Conference misery::feline_v1

    Marty, was this a covered basket?  Even though my cats hate the
    cat carrier, I always transport them in it, locked shut, to ensure
    their safety.
    
    Chances are that Peewee will return to his basket for safety and
    food.  Try to have that area manned at all times so if he does return,
    someone will be there to grab him.
    
    I'll pray for Peewee's safe return.
    
    
    /Roberta
    

    
    Marty,
    
    Do you have something, like a toy, that makes noise that Peewee
    really likes. I know our cat was more likely to come if it heard
    a partricular noise, rather then if we called it. Good luck.
    
    Mike

    I have heard that the best time to look for a lost cat is at dusk and 
    early in the morning, when it is quiet and there are not so many other 
    people around.  Please let us know how things are going.
    

    
    What does he look like, Mary?  My sister lives right up road and
    is through that intersection constantly. I'm in Merrimack for 
    training today but I'll call her this evening and tell her to keep
    an eye out for Peewee.
    
    Marlene

    Marlene,
    
    I you know what Lucky looks like on the TV show ALF, then you have
    a fair idea of PeeWee's coloring.  And although he is over a year
    old, he can be mistaken for a kitten since he is not a very big
    cat and at the moment is very thin.  
    
    I've got to get my thoughts under control, since I couldn't even
    eat lunch just thinking of the little rascal out in all this rain.
    And, of coure, he hasn't eaten since yesterday since he had no
    breakfast in anticipatio of his surgery today.
    
    Thanks for the help.
    
    Mary
    

    Our indoor cat (who is EXTREMELY TIMID) escaped from the house this
    summer.  The only way to recover him was to set HAV_A_HEART traps
    in our yard for him.  He would not come to us willingly.  We called
    the shelter we got him from (coincidentally, right at 4-Corners
    in Lancaster where your cat escaped).  They immediately got a trap
    for us to borrow.  We also borrowed one from my parents.  It takes
    alot of patience and time to do this, but it was the only way.
    
    Set the trap with a very smelly food like wet seafood flavors of
    catfood (buy a cheap brand because you will catch SEVERAL cats before
    you finally get yours back).  You have to check the traps very
    frequently (hourly) because a cat in a trap is easy prey for a dog.
    ONLY SET THE TRAPS WHEN YOU CAN BE THERE TO CHECK THEM!  The traps
    work best at night because cats are naturally nocturnal.
    
    We caught our cat in our backyard at 3am in the pouring rain.  I think
    he was hungry and trying to get home for some food.  While he was
    loose, he hid in a swamp behind our house.
    
    I suggest calling the Nashoba Valley Humane Society (Center Bridge
    Road, Lancaster) to ask for help.
    
    Good luck,
    
    Cathy Sadler
    behind our house

    
    Any news on PeeWee, did you get him back yet?
    
    Please let us know.
    
    j
    

    JE SUIS DESOLEE, PEEWEE IS STILL MISSING!
    
    I have been holding what amounts to a vigil (whenever I can get
    there) around the vet's office in Lancaster and thereabouts.
    
    I have been there early in the morning, after work and then later
    at night to try to coax him out of those woods if he is still in
    there.  The other day, I must have looked like an escapee from 
    the funny farm as I walked, in the rain - umbrella up and full rain
    gear on, along the entire perimeter of the woods playing on full
    blast a cassette tape of what must be familiar music to PeeWee:
    a tape entitled: "The Very Best of Edith Piaf" with such classics
    as "Je ne Regrette Rien", (I regret nothing); "Mon Dieu", (my God);
    "Le Vieux Piano", (The Old Piano); "Comme Moi", (Like me), etc.
    etc......
    
    They vet office has put out a "Have_A_Heart" trap with food and
    I have placed his basket under the roof of the building for him.
    
    I will be working on a poster this weekend.....what more can I do?
    consultant a psychic, make some attempts at "remote viewing", 
    
    What might happen if I brought his dad, Pepper out to the site
    and let him nose around.  Most likely, he'd be swallowed up too....
    
    I feel very frustrated by this and can only hope that the odds are
    good that a cat who is lost between a veternary clinic and a humaine
    society shelter can be recovered someday, hopefully soon.......
    
