pacificpikachu | (no subject)

So, I guess I should give an update on Tosca, because there's good news!

I was starting to feel pretty down this weekend about the chances of seeing Tosca again... Especially because one of our neighbors (up the hill) said she's seen a mountain lion in the neighborhood 3-4 times recently. But, I didn't give up, and continued going around the neighborhood putting mini flyers in peoples' mailboxes, and putting up posters at businesses, etc.

On Monday, I suddenly got three calls from people who have seen a cat matching her description! In fact, they have seen this cat multiple times, as recently as the day before they got the flyers! And the three people are all right in the same area, around a mile away from my house (on the other end of my street, actually). After talking to two of the witnesses quite a bit and meeting with them and showing them pictures, they are basically positive it's her. She has been eating food some evenings at two of the ladies' homes, and both of them have a set-up where there's a chance we could catch her without using a humane trap. One of them feeds her cats in the garage and Tosca goes in there, and if she sees her, she can easily close the door behind her, and she sneaks into the other lady's house to eat food late at night.

With the second lady, I've gone over to her house twice and sat behind the door, waiting for the cat to come in. Last night, the cat in question did come in. Unfortunately, the interaction was incredibly brief (and it was dark) so I can't say for sure whether it was her or not, but I think it may have been! She came in the door towards the food, and I tried to shut the door behind her, but she slipped out too fast. I also stayed at the first lady's house last night for well over an hour, and it was reassuring because I got to see her set-up and how much she cares about helping to catch my kitty. Assuming she comes by again, there's a good chance she'll be able to catch her, but she hasn't gone by this particular house the last few days.

I feel pretty good about this cat being her because she's a unique-looking cat, so it's really just a matter of catching her now. I'm considering using a humane trap if we don't catch her soon, but that could end up being a disaster, as there are a ton of other cats in the area (literally dozens--one of the ladies who works at the local shelter lives right near by and has like 20 cats apparently...). I'm giving this current idea of the first lady shutting her in the garage, and me hanging out at the second lady's house late at night and trying to shut the door when she comes in, a bit of time to work first. She apparently looks healthy and has even been playing with some of the neighborhood cats.

Of course, I'm still somewhat on edge until I have her back home with me, and especially because I haven't gotten a good view of her so I can't 100% confirm it is her after all (even though I'm fairly sure it must be--both ladies who I've been working with are basically certain it's her), but it's much more encouraging searching for her and knowing she is around, and that I could be bringing her home any day now! Fingers crossed that she will be home soon so I can finally focus on other things in my life. Basically, since she disappeared June 11th, my life has more or less revolved around trying to find her, being incredibly upset, etc.

With 66 days remaining until I leave for Japan, it would be awesome to be able to focus on that excitement instead of constantly worrying and being upset! I've missed my kitty so much, and I just hope she'll be home soon so I can snuggle with her again. <3