Found missing cat but she ran away

[fionasmom]

I agree with you and was somewhat disappointed myself when I did not find the magic instructions to how to trap one cat out of a lot of them. There are all those untrappable cat ideas like using a large fishing net, but that would never work for Luna and would probably end all your efforts, not to mention that you need to be pretty experienced with that kind of thing. I own a drop trap that I can't use as I never got the hang of transferring the cat and my only attempt resulted in the cat simply butting his way out of it. However, one of my own pets, Eliot, loved it and thought it was a laff riot when I brought it inside to practice. Sat under it over and over again.

Approaching Luna is probably not a good idea unless you start to see her so often that she begins to remember (not saying that she forgot) that she can trust you in her new environment. The flyers are a good idea and while it might take time, if you can coordinate the feeders eventually that would be excellent. There is a lot of legwork here but it seems as if there is now a plan of action since the sighting of her a couple of days ago...so you are moving ahead.

In your general area that you have discussed, how many cats are there more or less, fixed or unfixed?

I don't know if contacting Alley Cat Allies Feral Friends Network would help. They put you in contact with volunteer TNR people who do a lot of trapping. I have to say that I have never received any help from them, including advice, but you might find someone who might have some ideas for specifically trapping a hard to separate cat. All you really want is advice, so it is pretty quick to just register with them and see if anyone answers.

Feral Friends Network® Connect

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thanks!

Today I had a good conversation with the one person I know for sure is feeding cats -- but I also managed to make another set of property owners legitimately angry with me. I got a call from someone on the block that Luna was in his yard, but that I should approach from the alley, and to park beside a garage. So I did, and it wasn't Luna. I should have moved my car immediately, but I saw quickly that the porch door to the feral feeder's apartment was open and I wanted to make sure I got to talk to her.

That convo went really well and she will let me set stuff up on her porch to see if Luna comes there. But as you can see coming -- I was only there 30 minutes, but that was long enough for someone to need to leave, see my flyer and guess who it was, and call me, incredibly angry.

So now here I am having a search that might last a long time, and I have legitimately pissed off one of the property owners. I don't know who they know on the block either, I don't know how mad they are. It was not a good move. I sent them a "sorry" text, but I don't know what else to do. I can't turn back the clock and make better decisions any more than I could do that and not let Luna get away.

As for cats, it seems like a lot of the cats in the area have been trapped. The big one I know hasn't been has been hard to catch. I still think there are about six or seven, two kittens, and unfixed male, a fixed female feral, Luna, and then whoever had the kittens.

One of the things he said in anger was I shouldn't put a flyer on his power pole, so I'm not sure if I should maybe hold off on more posters and handouts. It's frustrating how I'm feeling worse from that interaction than good from the interaction with the person who feeds cats, and whose deck Luna might be eating from. If they were just blowing off steam, that's one thing, but I can't tell if they'd want to be vindictive. Few people do, but, the consequences could be terrible.

 

[fionasmom]

Neighbor problems come up rather regularly here and usually it is as you describe. Someone who has not really been inconvenienced and certainly not harmed flies off the handle. As for the power pole, it is not his but for the time being at least I would not post on "his" pole. As for blocking his drive or alley, I assume that he wanted to pull his car out and had to get you to move your car....also not a crime. He probably blew off steam and is over it. Going from angry to deciding to do something to hurt the cats, for instance, is a big step. Even if he wants to be vindictive, it might go more in the direction of taking down signs but I bet he is over it. You apologized, which was a good move, so he can't say that you did not do your part. If you had been defensive or confrontational with him that would have made things worse, so taking the course that you did was really the best one. Have you heard or seen anything unusual in regards to him today?

On the other hand, you have had a very good conversation with a friendly person who is really willing to help you to a great extent so just focus on that and try to forget about the bad mannered person. It sounds like you are in a very animal friendly area and he would be outnumbered if he started anything. It is quite hard to hurt or trap most cats....if it were easy Luna would be home long since. One of my vets even says that it is hard to poison cats because they are so sensitive to something tasting "off" or having an odd texture. I am sure that even if this person is very angry, he does not have the energy or plan to get out there and hurt cats, especially community cats who are not necessarily friendly and won't approach in the first place.

There are not as many cats as I thought, but certainly still enough that you have to extract Luna from that bunch in order to trap her.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thanks again! It helps me to process everything by writing it out here, and I appreciate your thoughtful replies.

I've definitely read a few neighbor stories here before, I just do feel like I was in the wrong and feel terrible. My community has been so supportive so far, and blocking someone in when they want to drive out is pretty un-neighborly in return. A day later and zero response to my text apology, so I'm going to assume they're not up for mending any fences but that if they were still furious or suffered any serious harm they would probably have continued to text me angry stuff.

