 |
 |
| Pamela Collins, Cat Sitter |
 |
 |
 |
| *Cats Only* Pet Sitting: Very special care for your cats in your home. Serving Silverlake, Los Feliz, Atwater Village, Glendale, Pasadena, Arcadia and Monrovia. For more information, please call 323-660-2241 or 310-806-2560 or email pamelacatsitter@yahoo.com Daily care and feeding of your cats including making your home look lived-in (window coverings, newspapers, mail, garbage, etc.) and, most importantly, lots of love! Standard 20-minute visit @$20 (checks, cash, credit cards through PayPal). Includes any necessary medications, injections or subcutaneous fluids. Minimum one visit per day. Reservations are confirmed only after completion of free consultation and payment in full. Professional, Bonded, Insured Member, Pet Sitters International Member, National Assoc. of Professional Pet Sitters Member, Los Angeles Pet Sitters Certified in Pet First Aid by American Red Cross Volunteer, Kitten Rescue --http://www.kittenrescue.org See link at bottom of page to Missing Pet Partnership for information on finding a lost pet. To read the story of my cat's disappearance and happy reunion (and the reason for my connection to Missing Pet Partnership), scroll down to Miss Kitty's story. Finally, the Lost Pet Resources lists the resources I compiled during my search. MISS KITTY: A brief summary of my three-week search for my missing indoor-only skittish cat, Miss Kitty. WEEK ONE: Day One - I left for work as usual in the morning. I don't remember seeing either of my two cats just before I left, but I wasn't yet in the habit of doing head counts. I returned home from work around 7:00 pm to find my six-year old male cat Sammy, but could not find my two-year old female cat Miss Kitty. It was completely out of character for her to hide, but I didn't panic--yet. I opened the canned cat food dinner and looked EVERYWHERE when Miss Kitty did not come running for the food as she always did. My mind was racing over the possibilities--she was sick or injured and hiding, or worse. I also checked my apartment balcony, which the cats had access to through a pet door. I looked over the edge, just in case (Miss Kitty was known to pounce on birds), but never considered that she had jumped the two and a half stories down. After all, I had rented this top floor apartment with my cats' safety in mind, and had lived there for one full year with no escapes. I finally gave up on finding her inside the apartment and went downstairs to search the landscaping below my balcony. I also asked everyone I saw whether they had seen a cat--and I got two positive sightings. The first was a neighbor on the first floor who saw a small, dark cat (just like Miss Kitty) huddled in the lobby around 8:30 that morning; she noticed the cat because she is in the habit of checking the outside door to make sure it is latched every time she leaves; she reported seeing the cat attempting to hide behind a plant while the gardener was watering that plant. The next sighting was by the security guard doing her rounds; she had spotted a cat inside the building on the first floor and only remembered it as being dark with gold eyes (again, just like Miss Kitty) at around 6:00 pm. I now knew that Miss Kitty had indeed jumped off my balcony, re-entered the building lobby in the morning, and made her way inside through the locked door during the day. I was only one hour behind her! (LESSON #1: FOLLOW UP ON EVERY SIGHTING) I began a door-to-door survey of the entire first floor of my apartment building fully expecting someone to have Miss Kitty or at least have seen her; no one had. I went back up to my apartment and began making flyers to alert my neighbors. I also made a phone call to an animal communicator I had used a couple of years before to see if she could help. Even though this particular communicator does not normally perform missing pet readings, she agreed to help me. More importantly, however, she referred me to another animal communicator who later told me exactly where Miss Kitty was (on Day Six). She narrowed down a small spot of landscaping within my apartment complex and suggested I stake out that area all day with some food and a cat carrier. I did just that, and saw absolutely nothing. I did notice a great deal of traffic and noise in the area, and decided in my logical mind that my cat would never hide out there. (LESSON #2: NEVER SAY NEVER) I also brought in a search dog trained by Kat Albrecht (her organization is Missing Pet Partnership; see my link to her on my main page). Unfortunately, we were trying to cover approximately twenty acres of grounds with the dog, focusing on areas immediately around my apartment building and where I had received