After an 11-day ordeal, my beloved kitty cat, Viktor, is no longer MIA. Turns out he was close--very close--the whole time, just like all my research said he probably was.
Lindsay and I pulled into our driveway around 4pm yesterday after doing some shopping. We noticed that the neighbors three doors down were out. We were surprised to see them, because they're never out--not even their small children, who could safely play in our culdesac, but never do. They are the only neighbors in our small culdesac of about 8 houses that I have not been able to meet and talk with during Viktor's disappearance. The one time I was able to get them to answer their door, the man's brother answered and I couldn't talk to the man who lived there. Spanish speaking people, they seemed to have a limited grasp of English, which made things difficult. I was never able to search their yard or garage.
When we pulled in, the man came running over to our car, and said "I found your cat!". I was skeptical and calm; the neighborhood cat is short-haired and black, and many people have confused him for my missing long-haired black cat with a red collar (sigh). However, he went on to say "I look in my garage and I see something black, and I reach in and he is there. I put him on your porch."
I immediately asked "How long ago was this??" and he said a couple of days. "Well did he have a red collar on?" I asked. I was still not convinced this was my cat.
"He had a, a necklace, yes, I put him on your porch. He look very clean, I think someone must have him in their house and he got out and ran in my garage." the man said.
"Wait, HOW long ago was this??" I asked again--this very nice man did not seem to know his English words well. This time, the man said "About 30 minutes ago".
At this point Lindsay and I sprang into action. I was slightly pissed off that this man stuck my lost cat on my porch where he could (and very well might) just run off again for the nearest hiding spot. Also a little pissed that this guy did not take five minutes to look in his garage when I put flier after flier on all my neighbors' houses trying to get them to do so. I'm sure Viktor has just been curled up in a frightened ball in this family's garage for the past 11 days.
Lindsay ran around the back of the house--I ran up to the front porch hoping he might still be there. As soon as I stepped on the front steps and called his name, I heard a yowling noise that surely could not belong to my squeaky-meowed Viktor. I looked all around, and finally realized he had slunk off the porch and was huddled in a tight ball betwen the bushes and the corner of the house steps, eyes as big as saucers. He saw me and immediately crawled under the railing and into my arms.
He is about 3-4 pounds lighter, has a lot of matted fur, doesn't smell very nice, is sneezing a lot, and was very hungry/dehydrated, but I think he'll be okay after a few days and a flea bath. He was very happy to be back in the house, and he won't leave me alone. He's normally pretty affectionate, but now he even follows me around, literally jumps into my arms (the lap isn't good enough, he has to be held over my shoulder like when you burp a baby), felt a great need to wake me up every few hours last night, and just wants me to hold him for like ten minutes at a time while he purrs and gives me kisses!
I'm so glad to have my baby back. Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement! Now let's hope he recovers from this traumatic experience very soon!
Lindsay and I pulled into our driveway around 4pm yesterday after doing some shopping. We noticed that the neighbors three doors down were out. We were surprised to see them, because they're never out--not even their small children, who could safely play in our culdesac, but never do. They are the only neighbors in our small culdesac of about 8 houses that I have not been able to meet and talk with during Viktor's disappearance. The one time I was able to get them to answer their door, the man's brother answered and I couldn't talk to the man who lived there. Spanish speaking people, they seemed to have a limited grasp of English, which made things difficult. I was never able to search their yard or garage.
When we pulled in, the man came running over to our car, and said "I found your cat!". I was skeptical and calm; the neighborhood cat is short-haired and black, and many people have confused him for my missing long-haired black cat with a red collar (sigh). However, he went on to say "I look in my garage and I see something black, and I reach in and he is there. I put him on your porch."
I immediately asked "How long ago was this??" and he said a couple of days. "Well did he have a red collar on?" I asked. I was still not convinced this was my cat.
"He had a, a necklace, yes, I put him on your porch. He look very clean, I think someone must have him in their house and he got out and ran in my garage." the man said.
"Wait, HOW long ago was this??" I asked again--this very nice man did not seem to know his English words well. This time, the man said "About 30 minutes ago".
At this point Lindsay and I sprang into action. I was slightly pissed off that this man stuck my lost cat on my porch where he could (and very well might) just run off again for the nearest hiding spot. Also a little pissed that this guy did not take five minutes to look in his garage when I put flier after flier on all my neighbors' houses trying to get them to do so. I'm sure Viktor has just been curled up in a frightened ball in this family's garage for the past 11 days.
Lindsay ran around the back of the house--I ran up to the front porch hoping he might still be there. As soon as I stepped on the front steps and called his name, I heard a yowling noise that surely could not belong to my squeaky-meowed Viktor. I looked all around, and finally realized he had slunk off the porch and was huddled in a tight ball betwen the bushes and the corner of the house steps, eyes as big as saucers. He saw me and immediately crawled under the railing and into my arms.
He is about 3-4 pounds lighter, has a lot of matted fur, doesn't smell very nice, is sneezing a lot, and was very hungry/dehydrated, but I think he'll be okay after a few days and a flea bath. He was very happy to be back in the house, and he won't leave me alone. He's normally pretty affectionate, but now he even follows me around, literally jumps into my arms (the lap isn't good enough, he has to be held over my shoulder like when you burp a baby), felt a great need to wake me up every few hours last night, and just wants me to hold him for like ten minutes at a time while he purrs and gives me kisses!
I'm so glad to have my baby back. Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement! Now let's hope he recovers from this traumatic experience very soon!
1 comment:
Aww what a happy ending! I'm glad you found him!
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