I've been putting posters up on lamp poles that are between the road and sidewalk in the main street, and on power / telephone poles in the ally. I realize now he didn't mean power pole, he meant lamp pole. I hadn't put any flyers by his place out in the ally, but were only 3 lamps on the street, and one happened to be in front of his property. It doesn't have a flyer on it anymore, but none of the others I put up were taken down. I can't remember if he did that before or after our interaction yesterday -- if I'd been less flustered afterward I would have checked & taken that one down myself as a gesture of good faith. It's a small block, I'm going to consider it fully flyered right now as is.

As you say, if Luna was easy to trap she'd already be back home! If she wasn't so nervous about off smells or flavors, she'd also be home since she would have ignored the bait trail that went bad and kept going to get to the good food in the back of the trap on July 26. Still wish that had gone differently, since it turned out to be my last chance to trap her at my house! I know some people do harm community cats, and there are things that can be effective, but as you say it is unlikely and it is not helpful to dwell on those thoughts.

After reviewing the pictures from yesterday and last night, I've almost decided my non-cellular camera is nicer than my cellular one -- but they may just do different things. The cell cam sends me a notification over phone when it sees something, but I only get a couple pictures a minute since the plan limits to a certain number per month. I can see the image after I set it though, and confirm it's a good view. For the other one, I have to guess about what angle to put it, but I can set it to multi-shot and get so many pictures I can see a lot more of the animals movements, markings, and habits.

At the new camera location at the consistent, long term feeding station I saw both kittens extensively, and the black male cat. I got two pictures a minute apart that are making me wonder -- they're kind of at the limit of the IR flash and hard to tell what is pixel distortion vs real cat markings. I wrote out an entire paragraph analyzing all the blurry pictures, cross-correlating against the sizes, shapes, & colors of the known ferals. I am pretty sure it's not her, but I really wish I had better pictures to be sure. I ordered another cheap non-cell trailcam so I can have many pictures from both places soon plus the cell notifications.

It does make me sad to see all these cats interacting with each other as a family, and not see Luna there with them at all. I'm afraid she's all alone out there, missing her connection with her brother and not able to join in with the colony for real. I wonder where she has been eating and staying. Maybe they've driven her away? It seems unlikely that someone would happen to see her right there, weeks after she left my place, and it wasn't were she was trying to stay for some time? But maybe the resident cats will push her out, and then where do I look...

Anyway, black cat seems to be more willing to enter my large fat-cat trap, at least the far end of it, so maybe I can trap & get him neutered at least. Not sure how that gets me closer to Luna, but it'll help that cat.

 

[fionasmom]

What you did was not at all a big deal. You did no damage and clearly forgot that you needed to move your car because you were preoccupied with the other woman. He is making a big deal out of this, but it also sounds as if it has passed. He does not own the light pole or the alley and it is all over anyway with no harm done. You are not the first person ever to have blocked his garage AND you were there to move your car. You did not park it and go off someplace. I am sure that when people in the area get big box store deliveries and repair men that the often park in the alley. Plus, he probably got reactive. It does not sound as if it was an emergency, like his wife was having a baby or something, probably he just needed to go to the store or had an appointment.

There was a situation here, actually found out about it at my vet's office oddly enough, where one neighbor became very antagonistic toward another one because she had parked in front of the house, on a public street which allowed parking. Around me, parking in front of someone's house can be a big issue for some reason I have never understood. Frankly, we don't care as it makes it look as if someone is home. I have even had people ask me if they could park in front of the house and my immediate neighbor told me when she had a party a few weeks ago that people would be parking on the street....like I cared at all.

Spayed females are at the lower end of the hierarchy of cats, although the spayed female feral I have outside seems to get along with everyone including two intact males. It could be that Luna is on the outskirts of the community but it not excluded from getting food. I have not ever seen cats who are not hungry continue to defend food. Once they are done they tend to wash themselves and go about their business, so probably she has access to food. She may not even be on the outskirts but just living a more sequestered life by her own choosing. As I said, there are two ferals here whom I see only once in a while but I suspect that they come for food regularly. It makes her harder to track down, but her quality of life might be fine. I don't necessarily think that she has been pushed out from the community as frankly I have never seen that happen.

I don't have any experience with trail cams but have been meaning to get one just to see what happens at night and to determine if there are more cats than I think that there are floating around out there. You sound quite experienced with that technology.

It is very kind of you to think about fixing the big male. Any neutered male will calm down and relax and hopefully you will see less kittens. I have a friend up in northern CA who only neuters males to control breeding. Frankly, I think it is a little risky to do the males and let the females be potential breeders but that is what she does. Money might have something to do with it too as it is cheaper to fix a male.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Trail cams are great! I didn't have any experience until very recently -- but they came up over and over in the resources describing how to get a lost cat back, especially away from your house. The cellular ones are a little bit more fiddly, they need an ongoing subscription because you're basically paying for a tiny version of a phone plan that just transmits photo data. But the drop and pick up ones can be cheaper, and even the relatively cheap one I randomly picked up is super great.

