- Joined
- Jul 17, 2023
- Messages
- 23
- Purraise
- 64
Hi folks,
I'm a first time poster. I read about another person who lost her cat, and never found out if she was able to get her cat back. I felt inspired to share my story, as it's currently unfolding.
I moved a lot in the past year, first from Hamilton, Ontario to the west coast, and then back. When I moved back to Ontario, I landed in the parents' house with my two 2-year old tortoiseshell sisters, Luna and Starr. I'd just flown from Vancouver to Toronto with them, and they settled in fine in my parents' house. They have been indoor/outdoor cats for a while, and enjoy catching voles, mice and unfortunately, the odd bird and sometimes bat.
As a bird and nature-lover, I did research on preventing them from hunting birds. After some trial-and-error, I purchased two big bird collars for them. The collars enabled songbirds to see them before they could sneak up to the birds. They caught much fewer birds after starting to wear the collars. The collars also gave them a distinctive and somewhat comical look.
When the cats returned to Ontario, I continued to let them outside at night, as they were used to being country cats by now. After about a month of going out and in uneventfully, and hunting around the garden and forest, one morning, my Star did not come back. Her sister Luna returned home as usual.
At first I was anxious but didn't search, as Luna has had times when she went on adventures for a day, usually returning the next day. I went about my business, until she also did not return the next day, and then the next.
I did some more search online and began searching, first in neighbors' yards and garages. I quickly learned that many people in our suburban Ontario neighborhood became suspicious when I asked to search their yard and garage. So I knocked on dozens of doors, and asked people to search their backyards for her. Many people were quite short, seemingly not understanding the importance of a cat.
I felt very torn between grieving for Star, and recommitting myself to the search. My family was supportive at the outset, but I'm the only one at this stage who's still searching. My family doesn't seem to truly believe Star could be found. Many people told me all kinds of things that could've happened to Star, as we live next to a ravine.
I have not received any positive sightings of her. I've walked the forest, and there are no signs of animal remains. She does still wear her bird collar, which makes me worried that she could be stuck somewhere with it, or the collar may gave given her away to predators. But it's a guessing game.
Added to my stress is the fact that, around the time she disappeared, it was Canada Day, which means fireworks, which mean a terrified cat. The humidity of July was also suffocating at times. I could only console myself by imagining her drinking from the brooks in the forest, unharmed.
Her sister Luna is at home with me, adjusting to get sibling-less life, and to being an indoor cat since I'm too concerned to let her out too. I've tried various strategies for finding Star, including postering, door-knocking, calling vets and rescues, etc. A couple of neighbors say that they have seen her, but I'm not able to find her when I go to the houses.
I was able to find someone in the neighborhood who feeds stays, but he says he hasn't seen her. Most people say they have not seen her.
I'm continuing the search, although I feel very discouraged. My family has stopped saying things to me such as she's dead or in someone else's house. I got some good advice from the internet, after filtering out some bad advice. I haven't tried humane traps, and we have a wildlife camera. We've not been able to snap any videos of her, although a black cat regularly stops by our yard.
If anyone has suggestions, or want to share inspiring stories, I'm all ears as I am, as many far, at a loss. I've been hardcore grieving, and feel torn between letting her go, and recommitting to the search.
This is a photo of both Luna and Starr. Starr is the one with the white dot on her forehead. I liked to think of it as her third eye.
I'm a first time poster. I read about another person who lost her cat, and never found out if she was able to get her cat back. I felt inspired to share my story, as it's currently unfolding.
I moved a lot in the past year, first from Hamilton, Ontario to the west coast, and then back. When I moved back to Ontario, I landed in the parents' house with my two 2-year old tortoiseshell sisters, Luna and Starr. I'd just flown from Vancouver to Toronto with them, and they settled in fine in my parents' house. They have been indoor/outdoor cats for a while, and enjoy catching voles, mice and unfortunately, the odd bird and sometimes bat.
As a bird and nature-lover, I did research on preventing them from hunting birds. After some trial-and-error, I purchased two big bird collars for them. The collars enabled songbirds to see them before they could sneak up to the birds. They caught much fewer birds after starting to wear the collars. The collars also gave them a distinctive and somewhat comical look.
When the cats returned to Ontario, I continued to let them outside at night, as they were used to being country cats by now. After about a month of going out and in uneventfully, and hunting around the garden and forest, one morning, my Star did not come back. Her sister Luna returned home as usual.
At first I was anxious but didn't search, as Luna has had times when she went on adventures for a day, usually returning the next day. I went about my business, until she also did not return the next day, and then the next.
I did some more search online and began searching, first in neighbors' yards and garages. I quickly learned that many people in our suburban Ontario neighborhood became suspicious when I asked to search their yard and garage. So I knocked on dozens of doors, and asked people to search their backyards for her. Many people were quite short, seemingly not understanding the importance of a cat.
I felt very torn between grieving for Star, and recommitting myself to the search. My family was supportive at the outset, but I'm the only one at this stage who's still searching. My family doesn't seem to truly believe Star could be found. Many people told me all kinds of things that could've happened to Star, as we live next to a ravine.
I have not received any positive sightings of her. I've walked the forest, and there are no signs of animal remains. She does still wear her bird collar, which makes me worried that she could be stuck somewhere with it, or the collar may gave given her away to predators. But it's a guessing game.
Added to my stress is the fact that, around the time she disappeared, it was Canada Day, which means fireworks, which mean a terrified cat. The humidity of July was also suffocating at times. I could only console myself by imagining her drinking from the brooks in the forest, unharmed.
Her sister Luna is at home with me, adjusting to get sibling-less life, and to being an indoor cat since I'm too concerned to let her out too. I've tried various strategies for finding Star, including postering, door-knocking, calling vets and rescues, etc. A couple of neighbors say that they have seen her, but I'm not able to find her when I go to the houses.
I was able to find someone in the neighborhood who feeds stays, but he says he hasn't seen her. Most people say they have not seen her.
I'm continuing the search, although I feel very discouraged. My family has stopped saying things to me such as she's dead or in someone else's house. I got some good advice from the internet, after filtering out some bad advice. I haven't tried humane traps, and we have a wildlife camera. We've not been able to snap any videos of her, although a black cat regularly stops by our yard.
If anyone has suggestions, or want to share inspiring stories, I'm all ears as I am, as many far, at a loss. I've been hardcore grieving, and feel torn between letting her go, and recommitting to the search.
This is a photo of both Luna and Starr. Starr is the one with the white dot on her forehead. I liked to think of it as her third eye.
