Found missing cat but she ran away

fionasmom

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So looking at the time of the posts, you got the boy cat just a couple hours after you wrote this one! That is really good news and I replied to the other thread about him. You must be so relieved and happy that they can move on to the next phase of their lives.

In my experience, male adult cats including those who are neutered love young female cats. I don't know if it is the hormones, even if the male is neutered, but every single young female I ever rescued when I owned an indoor male was allowed to play, cuddle, become irritating, hang onto their necks, etc. Definitely you want to get the kittens checked out though so your boy will have to be patient.

This is all very intriguing about seeing a cat who resembles Luna so much. Putting your hair and his fur was a very good idea as it might help her to recall her old life. Very possible that if she has found a place to stay, even just a location that she likes, that she is sticking there. All of my outdoor ferals have places that they stick close to and a route that they take when they go out. Some of their choices are not that logical, especially given that they could utilize my yard but choose not to. Cats always know where other community cats are and are careful to avoid those that they know are trouble and bond with those they like.

Luna could certainly look different by now...thinner would be logical, and more mature, maybe even a little different. Do you think that with all the canvassing you have done that you could have missed another colony? Around here, I think that I know about most community cats, even those that I do not tend to or were TNRed by someone else. Sure, there is always the guy who is probably entirely nocturnal that no one has ever seen, but you have done a lot of investigating over the last few weeks.

I am really impressed how many people in your area appear to be helping feral and outdoor cats.
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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Haha you posted while I was composing today's update!! :)

It's interesting how all the boys like to make friends with the young female cats. I just loved how quickly he started purring and purring at her, and I think having her see him across the room hearing him purr, seeing he wasn't scared of me, may have helped her get so relaxed with me so quickly.

I am incredibly happy to have both kittens in, and not have to worry about them anymore. Well, I will worry but about more predictable things, like getting them to a vet, finding them a permanent home, helping them get socialized and enjoy people, etc. I have an appointment for Wednesday, but I'm toying with the idea of just going and waiting at the no-appointment vet tomorrow. I might have to wait a couple hours, but I might get them seen earlier. Of course they won't like the vet trip and a little extra socializing before they go wouldn't be a bad thing either.

I just got back from today's trip to cameras & alley. I didn't see the one I think could be Luna today. I did see the black Tom I've been seeing all over the block ever since I first started focusing on this area. I walked around the building a few times and I saw him at front & back, so I think he was staking out the place. I wonder if he has learned I've left food there the last couple days.

I did see a cat that had a lot of white on its legs, and a full white belly and with a little white on the face, but otherwise had the same tabby pattern Luna has. It was relaxing under some brush, so I got a lot of good pictures. I've never seen it at the patio where the known feral feeder feeds the black tom, two tabby kittens, and the tail-less lookalike (sometimes, she's a rare visitor.) However, I think it is one of the cats I saw down the block at my feeding station last Monday. That was the only time I saw this cat on camera. I could have possibly mistaken this cat with Luna two days ago when I only got a tiny, tiny glimpse, but the one I saw yesterday had very distinct small white socks, and a very clear small bib that matched what Luna has and wasn't this cat.

I also noticed how the tabby coat looked lighter or darker depending on the lighting or angle. I've been wondering if the cat I saw yesterday was just slightly too gray to be Luna, as well as being too small, but once I saw this one in outside sun, I think it could have just been a trick of the light. It's also true that all my pictures of Luna & almost all memories are inside, and the sunlight could just make her fur seem slightly lighter.

I did think it was likely there was someone else feeding somewhere -- Some cats had only shown up on my cameras once or twice, and never ever at the one permanent feeding station I knew of. So while I think I've probably seen a lot of the feral cats in the area, I could still have missed a couple, and I certainly didn't have a good idea of the main hangout space or food source of the ones I saw only very occasionally.

