****************HI!!! I have moved this post to "Death and Dying" for better readership, responses, and comfort....*****
Please write and respond to Sheri, and let her know if you have ever had your furbabies "vanish into thin air".....
PLEASE READ AND RESPOND...................THANK YOU!!!!**************



Hi, I'm new here. What brought me here is my missing cat,Mia, that I haven't seen since last Thurs AM.
I just read the last post by Leigh from May 2004. I know all to well exactly how you feel. I've wondered for along time if there was a place I could move to that my cats would be safer.
Not only has one of my cats turned up missing, haven't been seen since Thurs 10-07-2004, I lost my favorite cat, Joey, to kidney failure last Dec 2003 & my oldest cat, Spunky, died July 31, 2002. At least I know what happened to Joey & Spunky. Unfortunately I have had prior experience with cats seeming to vanish into thin air.
In July of 1993, a week after the 4th when all was quiet, 2 of my cats disappeared
after 5PM on the same evening never to be seen again. 5 days after that my next door neighbors cat vanished without a trace. In the early 1980's another next door neighbor's cat turned up missing. That was poisitive that that cat was somehow taken. But the question was, how? Her cat never wondered out of the yard was not keen on strangers.
Anyway with this latest missing cat I'm doing the usual thing putting up fliers visiting the animal shelter & talking to neighbors. I know that Mia was great for getting into places because she would come home with cobwebs stuck to her face almost all the time. She could very well be locked up somewhere, but with the track record of this neighborhood & each passing day, it points more & more to somebody trapping her & doing what ever. Since I can't prove anything & I can only suspect, I feel helpless.
However, I've decided that if Mia doesn't turn up, I'm going to replace the fliers about her disappearence with a flier about cats dissappearing into thin air & ask anyone who has had similar experience & live in this neighborhood to contact me to share their thoughts on this. I truly believe that at least one or more individuals is respossible for the dissappearence of these cats. Hopefully if I can raise awareness we can catch this person. I'm scared to death to go to work or let the cats out for fear of loosing another cat.
My sincere condolances go out everyone who has lost their pets one way or another. I can not read these posts without crying, so I don't know how often I will be able to visit this site.
Bless all of you,
Sheri

Dear Sheri:

I am soooooooooooooooo very, very sorry about your missing furkitty, Mia........... Hmmm.....since last Thursday????

I don't know where you live, but is there any chance at all that there are coyotes in your area?????? I live about 8 miles West of Boston, and there was a period that a couple of towns over (near a golf course), that about 5 kitties were "lost" in one neighborhood..............
They suspect it was coyotes, as they had been sighted.....

I think it's a wonderful idea that you are putting up fliers at animal shelters, and are keeping in touch with neighbors.

I would also send copies of your fliers to veterinary offices in your area............within a 10 mile radius, or so.....
That might be a good idea....

I can imagine the pain is horrific...............the "not knowing" where Mia is!!!! You just don't know, and of course you feel helpless.....

Please accept my condolences about your beloved Joey and Spunky........... I know that the pain "is still there".....
Just know that they are both at Rainbow's Bridge, and they are doing just fine........having a blast........ Playing with all of our furkids that have passed over............
Their bodies are perfect, and there is no more pain..........
Knowing that, helps me to "get by"......

Just to let you know.................sometimes, this part of the board, (Lost/Missing), doesn't get looked at that often..........
If I see that this happens, I will move your post to the "Death and Dying" Section of Lightning Strike............ (as a poster once said........that section is really "the most alive part of the board"........)

I want to make sure that you get lots of replies.........

My thoughts and prayers are with you Sheri, and hopefully St. Francis will see that your precious Mia find her way home safely...........

God Bless you..

Love, Denise

Sheri,

I'm so saddened to hear of Mia's absence. Almost a week.... I can understand your feelings of helplessness.

When I had outdoor cats, I had one who would disappear for many days at a time, once for 25 days, and then return. But it was her habit to wander a lot. Another time I had a cat who was gone for 7 weeks!!! She returned home weighing 2 1/2 pounds (down from 12) and never again set foot off the porch steps. The weekend she disppeared was a holiday weekend, and the weekend she returned was some holiday as well. I suspected she may have been closed up in some camp or something---some place that was opened only on long weekends.

I pray that your Mia returns. IF she doesn't, please know that she will be with Joey and Spunky---all of them in bliss, and when it's your time you'll be reunited.

But if it comes to that, rest assured that we will be there with you, in spirit, every step of the way. And in the meantime, I'm sending intense prayers your way.

Looking forward to hearing from you again. Try to take care of yourself. I know this is tough beyond words!!

Love,

Kathy

Hi Denise,
Thank you for your kind words. Fortunately I still have 3 other cats. To answer your question there are no coyotes where I live. I live in San Francisco Bay Area, 3 blocks from the bay itself. I've been hearing of coyote reports in the outline areas, but too far away for them to reach here. Mia could still turn up, but past history of cats vanishing in this neighborhood & each day she does not show up I become more convinced that the neighborhood cat knapper/killer has stuck again. And that has opened the old wounds of when my other 2 cats & the neighbors cat that all disappeared within 6 days of each other back in 1993. There is no closure when you don't know what happened.
Being that Mia was a stray to begin with, if somehow she found her way back to her oreginal(sp) family I could live with that if I knew about it.
Sheri

Hi Kathy,
Thank you for your post. I hope you don't think I'm off my rocker, but the last few days I've been feeling like Joey & Spunky have been to visit me. I dreamt of Joey. I even thought that he was trying to give me some clue as to where Mia might have got herself locked up. Then the other morning when I woke up, I had the feeling that there was a cat sleeping with me but there was nothing there. Plus my husband doesn't want the cats in that part of the house so there's no way that there could have been a living cat there.
Sheri

Hi All:

I wanted to let you know that I moved this topic to "Death and Dying" from "Lost and Missing" because I feel that there is more readership and comfort here.......

I hope you will all respond to Sheri, as she is suffering because of the loss of her beloved, Mia....

I will say a prayer to St. Francis and also to my girl, Ernestine, that she find her way home.....
God Bless you, Sheri!!!!!!!!

Thank you,

Denise

Sheri, I am feeling for you. Two nights ago my Zipper cat vanished. Unfortunately I do have coyotes (and cougars and great horned owls). Althoug Zipper did vanish, it was not exactly into thin air. There was a spot less tha 100' from the house with a sign of disturbed ground, some of her furr and three drops of blood. The dogs (he best buddies) led me there. I am pretty sure it was a coyote or cougar. It is so hard,e specially since I feel major guilt that I did not going to her rescue. The dogs were barking and she and Abbot cat were still out. I was pretty sure the dogs were just barking at them, as they seem to bark at anything. We have live here for 3 years and this is the first cat that has gine missing. I was sure the dogs were keeping the predators ay a distance. I miss her terrible and am still waiting to see her stroll in. She had a purr that could shake the house and was always there with affection. She was only 18 months old. A big hug to you. I hope you find your cat. They are family. Martina