This is what I have: Amazon.com: Wosports Mini Trail Camera 1080P HD Wildlife Scouting Hunting Camera with IR Night Vision Waterproof Video Cam LY121 : Sports & Outdoors

It uses SD cards that can't be larger than 32 GB, which are cheap but it isn't easy to find ones that small in stores these days, so I ordered a couple. It's pretty easy to follow the instructions on how to set time, date, photo settings, etc. I get great pictures, even at night because of the IR flash. Then when I refill the food, I also pull out the SD card and connect it to my computer and copy over all the photos. If you're interested what's happening by your house at night, I'd say go for it!

What you say about the cats not guarding food makes a lot of sense. I've been watching them at the feral caretaker's patio for a couple nights now, and they aren't there all the time. Sometimes skunks will come, and have no problem eating -- in fact a skunk came while the cats WERE on the deck, and they still had no problem, just stepped back and let it eat. That is one reason why I am confused or worried about Luna -- I can see what's going on at that patio food source, so I know she hasn't been there in at least 48 hours. She looked in really good condition in the Aug 14 photo, though, so she must be getting enough food from somewhere.

I'm glad to hear you've not seen cats pushed completely out of the community. Luna may, as you say, be living a very hidden life right now, and there may be people feeding on that block I haven't found. I also know at least around me there are a lot of mice in the underbrush, I assume there are a lot on her block as well both from natural sources and the dumpsters. She may not be needing a lot of human provided food right now, and what she does want might be coming from a source I don't know about. The other spayed female I know of in that colony also hasn't showed up frequently. Possibly she hasn't come at all, but she might have come briefly as there were some pictures I had trouble identifying. So maybe both of them are spending more time hiding, hunting, or going elsewhere.

I agree it sounds risky just to neuter the males!! All you need is one irresponsible pet owner dumping an intact male into your colony and you might have litter after litter! I think this block's colony was much larger previously, Luna was part of a litter of six born last year -- all trapped and adopted. Even her mother was trapped and adopted. And this year's two kittens I see are fixed, I'm not sure if any were trapped younger and adopted out. There is still the unfixed male, but as far as I can tell he's the only unaltered cat in the area right now. Hopefully they'll maintain their health and have a happy, long life there!

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for the link to the trail cam. I put it on my Amazon account so that I remember which one it was when I need to set one up.

Just an example, last night Minxie, the male without a tail who has been around the area for years, showed up for food on my back patio area. I had not seen him for about 4 weeks, but I know that he is entirely nocturnal and has been coming, more than likely, for food that I put at the back of my property to prevent skunks from coming right up to my back door as they were doing when my neighbor had the big skunk issue. It seems as if they don't connect the fact that the food has been moved, so Minxie and possibly another feral get to eat their dinner in peace. He always looks completely fine....clean, healthy (even if I can't prove it), eats heartily.

The one feral female outside would hunt given the chance. Female cats are often the better hunters and more inclined to do it. As it is, she knows that I put out her food and comes regularly to eat, so is not really hungry enough to hunt in earnest. But the funny thing is that she found a little "duck blind", or sort of moved into one, where there is an ornamental rock which weighs a ton, and has caught birds from time to time. I don't encourage her to do that but I can see that if she were on her own she would be an excellent hunter and probably self sufficient. Mice are even easier to catch for a cat as they can't climb or fly away. I used to have a cat, Zoe, now deceased, who would go outside in the back on a tieout when I was home to watch her and even with a leash she caught any mouse who ran by.

It is funny that they let the skunks and possums (here) eat their food at the same time. The only problem I had was when my neighbor had the big skunk issue and they figured out that I had ferals and so arrived every morning to get their food. There were about 4 adult skunks and two juveniles and that was a little more than I wanted at my back door. They more or less stood their ground just like the raccoons do and would only grudgingly walk away if I went outside. They did cause a huge flea issue though which is when my neighbor called the humane trapping and relocating company.

Only having one unaltered male is not too bad. He certainly might be ranging around looking for a girlfriend, but it might not be in your immediate area. Any word from the man who got angry with you? TCS had another post today from a member who was confronted by a neighbor for feeding strays, so you were definitely not alone.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I hope you enjoy the trail cam!

I've not heard anything more from the guy who was angry with me, so I'm going to assume that's the end of it. It's too bad other TCS members have to deal with it too.

It's interesting that you observe the females are often better hunters and inclined to go that way. That may match well with what I'm seeing -- I know there's a spayed female feral in the area plus Luna, but neither one shows up at either food station I have cameras at. I only see this year's two mostly grown kittens and the black male. Both Luna and the female feral have four white paws and a bib, and similar body coloring. The feral is a bit lighter and her tabby markings on the body less pronounced, and she is missing part or all of her tail. I did capture a cat with four white paws walking past my trap & food setup, but unfortunately she didn't eat anything and I didn't get as good a view -- some leaves were blocking the direction she walked. I'm pretty sure it was the feral and not Luna, but I was glad to see her anyway since I was wondering where she was and why I didn't see her coming to eat. My guess is that both Luna & her are hunting a lot, they're smaller and spayed so their energy needs might be easily met by catching some of the mice & other animals out there. I did happen to catch a photo of one of the kittens bringing a bird back to the patio with food to eat it, of course they're all cats and cats are good hunters but that was clear proof.

