Heart Broken Options

[JackieMc]

My three year old cat, Banjo, has been missing for a few days now and I just feel in my heart that he's gone. He's never been away from home for more than hour or so before. Usually when he's outside, he's just on our front lawn so he'd never voluntarily stay away this long unless something was terribly wrong. We've been all through the neighbourhood looking for him, put up signs, called the shelter, etc. But, it's as if he vanished into thin air.

And I'm not coping very well. I love him so much and I'm so scared, thinking of what may have happened to him. Yesterday I stayed home from work and cried most all day (when I wasn't outside, hoarse from calling his name). Today I came to work but I've still spent most of the day in my office with my door closed, crying. Most of my co-workers think I'm insane, although I do have a few fellow pet-lovers who have been supportive.

My husband and children are sad too but they seem to be doing better than I am. I'm so relieved to have found this board as, right now, I don't know how I am going to get through this. Thank you for listening.

[JackieMc]

Again - thank you all so much for your continued prayers for my beloved Banjo. Unfortunately, I don't have any news on him to report. We've continued to put up posters, talk to people, check with the shelter and just search our extended area (for what seems like the one millionth time)....and still nothing. I don't have words for the frustration and heartbreak that I'm feeling but I know you all can relate with me on that.

I do however have a most interesting twist to our nightmare. During last night's search of the neighbourhood, we discovered an abandoned kitten. Of course, we couldn't just leave him there so we took him home. I called the shelter's emergency number (it was after hours). When the supervisor called back, she told me a litter of kittens had been found abandoned near the highway about 1 km from where we found this kitten. His description matched that of the rest of the litter so it seems likely he was part of that group that somehow became separated. Being that I'm talking to this lady daily in my search for Banjo, she's versed in our current situation. But, she asked me if we would mind fostering the kitten until Monday as they are full to the rafters. She quickly said she'd understand if I couldn't take in another cat - even for a few nights - right now.

After some heartache and pleading from the kids, we have taken him in. I haven't decided if we will adopt him yet (assuming he isn't missing from somebody's home - we have made posters for him as well). It feels odd to have another cat here that isn't Banjo and yet his presence does seem to be helping (or at least distracting) Fiddle (our 1.5 year old cat) and the rest of the family. He's neither helping or hurting me in my feelings for Banjo. I think he's cute and it's a lot of fun to have a kitten around but I still miss Banjo every minute of every hour. Still, I can see how I could come to care for this little guy in time.

My daughter (who's 10) firmly believes that Banjo wanted us to find this kitten since we found him while out looking for Banjo. To add credence to her theory, her weekly church youth group was last night and the topic of the evening of pets! Again, she feels this is another sign that Banjo is in heaven and trying to help us all heal. I'm so wrung out emotionally that I don't know what to think or believe anymore.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass on the latest and thank you all again for your continued prayers. It means so much to me to have so many people praying for Banjo.