sightings; I had not yet gotten the small area of landscaping identified by the communicator yet, and we did not take the dog through that particular area. I did, however, make a valuable contact of the security supervisor on the property adjacent to mine, who later proved to be a tremendous source of help in generating sightings. (LESSON #3: USE YOUR NEIGHBORS AS YOUR EYES) WEEK TWO: My flyer-making technique was being refined. Because Miss Kitty is a dark tortoise-shell calico (mostly black with subtle rust coloring on her body and a few white spots underneath), I realized that color copies were much more useful in identifying her. My limited budget was better spent on color copies when I created a four-to-a-page flyer design. I pasted four color photographs on a piece of paper, wrote "REWARD" in red letters above each photograph, and listed my contact information in black letters under each photograph. I mainly used these quarter-page size flyers to distribute to my neighbors (one per apartment) and post on crowded bulletin boards and in the nicer stores that would let me. I also increased my usage of animal communicators--I eventually used four, some of them multiple times. The general consensus of the communicators was that Miss Kitty was in someone's apartment (the first said on a sofa with a woman in an apartment; the second said she was hiding under something large like a bed in an apartment with a couple or two men; the third reported a structure similar to a laundry room or shed; the fourth identified the area of landscaping I mentioned above). I believed the apartment theory in spite of my suspicions that Miss Kitty would be too shy to take up with someone else or be "rescued" so soon. The belief turned out to cost me about two weeks in finding my cat. She was ultimately in the exact location the fourth communicator identified, but did not break cover to be seen until she was hungry enough at the end of the third week. (LESSON #4: THINK LIKE A CAT--NOT LIKE A LOGICAL HUMAN) Ultimately, I think all four communicators where right in some aspect. Miss Kitty was traveling through a parking garage from a utility shed on one side to the identified landscaping area on the other. The utility shed was very close to a balcony of an apartment where two men lived and spent time on the balcony smoking. I think the first communicator (the one who doesn't do missing pets) tuned into Miss Kitty either when she was thinking about being with me (on my sofa in my apartment); the second interpreted Miss Kitty as being inside the apartment where the men smoked on the balcony; the third correctly identified the shed but was unable to tell me where the shed was located; the fourth tuned into Miss Kitty while she was in the landscaping. I also began trapping during Week Two, in spite of one of the communicators advising me against it because Miss Kitty was terrified of the thought of becoming trapped. WEEK THREE: Day Nineteen - I was getting very discouraged. My gung-ho cat finding-machine attitude was waning. I was still trapping, checking the shelters, and investigating sightings, but was losing hope. At the end of the third week, my boss was hosting a party which I felt like I really needed to attend. I didn't want to "get back to normal" yet, but I felt justified in attending a work-related party. Once I got to the party and told my co-workers about the status of my search, I seemed to somehow feel more comfortable with the idea of giving up the search. However, shortly after I arrived at the party, I got a call on my cell phone with another sighting. Even though this sighting was from a knowledgeable cat lover and seemed entirely valid, I hesitated to leave the party for fear of yet another false sighting. Fortunately, I made my apologies to my boss and did leave. This sighting was from a neighbor who put out dry food for the neighborhood strays. I drove to her building and staked out the feeding location. Amazingly, after about one hour, my cat appeared! She looked thin and extremely nervous, but otherwise healthy. I very carefully stepped out of my car and quietly called her name. She took off and disappeared. I knew I would never be able to pick her up and decided to drive home to get my humane trap. I set the neighbor's dry food inside the trap along with a can of Miss Kitty's favorite chicken-flavor canned food and waited. After about an hour, she came by to sniff the food. She was obviously wary of the trap, but really interested in the food. She circled the trap and looked inside, but would not go in. Then she was gone. I now felt incredibly guilty about depriving her of the little food she had braved showing herself for but was hopeful that she would