Missing For A Week Now...., Cat lost in Maine woods/ predators, lost Options

[oceanpets]

My cat Toonces was out last Tuesday night July 24th and he usually only stayed really close to us. Very skittish, hated when i had parties or lots of company he didn' t know, he would hide on the basement step and watch the action. Once in awhile he would go outside at night and stay out. This worried me a lot. It was also a bother ( one I would love to have right now) for he would meow to be let in anxiously about 4or 5am, when his adventure was over. This time he never came back. I knew by 9am he was a goner, in my gut. But then we had landscapers come to the house and I had to deal with all that. Big machines, etc... ( which made me worry later that the noise frightenend him away, but really , now I think he would have run around the other side of the house, his usual side, and come to the back door like usual frantically. Plus I left it open as usual. It was safe for him to make his way back....) Anyhow, I have searched, called, cried a river, gasped in pain,...... and printed up flyers with his picture for neighbors, made some posters for the highway . We live down a long dirt driveway, with ocean and lots of woods near us. The road is far, there are many houses nearby but it's wooded between. I have looked thoroughly in outbuildings, basements, garages, etc...
( except for one basement of a neighbor I could check.....) and nothing has turned up. It's been a week now. I can't sleep good, feel the preoccupation all the time, my stomach isn't happy, and I dont' have much energy for my kids. Not for long stretches. Keeping up the efforts is hard. I did manage to get ads in my local papers placed, witha picture however. I will post the rest of my posters around town. It's hard though. It is painful to do!
I have found the websites enormously helpful, and reading the stories anbd sharing on this site have helped me alot. I talked to a pet detective ( in CT, closest to me, who can come up if I'd like tommorow, still unsure if it's worth it. ) I made contact with Hilary from calmpets.com a pet communicator, after reading about her on someone's post, and have an appointment today. I figured I have to try everything. I just don't know if I should bother with the extra help of having Marge come up with her dog to search or now, plus I want to know if I should try to resolve my pain or keep searching. It's killing me. We are supposed to go back south, ( school year residence) and I don't think I can go if I don't find Toonces. Also, I can't even begin to think about preparing for that seasonal move.
I would apprecitate any any all support. My baby is missing and it hurts so much. It is comforting knowing others feel the same. He was only 3, and my boys first really closely bonded to pet. We all loved him. Even my husband who claims not to like cats. He played a lot with Toonces. I will attach a picture if I can.

[5catsmom]

Hi Joanie,
I'm conflicted also. I also went through the feeling that believing Shadow was dead was infinitely easier to think emotionally, and physically would have been a blessing since I have a lot of physical problems. If you have to leave soon, leave behind some information with someone you trust, or a shelter (I will never again mistrust shelters, because Shadow was turned into them and they recognized her from our description of her). If it is a comfort to believe Toonces (what a great name, by the way) is gone to the other side, then that may well be, but on the chance that he wasn't, well, there's a chance that he isn't.

Did you bring Toonces with you, or get him on vacation - in Maine, I believe you said? If so, and you plan to bring or get another kitty while you're on vacation again, I strongly recommend that you have him/her microchipped, if you didn't already. (It's late, and I don't read too closely when it's this late.) Microchipped pets have much better outcomes than ones who aren't, and indoor cats even better than that. I can feel how anguished you are, and your description of the anguish in your family, and I'm so very sorry for you all, not knowing. If there's one small way to prevent that anguish, to microchip and keep a cat inside, it's worth the anguish of losing a cat and never knowing the answers. I know, and I know it hurts, almost unbearably.

Please come back and let us know what happens. You and your family take care - Barb