Late last night I got a call from some kind people who believed they saw her in the next town over -- so this would have been only 5 hrs our so after I may have seen her at the apartment building. That location was almost a mile further west, across a river. There is a bridge nearby, but it only has a road and narrow sidewalks, and on the other side there's a small section of forest preserve before the next town starts. I did drive by and there is a very abandoned and overgrown building at the intersection they mentioned. So I'm sure there is a cat that must live there, and might even look very much like Luna. I've gotten remarkably close pictures from the town to the east of me and one north. With the pictures, it is possible to determine they just look close but aren't her. But I don't know.... maybe I'm currently chasing a lookalike and Luna somehow got accidentally transported under a car or something? I wish I could have seen the cat I saw yesterday clearly enough, and for long enough that I could have gotten some pictures of my own, or been confident in my sighting. Or that I saw the cat again, today, enough to be confident it was her so I wouldn't have to worry about her potentially being even further away.
 

fionasmom

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I give my boy cats credit for helping to socialize some of those little girls I brought inside. The funny thing is that I have never had female cats take to a boy kitten in the same way. I did have one stand out cat, Stella, who died a couple of years ago who mothered everyone, but that was the exception. When I brought little Jamie in at about 4 weeks, with the intention of keeping him, none of my older females took one whit of interest in him. In fact, that is partly the reason I have my avatar and her sister. I brought them in as friends for Jamie, who really did bond to both of them and vice versa.

There is something about cats who roam outdoors that confuses keeping their identities separate. Maybe it is that they are all the same size, for one thing, whereas dogs are in much more variety. But coat and size variations really mix things up. Even here, there are 4 black and white outdoor cats who come every day for their meals and I still have to take a good look at who is who. I took to naming them by characteristic, so Blaze is the one with the white stripe down his face, Spock has turned back and up pointing ears, the other two have names but are father and daughter and look exactly alike. When the three calico sisters were outside and I was trying to trap them I called them Head (the one with the tortie solid colored head), Face (my avatar because her face had the markings, and Ears (because the marking were only on her ears. I can picture in my mind what Luna looks like and agree that it would be very hard to be sure that you were clearly separating her out of a group, especially given that they are all from the same gene pool, more or less.

I still can't believe how nice everyone is around you though, that you are getting calls regularly and people are really looking out for her.

Asking if you think that Luna could be roaming that far is really pointless as she may or may not be. My ferals do go several blocks away, at least from what I can figure, but not the next town over. But then they are fixed on my place for meals so there is probably no real interest in going that far away. But if Luna is not basing her roaming on how far she is from home, she may be ranging further. I do think that the tom probably realized that there is food available in a new place, which is how Blaze showed up out of nowhere, as a full grown adult, not a needy kitten.

It is always a great relief to have made cats safe even if you do have to vet them and find homes. I have always been so happy to get any cat off the streets who had the potential for being adopted. They are lucky little kittens to have had someone look out for them.
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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Today's regular visit turned up nothing, but I got a call a couple hours later from someone who may have seen her! The sighting was three buildings down from the multi-unit building where I saw her Thursday and Friday. She may be sticking to that narrow area. I hope she does consider that a kind of home she's planning to stay near, since that makes getting her back a lot easier! He was very kind and seems to pay attention to the local cats, he knew of the tail-less one and the one he saw definitely wasn't her, and he said it looked exactly like my handout picture. He wasn't able to get a picture, she was there a little while and gone when he looked back. But he did let me set out a camera and food station in his front bushes, so maybe I will get her picture tonight! I moved the one I had in the less-densely built up area, since I think that lookalike I saw explained the sighting I heard, and I've not seen much activity there recently.

I am very very lucky, as you say, that people are being so kind and helpful. I'd have gotten nowhere near as far without this amount of help, and just knowing she is on a block with many other ferals living rewarding feral lives fairly comfortably does help me. At least I am not imagining her starving and bedraggled somewhere, unable to transition back from indoor living to outdoor life. Of course, all of this assumes the cat I'm chasing is actually Luna! But even if she has gone somewhere else, it seems reasonable to me that she would have shifted back to a survival feral lifestyle, and people in my area are clearly kind to outdoor cats.
 

fionasmom

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That is more really good news! I do think that people like the man you met do pay attention to cats and their appearance for lots or reasons. As I said yesterday, I try to keep track of the cats I see around my area, including the ones that I don't feed and who don't come on my property. He was very nice to let you set up your camera and feeding station at his place. Logically, if Luna has transition to feral or outdoor life, she has found a routine. She is not running willy nilly all over the neighborhood and putting herself in danger but has found some sort of a safe routine that works for her, so you may be narrowing in on her.

