Lost Cat - Burlington ON
 

Silver Tabby - Tuffy - disappeared from home 9:30 pm Wednesday, August 5th, on Mountain Grove Avenue in the Mountainside area of Burlington. She is 10 yrs old and has always been an indoor cat so she is probably hiding. If you see her please call us immediately - day or night. Call Martin 905-330-6964.

Beautiful kitties.

You are right, she is probably hiding and too afraid to come out.

Have you tried putting a box with some of her litter in it to see if she will come out to use it in the middle of the night?

She is so cute...I hope she finds her way home soon....my prayers are with you :pray:

[QUOTE=Love4himies;812829]Beautiful kitties.

You are right, she is probably hiding and too afraid to come out.

Have you tried putting a box with some of her litter in it to see if she will come out to use it in the middle of the night?[/QUOTE]

I think we have tried everything but that - I will try incase she has come closer but we had an MAR trained dog track her on Sunday morning and she was not near our home. Her last scent was in the woods across the street.
Thanks for your thoughts - many tears have been shed.

Then at night go into the woods with a flashlight and a bag of her fav treats and softly call her name. Are the woods thick enough that she got up a tree and can't come down? Listen carefully for tiny mews as you go. Use the flashlight to look for the reflection of her eyes.

My parents had a lost cat under their deck for 5 days. The only way they found it was my mom was up at 4 am in the basement and saw the cat peering into the window. It then ran back under their deck. The owner only lived a [B]few doors down [/B]and had searched high and low for thier kitty. It too was an indoor only kitty.

You can leave out tuna or salmon. These foods are the stinkest. Have you talked to the people on your street. They might see you cat, not know that is it your cat and don't know that he is missing.

Keep us posted. I know there is Burlington Humane Society and also Burlington Animal Services. I don't know if BAS euths alot? I would assume so, BAS is a city shelter.

Please keep us posted.

ACO22

Still looking in the parks and woods, handing out flyers and talking with people. Staying positive most of the time. It is very hard but actively looking is helping me cope and I have heard many heart warming stories on my travels. I will never give up!

Sighting - possibly Tuffy - desperate for input
 

We had a call that a cat resembling Tuffy has been seen 2 nights (around the same time 11pm) in a row on their property. Last night seen following a black cat that was hissing at it. I had expanded my flyer delivery to this street last night.

Today I went along the street behind with flyers talking to people I saw and managed to find where a black cat lives that is being fed outdoors - there was a huge bowl of cat biscuits and water on the front step. Noone appeared to be home. There was a large dead bird on the front lawn.

We intend to go to the street tonight and call for her and shake her food:

Problem #1 she may not be hungry, if this is Tuffy she looked in good shape even though she has been gone for ten days now.

Problem #2 luring her to us in order to catch her - what if she is on someones property and they are not home?

Does anyone have any experience with this situation that could help? Do you think a feathery cat toy on a string would help?

:fingerscr

I guess you haven't had any further luck finding Tuffy. :pray::goodvibes::goodvibes: that you will still find her.

Have you also left information and pictures with the Humane Society and Animal Services. You should also try to get down there personally at least every three days to make sure she isn't there. Don't give up hope. Cats have come back after being away longer than this.

[QUOTE=mikischo;815660]I guess you haven't had any further luck finding Tuffy. :pray::goodvibes::goodvibes: that you will still find her.

Have you also left information and pictures with the Humane Society and Animal Services. You should also try to get down there personally at least every three days to make sure she isn't there. Don't give up hope. Cats have come back after being away longer than this.[/QUOTE]

We go to the shelter every day but nothing yet and all the calls we have had are not her. While delivering flyers, I have been looking for another cat, lost just before Tuffy, a few streets away. I sighted one meeting their description last night and called his people and great news they got "Sammy" back today. So I know there is still hope but the waiting is very hard. Every minute I'm not doing something to help bring her home I feel guilty.

Thanks very much for your encouragement. I have talked to many nice people who are also very encouraging and only one negative person on my travels who said to me "house cat?" "you won't see it again". I told him I have a pink light over my house and left him to chew that one over.

Three weeks
 

Three weeks and still hoping for news. 800+flyers have been delivered and still no word of Tuffy. I will not think I will never see her little face again.

