Sockers Has Vanished Options

[Sockers]

Hi everyone,

I found this sight in my search for information and encouragement in trying to find my beloved cat Socks (or Sockers) who has been missing since 10/21.

She is now about four years old, and I found her and her sister at four weeks old under our shed in the backyard. They came into my life at a time when I really needed them, after my dog of seventeen years went to sleep, and I fell in love from the beginning. Never having been able to have children of my own, my pets have always been my "kids". Their kitty mother nursed them until they were old enough to eat kitty chow, and they lived the first eight or nine months of their lives outside. Both of them have always been extremely timid, but self reliant, and won't voluntarily get near any other humans other than me and occasionally my husband. At this time we lived in a subdivision in town, and they were always close by when I'd come home from work. They had plenty of places to hide from things that spooked them, under the shed or under our or the neighbors decks. When the weather turned colder, they came inside and got used to being indoor/outdoor cats, and during the winter rarely stayed out more than an hour or so at a time.

We moved about eight months ago in the spring to a new town, and after about three weeks I let them venture outside a bit. We now live in a semi-rural area in that our house backs up to a small horse farm and then a wooded area, although we are still in a subdivision. Right now there are just a few houses here, and we are off by ourselves as no one has built around us yet.

When Socks and Sassy first started going out, being as timid as they are, as soon as they heard or saw anything unfamiliar they would shoot into our garage and go through the cat door back into the house. We don't have a deck or any shrubbery here yet for them to take cover, so I would leave the garage door cracked for them. We got into a routine where, they would be inside all night, then I'd let them out in the morning before work, (it is still dark when I get up) and when I got ready to leave, Sassy and sometimes Sockers would be waiting by the back door ready to come in for the day. At times I'd have to go get Socks from the field across the street where at dawn she liked to hunt for mice. I eventually had to close the garage door because she started bringing the mice through the cat door and depositing them on the living room floor for me! I would let them back out at dusk in the summer, and they would always be around to come back in for the night when it was bedtime.

So that's how it went for about 7 months. Within the last month, Sockers has wanted to stay out later and later at night, so when I went to bed she wasn't always around. However, she was always there in the early morning, more than ready to come in and eat. Until last Sunday. I tried to get her to come in that night but she kept moving away from me (which she had done before) so I thought, I'd just get up early and let her in. Well, Monday morning came and it was like she had vanished into thin air. At first I wasn't too worried and checked the field across the street but she wasn't there. I started to get upset when daylight came and she still didn't show up. She ALWAYS came in before daylight because she wasn't comfortable being out when it was too light. Add to this, that afternoon it started to rain, and rain, and rain. It rained for almost three days straight and we got almost 6 inches during that time. I was pretty much inconsolable thinking about her out in that weather.

Since then I have been a mental and physical wreck. The anguish of not knowing where she is, is tearing me apart. I feel like if she could come home she would, because in her four years she has never wandered off for more than a few hours at a time. My husband and I are the only people who she will come around. She LOVES to take a cat nap on my lap when I get home from work. When we have company, (even my family who they've seen hundreds of times) they always hide until everyone has left before they venture out of the back bedroom. I know she wouldn't go up to a stranger.

I think we've done everything we possible can to help her come home. She had a collar on when she vanished (although no tags) but she does have a micro chip in her that I put in both of them when we moved. I've made flourescent posters, put hundreds of flyers anywhere they will let me put them, contacted and visited all the shelters etc., put an add in the paper, left out food and pieces of my clothing and her kitty litter every night, search the woods, get up at 3 and 4 in the morning calling for her - and still no sign of her. I am exhausted and just sad all the time. Her sister misses her terribly too, and I haven't let Sass out since Socks went missing. Some people tell me to just accept that she's gone, and move on but I can't. I feel like she's hurt and needs my help but I just can't get to her. It's a total living nightmare. Is it normal for a cat who has never wandered like this to start suddenly? Is there still a chance she'll come back on her own?

Sorry to ramble on so long but it helps to talk about it. I've read some of the success stories here that have given me hope, but hope is hard to keep when you are disappointed hundreds of times each day that she doesn't come home.

Thanks for listening,
Jacki

[Sockers]

Hi all,

Thanks everyone for your very welcomed support during this time. Paris, your assurance about a cat's survival instincts gave me a boost this morning. I'm trying to "think like a cat" instead of a human who expects her kids to be home in bed at a certain hour. I'm pretty sure if Sockers is enjoying herself, I'm the last thing on her mind. Since the three day rain last week the weather has been dry and sunny, highs in the 50s, lows in the upper 30s, so I'm sure if she is still uninjured, at least cold won't be a factor for a while yet. The picture of Bennett was an eye-opener. I don't think my cats have ever been outside long enough in the cold to even get sleepy!

My husband called the people who bought our house and our old neighbors this morning to ask them to be on the lookout for Socks. She was born there and lived her first four years there so she's very familiar with the area, and the neighbors all know her. A lot of times she'd hang out on their decks or patios, and one of them has two of her siblings. It's hard to imagine her making her way that far, but I've heard the stories, and now one first-hand. She is the very intelligent cat of the pair, whereas her sister is the sweetest thing, but not the brightest, bless her heart! Hopefully Socks will turn up at her old home, safe from harm, and we can have the happy ending we've prayed for. It's certainly worth a try. I wonder how long it would take her to travel the near 20 miles?

Barb, I have checked with both the shelter here in our town and the animal control office twice since last Monday. We live in a small town now, sort of "Mayberryesque" if you will. The people there are very kind and helpful, and I believe truly want to help us however they can. In fact, a lady from the animal control office called me on Saturday, saying they had brought in one cat that day and was wondering if she could be mine. She hadn't seen the flyer with her very detailed picture I left a few days before, but she found it right away and then assured me it wasn't Socks. (On a side note, I had just taken that picture a week before and in the back of my mind had thought, "if anything ever happens to you, I'll need this". Weird.) I stopped there again today, and she remembered calling me and the flyer, and even called Socks by her name without me reminding her. She also assured me that they scan each pet brought in, and since I didn't have my cats chipped until we were moving, I waited until I had our new address before I registered them, so the chip is up to date. Also, she was spayed as soon as the vet recommended because I knew she would be a semi-outside cat.

I'm not at the point yet of contacting a search team, but if she doesn't show up eventually, I would definitely consider that. It's been a week today so I am still holding out the hope that she'll come back on her own or that we find her. The thing that really troubles me the most is that this is so out of her character, and the nagging thought that she was run off and hurt, or worse. My husband thinks that if she was coming home to eat the food I've been putting out at night (it's always gone in the morning) that she would naturally come through the cracked garage door and come inside like she always does, so a trap isn't necessary. I tried to explain that she may be too scared at this point and not trust anyone, but I'll just let the idea sink in with him a day or so longer.

Anyway, I am off to put out some more flyers deeper into the nearby neighborhood. The ad in the paper should come out tomorrow, so we'll have to just wait and hope. I have decided that, since I don't KNOW what has happened to Sockers, whether good or bad, I am going to believe for now that she is still healthy and either on an adventure or has found a way to survive until we can get her back or she comes home on her own. I've heard too many success stories to be negative at this point. I feel as though I've done all I can for now, and that in some ways it's out of my control and in God's hands. That in itself has made me feel a little bit better - acknowledging that it's really always been in His hands. I will continue to check the shelters, update the flyers when needed, and run the add, but I need to give myself a rest for now. I trust that God will look after her while I'm resting, and then I'll be ready to go again.

Thanks so much to you all, your caring words have helped me more than you know. Sorry for rambling on so, but it does help. I will keep you posted,
Jacki