Luna may not have transitioned back to being feral exactly either. Those two cats, especially Ginger, who lived on my front porch for years were clearly happy with their outdoor life but were definitely not feral. I could pick him up and hug and kiss him and brush him, but he just loved the free life outside and chose to live that way. I always thought he was an abandoned pet, although he never looked bad, and was almost glad that he had been given his freedom. I think that most healthy cats can figure out how to live outdoors without necessarily reverting back to the call of the wild and in your area, as we have both said, you have so many kind people that it makes it easy to decide to just keep on living that life as no one is seemingly hurting for food. It will be exciting to see what you get on your camera in the new location.
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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I'm very glad for the new location, I think it will definitely pay off. No success yet though -- a possum and some raccoons were the first visitors last night and they polished off the food before 11 pm. I saw the black tom and one of the TNR'd kittens come sniff at the empty station, but I didn't see Luna. I think I need to switch my maintenance check / food top-off to the morning instead of early afternoon. The first couple weeks she was out near my house she was 100% nocturnal, but seems to move in the day sometimes now. The feral cats I see are active day or night, but the raccoons/possums/skunks are only ever active at night.

I think she may start having something of a weekly pattern as well as daily at some point, when I went by the garage I saw her near Thursday and Friday, it was clear people were playing loud music / doing band practice or something inside. Makes sense for a Sunday, but also means she probably moves away from there when that is going on-- maybe why I got the sighting a few houses down rather than seeing her myself when I checked.

I think you're right that most cats figure out some kind of balance outside and end up finding things they enjoy. I've definitely been happy to see the feral cats that come to my cameras more regularly play with each other, relax in the sun, sprawl out on the ground, etc. All things I know Luna loves to do, and is clearly still available to her (though she'll have to make friends to interact, she might not have done that yet).

I will definitely worry more if I don't get her back before winter. Chicago gets plenty cold, and last year we had so much snow all the good access points to hiding shelters must have been covered for weeks. Most years aren't that bad, but it still must be a miserable time for a cat to be out.
 

fionasmom

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My ferals know that on Friday the gardener comes and they all leave. Definitely the loud music is discouraging her from being in that spot when they are playing. I am sure that she is following a pattern of some sort....of course, pinning it down is a little hard. Do you think that she is still mostly nocturnal? The competition for food around here, I don't mean starving cats, but from wildlife can be a big problem and I move food and remove it several times a day to try to control that. You can't as well as you aren't doing all this on your property, but the raccoons and possums can really complicate things. Possums I don't mind and there is a young one who eats some cat food here which is okay with me. Raccoons are the much bigger mess and can drive cats away if they are insistent enough.

What have any other feeders or caretakers told you about their shelters for the winter? Does anyone do anything special for the cats? I know that you are facing an entirely different winter than out here. Of course, no one can put shelters all over the place but it seems that you have so many cat friendly people that someone must be doing something about maintaining shelters. When does your first cold weather start? Out here, we can literally have heat in October and a warmish Christmas and if we have a cold season it is usually not until January. I wonder if she would start to seek out shelter and that might be another way to start to lure her back in.
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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I think she's probably acting very similarly to the other ferals on that block now -- mostly active at some point in the day, but definitely visible in the middle of the night some of the time. She does seem to be more shy and wary than any of the others still, but I am hoping she will continue to get bolder until I see her as often as I see some of the others. I also notice that the possums and skunks seem more deferential to the cats than the raccoons. The raccoons also eat a lot more, and a lot more messily, they like to use their front paws to manipulate and move objects, and pick up the food to eat it rather than just eat out of the dish like the cats, possums, and skunks do.