    
    Come Home Little PeeWee.....
    
    Mary
    

    Are there any houses or businesses in that area that you might ask to keep
    an eye out for him?  You could leave your phone number with them.
    

    Mary,
    
    I have my sister looking and as of yet, she hasn't seen Peewee.
     She's keeping an eye out and is going to let the neighbors know.
    As I had mentioned earlier she lives right on Center Bridge Rd.
    and is up and down it constantly.  I was in Lancaster this weekend
    and walked around, but no luck.  I'll keep in touch.
    
    Marlene

    
    When I was there yesterday, an elderly couple who live across from
    the hospital told me they too would look for him and will put out
    some tuna to try to entice him.  
    
    Thanks for your help Marlene
    
    Mary
    
    

    Any news?
    

    He is still missing.  I continue to look and went out to Lancaster
    at lunch time today.  Went to a business near the Animal Hospital
    and the owner told me that he saw a cat that fit PeeWee's description
    on a mound of dirt in the Town Highway Department lot this past
    weekend.  So there is hope.  
    
    Also, the editor of the Clinton Item told me - since I called her
    to tell her of the story and about the nice folks in Lancaster -
    to write a thank you as a Letter to the Editor to drum up some more
    interest.  That too was very kind and generous.
    
    But no PeeWee yet.
    
    Mary
    

    To the Editor:
    
    Often times when we observe someone experiencing one or another
    of life's petty annoyances, the natural tendency can be to shrug
    our shoulders, say to ourselves, "that too bad" and go along our
    merry way to deal with our own mundane problems.  I understand this
    all to human tendency and have been guilty of it too often.
    
    That fact makes my recent experiences in Lancaster (MA) so noteworthy.
    I live in Stow (MA) and even though it's been 2 weeks since my little
    cat, PeeWee's been gone (he ran away as I was taking him into the
    Lancaster Animal Hospital), I still continue to search and also
    continue to be heartened by the caring spirit I have found in this
    town.
    
    There was the lady at the local elementary school who suggested
    I place a Lost and Found ad in the Clinton Item and use her local
    phone number since I had to be out of town for a few day; the elderly
    couple who promised me they would put tuna out to coax him from
    the woods; the personnel at the Lancaster Animal Hospital who continue
    to put up with my constant visits and who have placed a Have_A_Heart
    trap out near their facility.  These kind folks and many others
    that I have met in Lancaster since my odyssey began, with no exception,
    have been extraordinarily friendly and patient while I asked for
    their time to tell my story, show them the worn picture of PeeWee
    that I carry with me and generally commiserate with me.
    
    To all of you, I want to express my sincere thanks not only for
    helping me search for my lost cat, but for taking the time to listen
    and having the humanity to care.
    
    As I have said, PeeWee is still missing thoug a few have told me
    they have seen a cat that fits his description in town; at Center
    Bridge, once near the library, and another time at the Highway
    Department lot.  PeeWee is a short-hari and mostly white cat with
    gray tiger-striped patches around his eyes, on his back and legs
    and has a striped tail.  The rest of his body is white:  his face,
    stomach and paws and he is about 3/4 of the size of a mature cat
    and on the thin side. (If he's on his own, he must be even smaller
    by now).  I have posted a $50 reward.
    
    If you see him and can apprehend him, please contact either the
    Lancaster Animal Hospital, the Nashoba Humaine Society (365-9470)
    or me at......
    
    Mary Barker
    Stow, MA
    
                                                

    You might want to ask that they call even if they can't apprehend
    PeeWee, as that will give you an idea of where to look for him.
    

    re: .14 - That's a wonderful letter.  Brought tears to my eyes.
    I hope that it gets the message out and someone finds Peewee.  I
    lost a cat once and I know what it feels like.  I'll keep praying
    for little Peewee.
      Nancy DC
    

    Here it is almost 3 weeks since little PeeWee ran off and still
    no sign.  Our other cat, Pepper - who is PeeWee's father has been
    acting very unusual in the last couple of weeks.  He insists on
    following me everywhere in the house - scratches at the door of
    any room I am in, insisting on sleeping between my husband and I
    to the point where his head often ends up either between the pillows
    or on the corner of one or the other of our pillows.  Now, that's
    close...and generally wants to be held.  Could he be missing his
    son, though when they were together PeeWee did all the initiating
    of affection and attention on Pepper.  Pepper always seemed aloof
    to PeeWee after he finally got used to him and stopped his agression
    against him.    Any advise on Pepper.....
    