Do you think the person who may have seen your cat on their property would allow you to set a live trap? You can pick one up at Home Depot for less than $100. Some HS's allow you to borrow one as well. I know it's a long shot but it may be the only way to get her back without spooking her. Have you tried setting up a trap on your porch/stoop at all? She may have come back into your area hoping to get into the house. You can bait it with salmon, tuna, anything really smelly that may bring her out. If possble stay close to the trap but far enough away that any cat approaching won't see you. That way if you trap a cat or racoon you can remove it. Even cat nip works in some situations where the cat just isn't hungry but may still want some nip.
Also, when you go to HS to look for your cat please ask to look in the feral room and ask if they have any cats in their sick room. If Tuffy "acted" feral or was sick when she was brought in she may have been put in either one of those rooms.
Good luck.

[QUOTE=14+kitties;819228]Do you think the person who may have seen your cat on their property would allow you to set a live trap? You can pick one up at Home Depot for less than $100. Some HS's allow you to borrow one as well. I know it's a long shot but it may be the only way to get her back without spooking her. Have you tried setting up a trap on your porch/stoop at all? She may have come back into your area hoping to get into the house. You can bait it with salmon, tuna, anything really smelly that may bring her out. If possble stay close to the trap but far enough away that any cat approaching won't see you. That way if you trap a cat or racoon you can remove it. Even cat nip works in some situations where the cat just isn't hungry but may still want some nip.
Also, when you go to HS to look for your cat please ask to look in the feral room and ask if they have any cats in their sick room. If Tuffy "acted" feral or was sick when she was brought in she may have been put in either one of those rooms.
Good luck.[/QUOTE]
I thank you so much for your response - it means a lot.

Every time someone has called us because they thought they saw her I have been able to rule out the cat they saw by watching their property for the cat and seeing that it was not her.

Our humane society only accepts cats after they have been seen by a vet and they have a very clear poster and description of her which they always refer to when we call them every day. We go to the Burlington animal shelter every day and they know us by sight.

We just trap raccoons with the live trap on our property.

We have her bed on the porch and our shoes out at both doors all the time.

I think we have done everything. It may just be luck or providence that brings her home to us.

So my next question would be is it possible that someone has taken her in because she is unusual looking? Have you knocked on every neighbours door? Asked to look in their sheds, garages, anywhere where she may have found a small spot to squeeze in to? I know these may be things you may have thought of but it may help to go over your immediate area again. If she is an indoor cat only I can't see her going that far away.
You could try setting your trap with a very strong catnip instead of the tuna. :shrug:

Yes my family and I went into each neighbours garden in the first two days she was missing. This was the street behind us and all the houses across the road from us and then about 7 houses on each side.
The lady from Kitchener took her tracker dog through the immediate area and said there was no scent of her leaving our garden to the back or sides. She told us the dog scented her in the woods just behind the houses across the street from us - this was the Sunday after she went missing - 4 days. I have not taken flyers along the street since then so I had been considering doing that again so I will definitely take my new flyers door to door again. Thank you for confirming that idea. I am a bit afraid to annoy people although my neighbours on either side have been extremely helpful and understanding.

Do you think the trap idea is necessary - if she manages to make it back to our house do you not think she will know and will hunker down here - her bed that she slept in every day is at the front door. Do you think she will still remember?

Do I think the trap need be set? Yes. I have one that is probably set 80% of the time. If I catch something besides a cat it is released. But yes, I would keep it set.
If she is skittish and is not an outside cat there is no guaranteeing she is just going to hunker down into her blanket. She may remember the scent but may not stay too long. What happens if she came back at say.. 11 pm and you were already in bed. She lays down on her blanket hoping soon you will open the door. At 1 am a raccoon comes along and spooks her. She's off again, maybe not to come back again for quite some time. If she was in the trap she would at least be fairly safe. As in she would not be able to run again. To me that would be worth it.

Ruffy has been to her annual physical and celebrated her birthday without Tuffy. I think she may be forgetting her. We are still getting about one or two calls a week so I know the community is still keeping an eye out for her. We keep replacing our posters and checking in with the shelter and humane society as well as all the internet sites she is listed on.

I'm sorry you haven't found Tuffy yet :grouphug: :goodvibes::goodvibes: come home sweet one

Your kind words are gratefully received - thank you...

So sorry to hear that you have not found your cat yet.