I got a photo (that wasn't her) and a reported sighting yesterday. The sighting was in the low-density block just north of the area I got last week's picture in, and it does seem reasonable that she may have gone there. The photo, as most of them have been, was one of the other cats around who are tabby cats but don't have white paws or bib. I'm glad Luna has pretty distinctive markings, but it is easy to confuse her from a distance from one of the other tabbies, and I know there's the feral female and an outdoor pet who also have the tabby / white foot pattern. I can distinguish them from photos, but with just a sighting it is hard to say.

It is pretty frustrating, especially if she's still moving around a bit. I'm wondering how much chance I really have to get her before winter -- even if I found her it's going to be really tricky trapping her right now. But at least I think she's still healthy and safe and I might still get her.

I found an interesting article about cat survival: Population Ecology of Free-Roaming Cats and Interference Competition by Coyotes in Urban Parks
That was conducted in more natural / less human structure habitats, and thus had more coyotes (other research shows that coyotes mostly stick to the natural preserves while cats mostly stick to areas with houses). Otherwise the climate, wildlife, conditions etc would be really similar to what Luna has, except she has the option of more human built structures to hide in or under and has places where people feed cats regularly. She is very close to natural habitat/ preserves right now though, so coyotes are a potential risk. Even for the cats in the study who had a tougher time, 70%-80% survived the year. More of them were legally adopted during the year than died. I really want her back quickly but this might take a long time. I hope people are willing to keep helping me even if this is taking a long time, because I can't really get her back without support from others.

 

[catsknowme]

M MackerelTabbyStripes I really appreciate seeing your updates! For flyers, a good suggestion that I learned here at TCS is to have friends and neighbors place the flyers in their back windshields. That tactic greatly expands the viewing audience. It sounds like you have a great community! From kids to retired folks - what a treasure! I could see Luna's Great Escapade leading up to TNRV groups and lasting friendships

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thanks catsknowme! I'm glad you are following along and appreciating new updates. I'm very grateful for my community! I really didn't get to know it very well since moving in near the beginning of the pandemic and hunkering down for a year. Now that I have reason to be talking to many people, I'm learning how nice they are.

I went to several doors on the short road where the latest sighting came in -- I found one person who had two wild kittens near his deck that he was trying to bring in and get adopted, but hadn't seen Luna. This was near the north side of the road, a bit further than I would expect Luna to move, but still good evidence there are food options for her I didn't know about and it's possible she might still move that direction.

Later I was able to find the people who had posted the sighting, and got a lot more information from them in conversation. They live about 200 meters from the last confirmed picture, and to get there Luna would have had to cross the fencing that I'd already noted had a lot of gaps that would let a cat or other small animal pass underneath. Then she would have moved through several large yards with a fair bit of bushes and other natural cover to get to where the sighting was. They were sure the cat they saw definitely had four white paws, and they saw it get startled out of their bushes after a rainstorm, and it ran across the street. They didn't notice if it had a tail, but I'm thinking since they got a good look at it crossing they may have noticed no tail since I think that would be more notable in a cat. Being seen in the middle of the day makes me think it might be the doppleganger, but I believe I saw that one on my southern trail camera just that morning. She could have moved that distance in 9 hrs, I don't know much about the lookalike's behavior, but not sure. Having a tail (if the cat did), is definitely good evidence for it being Luna. They've seen a black cat I think is probably the male I sometimes see in the area I've had cameras, and they also are familiar with an orange wild cat I haven't heard about before, but they hadn't known of the other 4 white paw female.

They were incredibly helpful and sympathetic, and let me set up another trail cam and food lure in their front bushes. I hope I can see her there! The cat they saw ran between two houses on the other side of the road, one of which has very overgrown / unkempt bushes and landscaping, several cars not all of which seem to run, and it seems like a fair amount of stuff in the back yard plus lots of vegetation. It seems like a really nice place for a cat to hide and there must be a tremendous number of mice living there, but it also means a possibly eccentric person lives there that I want to approach carefully. Their door had a very prominent "no solicitors" sign, and while handing out a "lost cat" flyer isn't soliciting, I don't want to annoy someone who has a property that mimics so much the vacant lot I think she lived in near me for awhile. If I would see the owner outside naturally while I check the trailcam tomorrow, I think it could be a more gentle approach-- otherwise I may just leave a handout near his doorstep under a rock or something. I've already had one experience where an eccentric owner thought I was soliciting and was gruff and unfriendly, only to do a complete 180 once he realized I was an actual neighbor and was missing a pet. His family had been through something similar with their dog, only getting it back after six months, and was deeply sympathetic and helpful.