    Mary
    

    	Since Copy died, Vanessa has turned into a whole different cat, so
    much more affectionate.  Cats definitely react to a change like this
    and seem to become less secure, to need more affection from their human
    moms and dads.  So, I guess Pepper is just behaving normally. - Chris

	I noticed this behavior in T.K. when Bandit was at the vets for
	5 days.  He is lonely.

	Karen

    Still no word on PeeWee!  
    
    I  have had a few call from some kind folks in Lancaster and Clinton 
    who have found other cats - but not my little PeeWee.  I can only hope 
    that someone has taken him in or at least that someone is feeding
    him.  He was the type of cat who would eat anything - unlike Pepper - 
    or at least try anything.  It was really a funny sight to see him
    begging over a bowl of popcorn and (I know it's not a good practice)
    and crunching the little kernels one at a time.  He was very fond of
    spaghetti too.
    
    I have felt like there's been such a heavy load on my heart since
    he ran off and sometimes when I look at Pepper - the image of PeeWee
    I want to cry.  My daughter will be returning from a 3-month stay
    in Japan on Saturday, and she will be very upset to come home and
    discover PeeWee missing.  I can only pray that he turns up soon.
    That's all I can report for now.  

    I'm so sorry to hear that PeeWee hasn't turned up.  Don't give up
    yet.  It might be worth writing "Still not found" and putting the
    date on the lost posters you put up.  Once they get old enough
    folks will figure you just forgot to collect them.
      Nancy DC
    

    Have you tried also putting the lost and found poster on the
    window of your car and anyone elses car say taped to a side
    window. This way s you drive hear and there the poster can reach
    more people as people generally like to peak in car windows.
    A friend of mine found her lost cat that way by receiving a phone
    cal from someone who had seen the poster in her window in the
    parking lot of the shopping mall and had taken the cat in thinking
    it was abandoned or something.
    Fran
    

    Well, gang it will be 2 years this September since I lost PeeWee 
    in Lancaster, MA.  I still think of him often (even shed a tear now and
    then - what a silly sentimental ___ I am).
    
    I don't even live in MA anymore.  Now live in Hershey, PA and really
    don't have any hope of ever getting back to give any more effort to
    finding him.  My husband teases me with comments you feline notesfilers 
    would find very offensive about what could have happened to my little
    fellow. 
    
    Anyway, this is the final chapter on PeeWee, and maybe I have this
    lingering hope that someone in or around Lancaster will come up with
    him.......He'd only be a little more thant 2 years old....
    
    Grudingly resigned, 
    
    Mary
        

    I have a similiar problem with our missing CAM who has been gone
    for one year on July 7th.   I just hope that someday my sister
    and I can resign from our searching.  Over the year...it has gotten
    less and less...but the little guy is still on our minds.
    
    The only good news out of this..is that I have kept a log of all the
    lost and found dogs/cats in our local paper.  I play this little
    game everynight where I tried to match lost/found cats/dogs together.
    Even if I can't find CAM...I'm hoping someday that a match will
    be made...and this small effort will be worth while.
    
    I hope someday I'll have the courage to let go...but for now I 
    will continue to look!  
    
    Sandy

    Ooooh, :*(
    
    Hugs to both of you, and hope that someday you'll be reunited with 
    your precious babies!! I'm so sorry...
    
    With tears in eyes,
    Bonnie

    
         this is so sad for both of you, 1 and 2 years!  How awful to still
    have that lingering question on your minds....
    
         we feel for you too, 
         Denise and the gang of 10

    Hugs to you.  
    
    And SMACK your husband!  That isn't funny and he should understand 
    that.  Some boys never grow up, they just get bigger...sigh.
    
    Nancy DC