ACO22

I was hoping for good news at the end of all these posts,but please do not give up on her:cat:

I aswell have been praying that she comes home safe and sound.

Don't give up.:grouphug:

[QUOTE=chico2;834328]but please do not give up on her:cat:[/QUOTE]

I agree. I always think if the owner gives up, then really the one person who was there to protect and love, has just given up on you. Please don't give up. I know that of course you search will get fewer and fewer, but don't ever stop looking. I once picked up a cat and took it back to the shelter, it was chipped. Lost and found called the woman and she was shocked and emotional. Her cat had been missing for a year.

ACO22

Thank you everyone for your positivity it really is a boost....I will never give up on Tuffy. Everyone who knows her has said she is a sprightly, strong little creature (even though she just turned 11 on September 17) she is much stronger than her sister Ruffy who acts twice her age some days! Ruffy went to her annual physical and our lovely vet who unfortunately for us (but good for her) will be leaving the practice in 5 weeks, says she expects to hear from us by then that Tuffy has come home. She said she knows that if someone has her she will be out their door and on her way home, sooner rather than later!!! I feel there is some strange karma at work because for the last few years she was always trying to go out but she just never got further than the porch or around the corner to the deck and we would have her but she really wanted an adventure...well now she has had it and she better bleepin well get home pronto:goodvibes: I think she should be grounded forever and so does Ruffy.....

Jayne, Hate to bring this up, but have your tried calling the department who is in charge of people up animals off the road. I would think it would be the city, but don't know if the Citys Animal services would? And I don't think Burlington Humane Society would. (BHS, is not an iffliate to OSPCA).

I am betting someone took your cat in. Your cat has very beautiful markings.

ACO22

[QUOTE=ACO22;834685]Jayne, Hate to bring this up, but have your tried calling the department who is in charge of people up animals off the road. I would think it would be the city, but don't know if the Citys Animal services would? And I don't think Burlington Humane Society would. (BHS, is not an iffliate to OSPCA).

I am betting someone took your cat in. Your cat has very beautiful markings.

ACO22[/QUOTE]

Here in Burlington it is the Burlington Animal Shelter that is city run and is responsible for picking up injured or dead animals. They have all three editions of our flyers which have many photos of her and they have not seen Tuffy. They know us on sight now when we go in. Yes, we are pretty convinced that someone has her....I am still putting up the posters and I am about to start another round of flyers. Thanks again for your help.

We have received two calls in the last two weeks both from young people who thought they may have seen Tuffy in a park and behind a school but no luck. I have put posters up in the areas and discovered a couple of roaming cats. One was a white cat with tabby markings, similar to Jack missing in Oakville, but this cat was much smaller and had a black marking on the left of its nose. No one appears to be missing this cat in our area so maybe it belongs to someone. The other cat shot away so fast all I could see was a flash of white.

We have had some calls from very nice people just wondering if we have found Tuffy yet and they are keeping an eye out. Also had a message left "would we take down our posters if we had found our cat"! Yes I would love to be able to take down our posters, thank you!
:candle:

Oh Jayne,I know it must be very,very difficult,but please don't lose hope:pray:

[QUOTE=JayneT;844559]We have received two calls in the last two weeks both from young people who thought they may have seen Tuffy in a park and behind a school but no luck. I have put posters up in the areas and discovered a couple of roaming cats.[/QUOTE]

I would put thet posters in the mails boxes around the area, and not just posters on poles. Someone could have taken him in, or feeding him in that area.

Also, did these people who seen you cat in area, say how he looked?

Good luck and please keep us posted.

ACO22

Thank you again for your encouragement. All the homes in these areas have flyers.

One cat was only seen from a distance and from the description, "a large cat with a long tail" it probably is not Tuffy. The other cat seen behind the school is in an area where there appear to be some strays. When Tuffy first went missing we had calls from several people whose houses back onto the school playing fields. One fellow said a cat was coming to eat with there cat early in the mornings but we determined it was not Tuffy. The playing fields are bordered by woods but there is a chain link fence that runs through the woods to deny access to the main road on the other side.

Our neighborhood has a lot of wooded areas, a very large hydro corridor and several parks within 10 minutes of us. Much more green space than I realized prior to losing Tuffy. It's a bit of a nightmare~!