Love Is Found.

So I was sitting outside in a chair at like 4am, I thought I might have gotten glimpses of Dionysus peekin at me but I wasn't fully convinced. I had tuna sitting out to try and temp him to come home. I took the advice of http://www.sonic.net/~pauline/psych.html which I somehow found from this forum. I knew after getting a visual my chances of his return skyrocketed.
Anyhow, I had encountered someone through Craigs List who was helpful with suggestions, he had offered to loan me his humane trap for the weekend and see how it favored. It looks like my "house trap" worked swimmingly. I ended up not needing his trap at all.

Ohh I am so overwhelmed with absolute joy.
Kitten is a bit dirty and dusty. I do not know what he has gotten into that he has nasty gas and the squirts. I would give him a quick bath but he just looks so tuckered out, I am going to let him rest for a little while. Ohhh when I saw him I had cheerfully called at him as he was walking through the house. He meowed back at me. (You should hear his meow. it is the Fran Dresser nasal meow).

Anyhow, it was 5:30 am exactly an hour short of 7 days gone. He snuck through the window I had left open in hopes he would sneak back in. He let himself be known with one of his typical nasal sounding meows at my office door and then dashed downstairs behind the couch because the kid had come up the stairs to see what I was so excited about. I let him come to me and treated him like I normally would. I scooped him gently into my arms, hugged so gently, kissed him all over, sang my song of love and kept saying his name over and over. Kitten Oh Kitten, I love you, Love you, Love you! He started purring in my arms very loudly too. He has only purred like that once before and that was when I had adopted him 3 years back through petfinders.com

He is not carrying any feral like traits thank goodness. Just a little tuckered out is all and feeling a little extra lovey dovey. He is currently sprawled out on the couch on my hoodie jacket looking content. (Yes I am attaching a picture of this!)



I tell you what, this has been emotionally one of the toughest experiences I have ever gone through. I am not looking forward to the vet when we go. Kitten has some puncture wounds over his ribcage. They seem to be from about the same night Boots got into a massive fight. The holes are too big for a cat, so either they beat up a dog, or the fox came out to rummage through the trash. Anyhow, I am going to go get him chipped today, and have his wounds tended to.

I know Dionysus missed me. The way he is meowing, following just a tad closer than usual. I think we are BOTH relived this has become the happy ending.

Thanks all for being here.

xo
Eliz & Dionysus

Love Lost, The Story Of My Cat Gone Missing.

So here I am, day 5. I find myself reflecting upon the greatest of memories. My cat Dionysus aka Kitten.

Kitten is a 3 year old American Bobtail. He has the most beautiful personality. Every day we share breakfast together. I give him a few licks of milk from my cereal bowl. He follows me everywhere in the house. When I am on the computer, he likes to bring the red milk tabs to me and beg me to throw them for a game of fetch. He circles around my office chair and though he has no tail, he still manages to tickle the backs of my legs. His huge saucer eyes are ones that melt my world. I like to scoop him up and cradle him in my arms so I can sing to his face. "Kitten Oh Kitten, I love you, love you, love you". He likes to always hang out at about 2' away. When it is nap time, you find him on the couch in my small office behind me, or in the window next to my desk. When it is bed time, he is always at my feet. When it is play time, he likes to harass his two feline roomates Dreyah and Boots. Sometimes when people come over he likes to make a game of running to hide and then peek out at the visitor untill they leave. It takes a while for him to get to know the friends our kid brings over. He is loved by everyone in the house.

And now you have a small glimpse of my best friend, Kitten aka Dionysus.

Kitten snuck out of the house at about 6:30am with the kid when he headed off to school. Now he is not the type to dash out the door. That is Boots job as an indoor/outdoor cat. Kitten has always been an indoor kitty. I realized about an hour after he snuck out that he was gone. I had no kitty here to share my breakfast with. I looked through the entire house to no avail. I started looking outside, no luck. With the sun rising, I had to go back indoors with my heart sinking into my gut. I can not go out into the sunlight because of the medication I take. The sunlight makes me sick and makes my skin hurt.

When the kid got home, I sent him out to look high, low, around, and inside everything he could. We had no luck. Every day we look for Kitten. We know he is hiding somewhere. He just can't be too far away. We have placed posters everywhere, flyer the doors of the surrounding blocks, posted a notice at the town homes next to us. Asked and spoken with neighbors, posted lost posters along the trail that passes our home. No luck. I made formal missing reports with the animal shelters. I am fortunate enough that we have a lovely system in Colorado for lost animals. They are all linked to http://www.petharbor.com/ The Dumb Friends League takes things a step further and ask you to bring in a picture or e-mail one to them, they make flyers and mail them to ALL the shelters. I get updates on all the incoming pets at the shelters I am searching via e-mail. I call every day looking for my cat. It is easier with him not having a tail.

I wont give up. I just know Kitten is somewhere close by. I think he is hiding and scared. With a fox in the area, several raccoons, and neighborhood cats, there is plenty to scare the little guy in the big bad world of the unknown. I have been allowing Boots to go outdoors every day in hopes that Kitten will see him, maybe follow him home from a distance. The other night Boots came home missing a large patch of fur from a cat fight he had. In general he was not harmed. He out weighs and out muscles all the cats in the neighborhood. Must be the Main Coon in him. Anyhow, still no luck with Kitten returning home.

I have been watching Boots and Dreyah. They bot sat at the window for the first 3 days that Kitten has been missing. Boots has been watching the front window as though it were a vigil, when he is not outdoors slinking around. The cats feel my woe. When they are not by the living room window, they hide in my bedroom on my bed. If I start to weep for my Kitten, they come to me and purr loud as they can. I feel that Kitten being gone has effected not just me, but the pets as well. Dreyah has been extra pushy about cuddle time since Kitten disappeared.

I find myself thinking of Dionysus every waking minute. I look out the windows frequently, walk looking for him at night. I dream of him when I am sleeping. My heart is a fluttered sinking mess, my gut is pitted with worry and despair. My emotions are like trying to scate on paper thin ice. It takes everything to not cry all day long. I have to be strong. My husband does all he can to comfort me. He knows how bad this has cut into my now fragile emotions.

As I go through this, I keep telling myself that Kitten is near. I have to believe this. It is all I have right now.....Hope. I want more than anything in the world to have my baby back. I deeply miss my Kitten Boy Dionysus. He brings me joy every single day. To not have him at my side, as my furry shadow, I am lost. As lost as he is right now. It helps that my friends and family all keep telling me, don't give up, never give up. I think to myself how unfair this feels, I want him back NOW.

I play the waiting game. Searching, hoping, praying, waiting. This is the hardest thing I have had to go through. The reason I say this is, the uncertainty, the unanswered questions, wondering where he is, whats happening to him, when do I get him back? Will I ever see him again? My heart aches for his return. I feel incomplete without my precious Dionysus.

For others going through this, weather the frustrations, pain, sorrow is fresh, or now part of daily life all I can say is, never give up hope.
Thank you all for reading my wall of text. I really needed to pour my heart out. I have read many of the threads in this forum. I can say that I relate in some way to you all.

There is a picture of my missing cat in my signature and as my avatar. Thanks again for reading.

Regards
Eliz