 

[fionasmom]

I would assume that the person who got angry with you is over it. Some people like to yell at someone and then it all passes until they find another person to pick on. It also sounds as if you do have a very strong support group helping to monitor cats in general and to give information about cats that are seen in the area. I have noticed on Nextdoor that people often post pics of similar animals when one is lost in an effort to be helpful. Some people state that they are correcting for condition or other changes that might have occurred in a missing pet like a white dog who would now probably be a little less clean looking if it had been on the streets for a while.

That article is very interesting and detailed. I did have to chuckle at the part about a few of the cats were owned and the owners apparently took off the radio collar once they arrived home wearing it. Around here, the coyotes are all in terrible condition with incredible mange, thin, injured. Oddly, at one of the Los Angeles county botanical parks which is near me, there are coyotes who are absolutely beautiful and healthy looking because they have sufficient prey such as rabbits whose population needs to be controlled. Several years ago, one died in a neighbor's back yard (of natural causes) after we had a long and drawn out discussion between AC, city council members, representatives office, Fish and Wildlife, and nothing was done. This same coyote had collapsed in my front bushes previously but had rallied enough when AC came to try to get him and lived a few more weeks.

Last week as my husband left early for a tennis match, he called me and said that three coyotes were one block away from the house. I went running down the street with my phone and a tennis racket....like who was I going to call and what was I really going to do with the tennis racket....but the coyotes, who are for the most part very wary of human contact, were long gone and the cats were all safe. In fact, several years ago when my dog could still go for walks, we were out early before work and a "canine" came flying out of the back of a driveway, smacked into me causing me to fall over my dog, gave us a shocked look and took off like a bat out of hell. It was a youngish coyote who was horrified to get that close to humans.

As the article says, they do prefer a natural preserve whereas cat stick more to houses. Around here, there is no natural preserve so they have it tougher. One morning about a year ago I put out the cat food for the ferals who eat very close to the back kitchen area where I can watch them. I turned around and when I came back a coyote was eating the food. I was horrified to think that he had identified a food source for the cats but he never returned. It was just too close to a house for him to comfortably stay.

Remarkably, given the number of coyotes around here, the number of cats seems to be stable in general. I don't mean just mine, but also neighbors who feed ferals who were TNRed so the cats must be wary enough to survive.

Minxie has no tail, the cat I mentioned yesterday. It is really clear that he does not and I have to agree with you that a cat with no tail is quite obvious. You are really having good luck with people but I bet that you are very nice to them as well so it is working both ways.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

You have a lot of coyote stories! I can imagine how startling it would be for both you, your dog, and the coyote when he ran into you! They can definitely be a risk for cats, but as your experience shows, plus the research I've read, indicates that in most areas of the country, most of the time, the cats are fine. The area Luna is in right now is near the river, but around many houses. On the other side of the river is a very large forest preserve area. I assume the coyotes in the area, however many there are, stay in that natural area and don't cross the river often. If it freezes they might, but even then I expect they'd mostly stay in the wild space.

I found another interesting article about cat outcomes in a TNR area: A Case Study in Citizen Science: The Effectiveness of a Trap-Neuter-Return Program in a Chicago Neighborhood
This one wasn't started as research so is not dispassionately following the cats, but is a result of very detailed, localized notes taken from someone who was actively working to care for the cats and get all of them in the area TNRd. So it may not be representative in mixed groups, as especially towards the end there would not be any unneutered males to be fighting other cats and getting themselves in trouble. It's a bit difficult for me to unroll those statistics to get an expectation for the lifespan of an outdoor, unowned cat for a couple reasons -- I know 22% of the cats recorded were alive and present at the end of the 9 year span, but I don't know when they were born. They all would be at least five years old given the last known outdoor litter in the area. In a four year span, the number of outdoor, unowned cats dropped by half and given the date of the last known litter, they would have been 3 years old at minimum at start. However I can't just calculate from this that seven is the average lifespan those cats might reach, because cats left the records for a number of reasons including adoption. Only about 10% of the cats were confirmed dead over the period, but roughly equal numbers disappeared as were confirmed adopted (34% missing to 30% adopted.) It's even possible that some of the "disappeared" cats were undocumented adoptions in the community and not deaths. Very few cats moved from colony to colony, although some of the disappearances might be unregistered migrations among a few colonies that were less closely followed.

I live in a suburb of Chicago so these two papers were exceptionally relevant to the environment Luna might be experiencing. They are both in a bit more urban a setting than my suburb, but it probably does not differ substantially. I do worry that those are tracking established colonies each with a dedicated caretaker, probably offering shelter & water in winter. Luna still hasn't clearly been seen as part of the colony she might be hanging around near, and I know there are only two small winter shelters available from that caretaker. I wonder about the low rate of colony migrations the study documented, whether that means she might have a bit of difficulty fully integrating into that group of cats-- she knew her mother and five siblings when she lived there last year, but all of those have been trapped and adopted. Two of the cats there now were not even born when she was there last year.

I guess I'll just hope I get some pictures of her soon and can track down where she is. She'll potentially be fine outside for years and years given the above research and how kind the people of my community are, but I miss her so much, and I know she enjoyed living inside.