I didn't get up early enough to change the food before work (I work from home, starting at 7), but I was able to take a mid morning break. It was good I did, as the food had been fully eaten in both places by about 11 last night. I saw a solid-gray cat there today, and I'd never seen it before and also I don't think I saw it on camera. On reflection, it might not be easy to distinguish the black cat from this gray one at night, but the black one has a little white star on its chest that I don't think the gray cat had. I think there may be two groups of cats -- the family of black male, spayed tailless Luna lookalike female, & two TNRd kittens from early this year that eat at the feral feeder's station I know of. And then a second group that has no eartips-- a solid gray cat, a tabby with no white, a tabby with all white legs and some white on face as well as a full white chest. Two of those I've seen at least once on my cameras, but incredibly rarely. I mostly have seen them over time in person near the multi-unit building at the end of the block, which is also where Luna has been sighted. I've seen the kittens & the black cat in that area too, they seem to roam more than these ones do, or I just haven't figured out the areas where these cats do roam-- although I may have seen the gray cat in the low density block while driving yesterday.

I haven't had a conversation about winter shelters with the feeder I know, but I think I might talk to her again soon. I am more and more convinced that the 2nd story balcony that extensively feeds the birds also has a double decker cat shelter, and a leaning dead tree that probably can provide access to most cats. I hadn't approached that person because it's more difficult to talk to people in multi-unit buildings since it's harder to target individual units properly, and also because I know that sometimes people who feed birds are quite opposed to feral cats worrying that they might target the birds. I'm still a little worried about that if I'm wrong, but it seems like this is someone I need to talk to.

I know there's another person who has helped trap the cats on this block, and lives nearby, who I think might have something to do with preparing winter shelters in some places. I know the feeder I met wasn't really physically up for the work of trapping or shelter building or maintenance, but most of her cats had been TNR'd with the help of this other person.

We usually start to get cold weather in late October, but I wouldn't really worry about things too much most years until December. Even then, December usually has the problem of frozen water, and shelters under decks and porches are still likely very effective. It's January through early March where I would worry the most -- the nights can get bitterly, dangerously cold, and some years a very significant amount of snow may fall and block off many entrances. I do think you're right that the need for shelter might make Luna easier to locate or trap, but it also presents some serious risks to her as well.
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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Update -- I went early today, and I met the second feral feeder! She did have cat shelters on her balcony, but said only two cats climbed up that high. She normally feeds in a secluded area fairly early, as someone recently complained to her about the cats. She'd been looking for Luna ever since she saw my poster, but hadn't seen her yet-- and gave me permission to set up a camera near her station (which was VERY well stocked with several types of food.)

Just in the time of going and moving one of my cameras, I saw Luna eating at that station when I came back! She ran away quickly, so once again I still wonder whether it could possibly be a very exact lookalike, but all the markings are right. I'm just wondering because I've never gotten a long look, and it's hard to gauge size or exact shade well. It was encouraging that this new feeder knew the cats I've already seen on that block, including the ones that look somewhat like Luna, but didn't know any that looked exactly like her. If there was a long-term lookalike that was so exact a match, I would have thought she would have caught a glimpse at some point, but it's a lot more reasonable for me to imagine her not seeing Luna if she has only been there under a month, and was likely nocturnal at start and is still building up familiarity and is still possibly the most wary cat on that block.

I've also been talking to someone active in the local TNR facebook group who lives just one town over who will be willing to help me work a drop trap, if I need to. It was a pretty good day!
 

fionasmom

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Enough raccoons can complicate a situation with cats. From my experience, usually possums are quite meek and I have seen cats eat right next to them. My ferals do not like skunks but will only move away if the skunk is pushy enough. When I had that gang of them in my back property, it did displace the ferals for a couple of days until they were trapped.

The person you talked to is the second story balcony feeder? She sounds like a very cat proactive person who is generous with the food which is really nice. It is very sweet that she has been keeping an eye out for Luna as she goes about her day. I have mistaken one cat for another from time to time, but have found that if I can get a good enough look that I can always see differences even in cats with similar coats and coloring. As you say, you have not gotten a good, long look so it is hard to be sure but it still sounds very hopeful that it could be her. I agree that in the beginning Luna was wary and hiding until she possibly decided that this was the place that she was going to use for food, so sightings were not regular. If there were a long term twin to Luna, I think that at some point both might have been sighted in a way that would determine that there were two cats, not just one, with very similar appearances.

