Coalman. So much so that I thought it was him. I went to look at the cab yard, and saw the cat food left over.
I went to pick up David in the city. He was depressed. We drove home after getting fast food. He told me he loved me, but nothing more. It was 10:30pm.
We drove to where the neighbor was, and saw something. It looked like a cat. We ran around, looking under cars and bushes. David said he thought it went down a driveway. We both looked around a bit until a neighbor chased us away and locked their gate.
I got a flashlight, and looked around for an hour, until I was exhausted and my clothes covered with leaves.
I wonder if we’re going through some of the stages, like in Kubler-Ross. Like Denial, Anger, etc. I’m sure we are.
Can you go back during the day? I agree, it does sound like the cat. He’s probably really scared after being out and alone for 4 days. Some cats turn into a totally different cat after being out that long. Good luck, it’s a sad story and I really hope you find him.
So, I was so distracted over all of this that I forgot my work buddy Jay bought me tickets to Belle and Sebastian. David doesn’t like B&S, so when I called and told him that I’d forgotten about the show and that I was going to it because it was important to Jay, he said fine. He’d stay home and read.
The concert was great, I went with a bunch of his friends and had a great time in Berkeley. The whole concert, I kept wondering how David was feeling, but I still enjoyed myself. Got too drunk of course.
I came home at 2am, and David lay curled up asleep on the bed. The lights were on. He’d been waiting for me. I went to the bathroom to wash up before bed and…there was Theodore. He looked up, meowed, and I scouped him up and ran to the bedroom.
WHERE THE FUCK–WHAT THE FUCK–WAKE UP DAVID!
He opened his eyes, looked sleepily at me and said, “Your sister found him in the alleyway near the Taxi yard. She had to crawl under a car to get him.” I believed it. He was dirty, and there was a scab on his nose. But he’s there, my SO’s happy, and sometimes it ends well. I hope it ends well for you, too.
Sorry if I seemed so silly, folks. It just made me realize that I love David, I love my life, and things are good. Good life is fragile, so cherish it.
Did your SO live nearby? You may want to put posters up in Mr. Theodore’s old neighborhood as some animals have a keen sense of “direction”. Please keep us posted.