 

[fionasmom]

I have even more coyote stories from our other house which was in what is called the "urban wildlife" interface at the base of the San Gabriel foothills! More wildlife available for them and healthier by far. Most looked like smaller GSDs at first.

That study is very interesting; I see what you mean about it is not as objective, possibly, as the other one but it is still very informative and they made an attempt to provide clear stats. My own experience with ferals really varies. I have had some live for 10 years easily outside and, in fact, put three to sleep myself over the last couple of years because they were clearly sick and not treatable in any effective way. One was clearly diabetic and had gone into neuropathy in the hind legs which limited his movement. One very feral female never left my property, I am pretty sure of that. She lived in one bush or another, sometimes in the shelters I provided and I noticed that even when other cats showed up who displaced her, she just moved a little further down the lawn and waited for me to put her food there. The ones who seemed to have some sense of their area did the best and I think that Luna probably fits into that category. To be honest, anecdotally, I would say that coyotes get more small dogs than they do cats because dogs are often left in a yard, or even just let out at the wrong time to relieve themselves, but cannot escape whereas a cat can jump and run.

Is it possible for you to add shelters to where the other ones are? I know it is hard to describe all these areas and for me to picture them. Do those who have the shelters have space to expand? I suppose it is some consolation that she is safe and has access to food in a nice community, but it is still hard to not have her at home.

And now you have two new kittens that someone might TNR and keep on their property? It is very kind of you to help them.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Yep! I am going to help a couple kittens, I hope! They never saw a mother cat or other kittens, and the kittens just showed up under the deck last week. I'm not sure how old they are. They are still quite small but clearly eating solid food and independent. As of now, I think they won't be TNR'd because a neighbor has expressed interest in taking them and even if that falls through I have someone who will help me place them.

I saw a LOT of cats across my cameras last night, but unfortunately not Luna. I figured out why I am getting sightings during the day in the block to the north -- because ANOTHER lookalike cat lives there, that one with a proper, normal tail. Luna has very neat, even stripes and no red anywhere, both of these have a little bit more blotchiness blurring some stripes and red fur mixed in with the brown/black tabby color. Both lookalikes have been eartipped. I saw two more cats that had a tabby base coat, but much more white up the legs, and white on the face, which Luna doesn't have. One of them had about half a tail. Neither one of these cats was ear-tipped. I saw a solid brown tabby with perhaps no white at all -- no ear tip. And of course I saw the three I've seen regularly, the black intact tom with two eartipped tabby kittens from this year. 4 with eartips and 4 without eartips. Plus the 2 kittens I'm targeting tomorrow, plus probably Luna still there I hope?

Some of these new cats were in areas I'd been putting cameras for awhile now without seeing them, so there clearly were more cats around than showed up immediately. The Luna sighting photo I got in that area doesn't match any of these other cats and it does match all the pictures I have of her very well. I'm incredibly glad that person got a photo because given all these fake matches I would have had trouble believing they actually saw Luna.

The shelters I saw were on a small patio, there might be space for a little more but not many. Today, however, I learned that there's a garage down the street that doesn't close all the way, and the community cats like to live in there. That may explain why I don't see all these cats going regularly to the feeder's station and yet they are still doing well.

I'm still incredibly confused and unclear on where Luna is staying, and how I can find her. She could have moved into the low-density block -- that's reasonable, but the lookalike that direction could explain those sightings. She could be sticking incredibly close to the photo sighting, so close I haven't seen her because I don't have permission to put a camera in that area. The closest I have is the patio, which is frequently occupied by one of the kittens, a third of the way down the block. I've only been monitoring my own feeding station for five days, and last night saw two cats I hadn't seen before there. So maybe if I keep patient she might show up?

 

[fionasmom]

From the pic, I think that those kittens are definitely able to eat and care for themselves up to a point. The two ferals I now own lost their mom at about 12 weeks....and I had TRNed her and the father ironically....but were self sufficient outside as long as I made sure that they had meals. It is really great that these two will be able to get taken off the streets and into a home.

I have rescued several kittens along the way, singletons with no siblings and no mother around, and have never really figured out how this happens. Of course, lots of things like mom being killed, rejecting them, just not being a great mother, someone having had access to the litter and deciding that spreading kittens around the neighborhood would be a good way to get homes for them. I suspect that the latter is what happened to me in several instances except for two who were clearly sick and probably rejected by the mom. It sounds as if you are in an area where there are a noticeable number of cats and cat friendly people, so it might be that some are dumped.

It is amazing how many cats are around that we never see. There have been several who were clearly entirely nocturnal who would come and wait for food in the very early morning when we get up. It is odd to say, but I never saw them clearly, just a general idea of what they looked like. I am not really surprised that you have more cats around than you thought, especially with feeders.