return. This continued for the next hour, with her actually putting one foot inside the trap, then getting scared and running off. Finally, she tiptoed into the trap and began eating the food; but, she had stepped over the trigger and the trap had not gone off! I was almost having a heart attack watching my cat so close to me, but I couldn't get her. After eating about half the bowl of food, she accidentally stepped on the trigger plate and was trapped! The good news was I had my cat! The bad news was she was completely panicked and was trying her best to get out. She tried clawing her way out and ran into the end plate, trying to break through the metal to get back out the way she came in. It was heart breaking to watch her, but I quickly put the trap in my car and drove home. She was crying the whole way (and I wanted to). Once I got her inside my apartment, she calmed down but still seemed very spooked. My other cat Sammy saw her and hissed at her, so I decided to leave her in the trap for a few more minutes before releasing her. After a couple of minutes, she started trying to claw her way out again, so I let her out. She took a couple of tours around the living room, then rolled over on the floor in front of me and started purring. Sammy needed more time to make sure she was OK, but Miss Kitty didn't seem to mind. She was much more skittish than normal for the next couple of weeks, and didn't seem to have as much interest in going outside on the balcony for a good while, but was completely back to normal within a few months. (LESSON #5: DON'T GIVE UP!) LOST PET RESOURCES: Please feel free to email or call me (contact information at top of page; please indicate "lost cat" in subject line of email) if you have any questions. Local (Marina del Rey) Shelters: Los Angeles County: Carson shelter (covers Marina del Rey proper) 310-523-9566 216 W. Victoria between Broadway & Main http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us (pictures of strays may not be up to date); Los Angeles City: West L.A. shelter (covers inside City of L.A.) 888-452-7381 11950 Missouri @Bundy http://www.laanimalservices.com; Santa Monica Animal Shelter (covers City of Santa Monica only) 310-450-6179 1640 9th St. (accessible only from Olympic Westbound) Classified Ads (See scam tips at http://www.petclub.org before placing ad in major paper): Los Angeles Times 1-800-234-4444 http://www.latimes.com; Recycler http://www.recycler.com; PennySaver http://www.pennysaverusa.com; http://www.lostandfound.com Animal Communicators (location does not matter; they work long distance; you can read all about animal communication at http://www.animaltalk.net): Marty Meyer: I used her and highly recommend her; very helpful person, $45 per session 760-878-2394 (Independence, CA) http://www.talktoanimals.com; Suzi Dalling: She told me exactly where my cat was, http://www.connectinharmony.com, 805-512-1720 (Ventura, CA) Pet detectives/search dogs: Pet Hunters International http://www.pethunters.com; Elena Cox (Los Angeles area) 818-519-6301 Poster printing and/or mailing service (to vets, groomers, pet stores and shelters): Sherlock Bones: poster distribution service http://www.sherlockbones.com Humane animal traps (only as a last resort; please monitor at all times!): Tips for trapping: http://www.catsinthebag.org (link at bottom of page); See if your local shelter will loan you one (L.A. County will not); Buy from Centinela Feed http://www.centinelafeed.com (West L.A./South Bay, CA) Cat behavior information: Indoor-only cat behavior http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/lost_ct1.htm Another word on humane traps: I know first-hand how traumatic being trapped can be on a cat. Please make the effort necessary to continuously monitor any traps you set. You can purchase a baby monitor inexpensively that will allow you to monitor the noise around the trap from approximately 600 feet away. A longer distance monitor can be fashioned from two walkie-talkies; attach a headphone with voice-activated microphone to the one with the trap. A final word on continuing your search: Do not give up hope. Closure is a very human need. The stress and heartache of a long, fruitless search can be almost too much to bear. Do not make excuses to give up prematurely to spare yourself pain; think about the pain your cat is experiencing. You are your cat's only hope! We all have our limits--I personally think one year is a reasonable limit. At least continue to check your shelters online and keep flyers posted. My search was the most difficult task I have ever attempted. Learn from others, and make the best use of your efforts. |
 |
 |
| You are visitor #: |
| Related Links: |
 |
 |
 |
 |