As I have said, my ferals are not as forthcoming if they see me out of context. Spock, who is the most outgoing, does not act the same toward me if he sees me a few houses down the street. Once, I walked over to him and he actually ran off as if he did not recognize or remember me; I was not doing anything that would have made him think that he was about to be trapped or touched. When my cousin was looking for her cat, she (the cat) was clearly living in the beach grass as there was no place else to go after the hurricane and there was no source of food, but she did not readily come out, even though my cousin walked the beach up and down several times a day. I don't find it surprising that Luna might not come to you or stop and pause as if she knows you. Their cognition, or something, seems to change as soon as they are on their own outside.

You might need a drop trap so it is great that you have someone to help you. To me, they are a two man operation but there are plenty of videos of people doing it on their own....I often suspect with their pet cat or another friendly one who is willing to play the game.You really did have a good day and I hope that you are close to getting her home.
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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I can't believe it!! I was so ready to keep trying to get her on that block, but last night she showed up back on our property!! I slept through it-- she stayed about 10 minutes on a step on our front porch around midnight. I'm so glad to get complete confirmation she is alive and well, but I had started being lax about ensuring I left food out by my house because the raccoons kept coming early and ate it all. So there was nothing THERE for her.

Of course I'm going to make sure I leave food tonight -- I already put some out for today in case she's not completely nocturnal. I don't know if she heard me calling her if it really was her I saw yesterday, and she decided to come home, or if she was somewhere else and just decided to swing back around. I do know it was cooler last night than it has been, so maybe she was looking for shelter. So I can't tell if everything I did to chase sightings and food stations on that block ended up at all helpfully, or if it had nothing to do with it at all.

I can't believe I didn't feed her or leave her a proper shelter, or somehow just wake up and call her in. At least this time there is no question of identity, we have so many better angles and coverage on our house cameras it is much more definitive than a few glances and a photo.

I wish I knew what she was thinking and could predict her. I'm confident if I'd had a baited trap on my front yard last night she'd be home -- but she wasn't seen at all here from July 26th until last night. I hope she tries again tonight. I'm not sure where she would be staying near me, but at least the neighbor with the formerly vacant house has already finished a lot of yard work, so I don't think she'll end up hiding there only to be chased off again.
 

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That is great news! Don't blame yourself for not having food out for her on your porch as these things are so hard to judge. You leave food out and the raccoons come, or the cat comes but there is no food, etc. Too many possible scenarios and you have to try to pick the one that is the most logical at the time. Who knows? Maybe Luna has been having a lovely time enjoying the summer but now as it cools off, or as she has lost her hiding place if it was one, she may consciously be coming back home. When you finally get her, you can have a long talk with her about how this was only fun for one of you.

Are you going to try to put food out with no trap, or bait a trap? Can you control that another animal does not use the trap and make Luna aware that it is, in fact, a trap? Of course, I think that if you could get her once and for all, that is the best idea.Do you think she is trap wary? Favorite food for the trap?
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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She came back again last night! This time I had a trap out with options: dry food & tuna in oil. I had a dry food snack outside the trap, I had a little cat shelter in a tote with one of my shirts that her brother had been sleeping on, and we left the door open.

She sniffed the tuna from the side of the trap, but she wouldn't go in. She didn't eat the dry food snack, she definitely didn't come in the door. She went around to our back deck and we saw her go under the deck stairs on camera, but we didn't see her come back out. We opened the back sliding door and talked to her for about 20 minutes, still didn't see her leave. I think the camera view got both sides of the stairs and if she left we would have seen? We left the door open in quiet for about another forty minutes, but we never saw anything more. I don't know if she may have just slipped back out without us noticing, or if she just stayed much longer than that? She wasn't there in the morning, but I saw little paths behind the nearby bushes I think were mouse paths, and one looked like it could have had a larger animal scratching recently. So maybe she hunted last night?