When I lived with my dad, he had an empty garage. Oh my gosh, the strays and ferals loved it. There was furniture in it, old stuff we did not intend to keep, and they were thrilled to find it. I put an electric blanket in it in the winter...not the smartest idea as I had no idea if someone might have chewed a cord, but luckily did not.....and one night when I went out there were about 8 cats all sleeping on the blanket, too comfortable to even bother to run when they saw me. I knew of about 4 and had been feeding them and had them fixed, but evidently word spread. The garage is a good place to check or observe to see if Luna goes there, or might as your weather changes.

I think it is likely that she is sticking close to the photo sighting spot as it makes a lot of sense. Sort of ironic as she is possibly there and that is the one place you can't get her on camera.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I wasn't able to capture the kittens yesterday -- I think since I was there and the house owner was there and her daughter, it was just too much commotion. This morning they saw them in the yard, not under the deck like they had been, so they may be much more difficult to catch now. I'm not sure I'll succeed.

I love the story of your dad's garage! Eight kitties enjoying the warm. The electric blankets we had were one of Luna's very favorite things -- she would crawl under them or just curl up on top. Your ferals were really lucky to find that outside!! And to be all cozy with each other, plus the warm blanket, what a nice enjoyable nap.

I went to the garage mentioned last night, and I think regardless of the report I don't think it's a house for the local feral cats. There is a bit of a gap under the door on one side, but it is very narrow-- I couldn't even fit my fist in it. Maybe if I shoved I'd loosen it but I think it would make noise. So while maybe a kitten goes in occasionally, and a determined cat stuck inside would probably be able to get loose, I think cats would like something they could easily move in and out from, and not be spending awhile squeezing and pushing in a position partially stuck and probably pretty vulnerable.

I went out late last night, near 11, and put a little food at least by Luna's last sighting even if I can't put a camera there. I stayed a little while and noticed how much traffic there really was -- all the apartment buildings on that end mean that even at 11, there are a trickle of people coming and going every ten minutes or so. It makes me think maybe Luna has moved further from there, because since I have a poster right on that alley corner, and given the number of people there even at night, I would have expected I might have heard?

I'm having a really hard day today. It could be because I was out late and didn't sleep well, but everything is feeling like something's missing with her gone. All the pieces of my day where she would be imposing herself and wanting attention, it's like her memory is there but she's missing.

 

[fionasmom]

You are probably over tired if you were out at 11 looking for Luna and that really plays a role in mood and putting up with all the various parts of the day. I do see your point about Luna moving a little further away because of the activity, but also that it seems you might have heard from someone who spotted her. Are there any other areas where you can put a trail cam that did not seem previously possible?

The door of my dad's garage was propped up on a carton so the cats did have the easy access you suggest they like. No one had to squeeze in or out and if it seemed to be a very tight spot I think that cats would not be attracted to it. I have found that sometimes people "think" that cats go places like that, maybe based on seeing only one. At my work there were a couple of portable buildings with sloppy vents at the bottom and I (and others who liked cats) was assured by some co workers that cats were definitely living under the portable although I never saw one.

Those kittens are more than likely feral enough to avoid a number of people at the home. Did you think that they could be touched or were you going to use a trap? The owner of the house is friendly to the cats, I thought that you said, and could man the traps maybe? You have a lot on your plate right now with Luna missing and you don't want to get more exhausted....although not having these kittens breed is a very good thing for the area.

I hope that today was a little bit better. A missing pet has so many ups and downs to it from hope to excitement to sadness. Try to take care of yourself enough so that you are able to remain hopeful and keep on the search.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I had a pretty day yesterday, but I did sleep well and today was much, much better. It started out better, and a couple good things happened too! One kitten is safely in hand, and I might have seen Luna! I'm planning on sleeping plenty tonight as well, so hopefully tomorrow will be good as well.

Today had some good things!! First, the people owning the deck did start operating the trap this morning, and trapped the more scared and skittish of the two kittens. Success! Unfortunately, the other kitten was too light to trigger the trip plate, even though he went in right after. I'm a bit worried about him since he's now out there alone, but he knows where to get meals from, it is pretty safe under the deck, and they were trying things to make the trap more sensitive. It feels good that at the very least I'm going to be able to help one kitten, and I hope they are able to catch the other one as well.

I went again to part of the alley near Luna's last sighting -- and I think I saw her! I looked through a piece of broken fence and saw a cat run away-- it had white paws, narrow even tabby stripes, and a dark tail. The tail rules out one lookalike, and the even stripes rule out the other-- plus the lookalike with a tail has only been seen in the low-density block. I called to her and put food near her and also where I left it last night, but she had run out of the little hidden space between the fence and the nearest garage, and I didn't want to spook her too much because I know a dog is sometimes out in the nearest yard.

There are feasible physical locations I could leave a camera in this area, but I don't know how to get contact with the owners and the area is likely under corporate camera surveillance due to multi-unit buildings being all around, so I am quite hesitant. I'm not sure how to GET her if that was her. But it could be that she isn't moving far at all, that she comes out infrequently and people are mostly unobservant, and that maybe if I go and leave food & call at a regular time I could get her into a situation I can leave a trap for an hour or so while closely and obviously monitoring it, which I don't think anyone would have a problem with.

