Love You Options

[Jjay]

I havent seen my beautiful victor for 3 weeks now!
When i see something on the sofa that looks like him i think for a second its
him and then i get disheartned!
I still don't believe that his gone really and
i'm not going to see him again!
Love Jaymie xx

[josephinius]

Hi Jaymie,

Gosh, I feel like I've had every experience possible when it comes to pets. . .and I can relate to your situation with Victor, too.

We got Cosmo after Mildred died--he was just a baby and for better or worse, thought his presence would help ease the pain of losing Mildred--and it DID. But there may have been that much more meaning attached to his life.

Anyway. On Dec. 26, we came home from taking my mom and grandma to the airport after the holiday festivities. Cosmo, not normally a lap cat, deigned to sit (more like, recline,) on me, something I knew well to treasure. It was a horrid, rainy night--no one was out--but then someone knocked on our door and I got up to answer it, dislodging Cosmo, of course. Lady was asking if we knew where a certain house was (right across the street--very odd that she couldn't figure that out.) Closed the door. But then Cosmo started clamoring to be let out. I remember thinking very consciously--"Do I let him out? Well--it eases the strain on the box when I do--and it's raining--he'll not go far or stay long." So I let him go.

An hour later, I went to call him in, but he didn't come. He was a "king of the world" type cat and he did like to visit--but who would be out on a night like this? It didn't feel good. I called him every 15-20 minutes for the rest of the evening, and he still didn't come. Woke up early--still no Cosmo.

Long story short--we did everything we knew to do. I scoured the neighborhood, posted flyers with his picture everywhere, put an ad in the paper, visited the Humane Societies every few days, posted his picture and description on the internet--absolutely nothing.

Of all the pet experiences I've had, I don't think ANY has been as hard as this was. Was he hurt--wishing he could get home but not able? Had he been hit by a car? (I was out looking far and wide so early, it didn't seem possible--but now I know sometimes people will move them--still, you'd think if that happened, they'd have tried to locate the owner, and I certainly let his absence be known.) Did he just decide to leave us? Not having him there was bad--very bad; not knowing what had happened was worse.

I know what you're going through, and I don't have many words of comfort. It IS possible he's out there and doing okay. We were convinced that this person who'd come to our door (or perhaps someone else from the party she was allegedly going to,) took him--maybe thinking because he was out in the rain that he was a stray--and then, because he was SO pretty and so lovable, she couldn't bear to give him up.

That actually happened with us later. A cat wandered into our neighbor's backyard--that never happened (we never saw strays in our neighborhood, I mean,) but we'd never seen this one before, and she appeared to be looking for a home. When I realized she was pregnant, I definitely didn't want to leave her out (and our neighbors, who like cats, couldn't take her in.) We DID try to find her owners--took pictures around the neighborhood and asked, and I did scan the "lost cat" ads--but I confess, we didn't put an ad in the paper or otherwise try to locate them, selfishly--because she was a cool cat, and we wanted to see her kittens born.

Afterward (her one kitten was dead,) we had her spayed and we did put an in the paper--but no one came forward. Our vet said that she was too mellow and friendly to have been a stray--she even liked being at the vet (and I can vouch for the fact that THIS is a cat you can let outside. She never leaves our yard, and usually will want back in after about 10 minutes outside.) He figured when her owners discovered she was pregnant, they dumped her. That made me feel better, but I still wondered, occasionally, if someone was missing her.

Xena, whom we adopted legitimately through Animal Aid, had had a family before us. She was found as a stray--but she had a red leather collar on that had bled in the rain onto the white fur of her chest--made her very distinctly pink, even when we met her some time later. When they told me how her chest got pink, and said that her family must not have wanted her very badly, I wondered again. What was done to try to locate her family? Did someone take her to Animal Aid first thing? Did they put an ad in the paper? (I would never have thought to contact Animal Aid about a stray.) How did they know the owners didn't try to find her? It made me a little nervous to adopt her under those cir%%stances, but again, she was irresistible to me, and so of course, the fact that we lost her to a car knowing that she'd had a history of wandering. . .she must have wandered, not been dumped. . .even though she seemed to always be near. . . .

Anyway, the point is--not that it helps much, but I did kind of feel better thinking Cosmo might be bringing joy to someone else (best case scenario--just preferred not to think about the others.) It CAN happen. If someone took him, I was angry, but I also understood--as long as they did it because they liked him--how it could have happened.

The other thing I hoped was that if he wandered once--he could just as easily wander back.

But that's where it gets dicey again, because how long can you keep hoping, dragging your heart out behind you?

So--I will just say--I so know what you're feeling, and I'm so sorry.

Cindy

[Jjay]

Hi Cindy,
Thats awful-I really hope you find your gorgeous Cosmo
And he is safe.
Victor did get hit by a car and when i go out i Have to walk past the place my
dad found him i hate it!
Victor is right outside we buried him, he still surronds me every little thing can remind me of him and sometimes that is good!
I have no pets now but victor was my world!Im getting a little hamster just so i have something i can go talk to the way you can to animals and look after him.

I really hope Cosmo is safe and ok- and you find him!
Love Jaymie x