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Her name is Precious and I fell in love with her 3 years ago when she was rescued as an orphan at the age of two weeks. I lost her on 9/29/2000. She had been living outside (her choice) as she was fearful of a litter of kittens I was fostering for Cat Welfare. She loves to go outside and chase bugs, but has always come home. I was worried as I live by Studio 35 and I have heard that cats can crawl into car engines and end up miles away. Precious had a breakaway flea collar on with her tag. Unfortunately she had stretched it out the day before she was lost. I tightened it to secure her tag and resolved to buy a new one quick so she wouldn't get hung up. I searched for hours, calling her until I was hoarse and even considered recording my calls (to keep from losing my voice!) I followed the advise everyone gave me. The best advise was to call the PET FBI which I had never heard of before. They encouraged me to keep looking. I put up flyers everywhere and distributed some door to door. I also followed up on any cat that was even close to her description. I was worried about bothering people but they were all so supportive and encouraging. If you have lost your pet this kind of support really helps. It also restored my faith in people as so many took in strays and kept them safe. This was an especially difficult time for me as my mother was terminally ill from breast cancer and had only a short time left. I divided my time between them but was often torn and felt I wasn't doing enough for either one of them. My job and clients suffered as I was depressed and forgetful, unable to concentrate. My mother passed away two weeks later and the grief from losing them both was too much. I was worried about Precious, was she warm? hungry? injured? or was it already too late. I worried about her being carried far from home possibly in someone's car. Or did she get stuck as her collar was no longer able to break away? I felt guilty for keeping the kittens and luckily my wonderful neighbors took over fostering them so I could devote more time to the search. It was difficult to keep searching after a month went by. Fliers would blow away or be removed every few days. It was getting colder and my four remaining cats were begging for attention. Searching the shelters every three days and seeing so many homeless cats and kittens was heartbreaking. Just when I had given up hope I received a call. I left work to search the block where she was reportedly seen. I searched the bushes and was able to coax a scared tabby out of the bushes. She was nearly identical to Precious but appeared well fed and taken care of. I met several others who had been searching and we were able to share a common bond. Both of these ladies have taken ill and have not yet been reunited with their cats. They are in my prayers. After six and half weeks I received a call saying they had found Precious. I was certain she was found dead in a garage and also wondered how they knew her name. Caring cat lovers had found a cat in their garage and were calling the number on her tag (thankfully she still had it on and had somehow survived)! I cried all the way their, praising God. She was very thin and had a terrible jagged cut on her back thigh. It was mostly healed. The vet pronounced her in good health despite evidence of dead leaves and tin foil in her diet. I wish I knew what her journey had been. I can never thank those who found her enough. They did not want the reward so it was donated to Cat Welfare in memory of a cat they had lost. I also sent them a basket of goodies for their cats and my heartfelt thanks. I also want to thank everyone who was so supportive and encouraging. Don't give up hope if your pet is lost and please share your story if you have a happy ending. God bless you and your pets. Please share this story with others. I love the Pet FBI and will continue to spread the word about your good work. Karen |