Kicking myself a bit for only trying the camera traps on the road side of the buildings for 11 days after the sighting, only putting some food in the alley now. I did LOOK in the alley a fair bit, and it would be very difficult to just leave food with so many cats around not knowing if she was actually eating it, but I could have been working all plans in parallel. Oh well! Someone in this area is extensively feeding birds -- large amounts of bird seed has fallen to the ground in multiple areas. Luna might be eating a bird-and-mouse buffet, with that person feeding her secondhand instead of directly.

I definitely think you're right that people see cats out, and they see some areas that they believe cats might be in, and just assume they use it. Or maybe they saw a cat standing nearby a few times, etc. Cats can definitely squeeze and scared cats might do that to try to find a secure hiding spot, but that seems more like a "crawl up in a car because there's no other cover around and something is chasing" activity, and not a day to day normal life thing.

 

[fionasmom]

That is all great news! It really does seem as if the cat you saw could be Luna and it now gives an area where she might be living. I see your point about the corporate cameras but as far as putting a trap that you monitor, I don't see why not. It sounds to me as if you present yourself as reasonable and polite, with a very normal request for minimal help with locating your lost cat and I think that people are responding to that. You haven't littered the area with food and traps or made things unpleasant for anyone.

The second kitten will definitely be trapped eventually. Is the trap disguised enough so that it does not connect just having seen the sibling trapped? Most hungry kittens will decide to go for the food and don't seem as trap wary. I read your other posts about the trapped kitten...what a pretty little baby! Maybe 12 weeks, but I am not always correct so hopefully someone else will answer. It is so hard to tell about cats you see on the street. These two may have been feral, but now this one is already happy that she has a home and is safe. Then others never seem to make the connection and remain more timid their whole lives. Like I have said, with my avatar Lily we are at the point where I would actually like her to get off my lap once in a while, but her sister who is outdoors still hisses and hits my hand if I get too close with her nice meals. Fiona herself was like the one you just trapped. After all the commotion of getting her to safety, she turned around and looked at me with a look of complete gratefulness, almost like a human would express.

Remember that cats often don't recognize people out of context so while Luna certainly knows who you are, in her mind you are never at that place of the sighting so she is not of a mind to come over to you. It is possible that she might come to you if you see her enough times in the same place but she might need to be trapped again if that does not work. Her diet of birds and mice is probably keeping her going and feeding birds definitely attracts a cat population, so very possible she has turned into a good hunter.The birds probably substitute for alley food; and yes, food left out would attract a lot of cats and maybe not have moved you as far along as you would have hoped.

Definitely good news about Luna and fingers crossed that this is the beginning of getting her back home.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I just got back from checking my stations, and I saw the same cat again! She was in the same general area today, at the same time, and all the food was all gone. I left a bit more, plus some extra smelly sardine treat. The cat definitely had the right bib shape, four white paws, and had even markings, but she struck me as small. I know Luna is a small cat, and I've been living only with her larger brother and my larger older kitty for the past 6 weeks and may have mis-calibrated "cat size" by now. Definitely lighter and more lean than when she left, but this also isn't unexpected for being out that long.

I got two glimpses today, for a little longer than the flash yesterday, so I'm still not certain either way whether this definitely is Luna or not. I know it wasn't either of the two lookalikes I've already identified living near that area. The feral feeder I met didn't know of a cat matching Luna's description other than the one missing a tail, so that also makes me think it could be her.

I think she's just been sticking very close to this building. There are some pretty thick bushes that don't seem heavily landscaped around it, there's a fence separating all edges from the next yard over, which is where I saw a dog. I did notice a couple more winter cat shelters hidden behind one of the bushes, and I saw on the 2nd floor balcony of the person who seems to do the most extensive bird feeding, a potential cat shelter as well. There's a tree that goes very close to that balcony -- maybe this person encourages ferals that like climbing to live there?? I suppose it is possible that there's a second colony on this block, and maybe this isn't Luna, but a lookalike that I haven't yet identified sticks close to that side, and doesn't come to the patio of the person I met already?

I left a little bit of hair from my brush in a weedy/abandoned area. I figure maybe she will go near, smell me, and be able to contextually place me in that area better. I will probably do the same with fur from her brother, as well. It might help remind her of living with us and be more likely to come to me or recognize me so out of the context she knows.

Still no luck with the brother. He's still in the area, and it sounded like their initial problem was he was too light to trigger it when he did go in, so I am not sure whether disguising it would help, but it might. I'm not sure he's gone in since, though. Luna's brother is INTENSELY interested in the one we've brought inside, though. He meows to her and she meows back sometimes, and we've let him sniff near the crate we have her in. He definitely wants to interact, but I want to make sure she gets to a vet first, and the vets have been very overbooked, so this is taking awhile.