There weren't many other animals around, but eventually a racoon did come and eat the food I'd left out. I think a lot of our local wildlife got trapped during the weeks after Luna first left our property, so these raccoons seem to avoid the trap. The drop trap was loaned out already, I might get it either later this evening or perhaps tomorrow. She came at 12:30 Wednesday, and 1:20 last night, but I have no confidence she has a regular schedule.

This morning someone between my house and the other block I've been watching said they saw a tabby with at least one white paw, when they didn't know of any local feral with that description. They already have a trail cam and cat food, so they're going to set it up themselves and let me know if they see anything more. It is incredibly kind, but I really hope she didn't go that far again!
 

fionasmom

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This is amazing news! I recall you said that she was trapped as a kitten, and I assumed that meant with a standard trap, not just an expression meaning that she was caught and rescued. So she remembers the trap clearly enough. The cat I feed at the apartments has been trapped twice...not back to back....I guess maybe even a couple years apart. I have started to walk over to feed her with a small carrier in my hand just so she gets used to seeing one in case I have to take her in and she is very wary of it. Won't even come for her food.
TNR Scenarios: Hard to Trap Cats
A new member posted this today in another thread and I think that you have already seen it and are doing most of what they suggest which includes a drop trap. They also mention two side by side standard traps facing opposite directions. I have oddly had good luck with two side by side traps for reasons that I don't understand but it is like the cat decides that he or she has avoided the one trap so is safe to go in the other one.
She must have had/has a food source to be healthily out there for all this time, so that may play into her not dashing into your trap for a meal. Would something different like KFC work? That is my go-to bait.

I read your post in the other tread about Bubbles and it is true...she may have recognized you and returned for that reason. Maybe she did return to her old home where she was trapped, so all of the theories do seem to make sense. As for having a schedule, she probably doesn't have one in the sense that you or I might consider this to be scheduled.

She might have hung out around your house for a while, which is a good sign that she recognizes it as a safe place, maybe even remembers it as her home. I think that you have a good chance with a drop trap. My big mistake the last time I used mine was that the cat, a large male, was able to slam his entire weight against it and shove it to a place where the ground was not even and then upend it.

I certainly wish you good luck...maybe tonight you will get her.
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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I tried out your "double trap" idea with two traps side by side in opposite directions. I also fully covered with black plastic trash bags. We also set out the drop trap, planning for me to go out at 11:30 and bait it & operate it from a balcony.

Of course, tonight she comes earlier than she EVER has before, at 11! And she even goes all of the way in one of our traps, and eats all of the food, and it didn't trigger!!! Out of all the many ways I imagined not getting her tonight, that wasn't one of them. I can't believe it-- it could have been all over. I think my trap was slightly damaged when I left it out trying to habituate her, the mechanism got wet and then a little rusty/sticky. I thought about oiling it earlier today, but then decided the mineral oil smell would put her off.

I don't know if we'll get another chance tonight? It's still very early, but she's already eaten and gone, and then we had a bit of noise going out, taking the trap inside to check and test it, rebaiting it, etc. I used alcohol and graphite to clean the mechanism.

I can't believe it.
 

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This may be utterly stupid, so tell me if it is...but could you try oiling the hinges with oil from a tuna can? That, at least, wouldn't scare her off...
 

MackerelTabbyStripes

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I thought of that -- it was really tempting as an idea. I think it might work in the very short term, but would likely get sticky over time, or pick up dirt, and be worse. Plus, if it were to start smelling rancid, it would be as bad as the mineral oil but wouldn't even function equivalently. Cleaning + graphite should be good, but I wasn't sure if I got enough graphite in because it's just a powder.

I think I am going to get some small candles tomorrow, maybe paraffin wax will help?

I'm still in quite a bit of shock, we were so crazy close.

She definitely is thinner than she was when she left, I'm thinking that cat I saw on the other block is probably the size she is now, so it really could have been her. At least she did get some food at my house tonight, I guess this was accidental trap habituation.
 

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She's so much lighter than she was when she left! She's purring and meowing nonstop, which is a little crazy since she had almost silent squeaky meows before she got out. I'm so relieved she's back, but she is also clearly relieved and thrilled to be back inside.
 

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