Shardik missing 10/11/03 FOUND: 11/5 after 25 days

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Reginalupa	Shardik missing 10/11/03 FOUND: 11/5 after 25 days	Lead	[-]
Posts: 12 (10/28/03 10:29:03) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None Opps. I guess I don't follow instructions well. Now I see I was supposed to fill out the following form. Sorry. Cat name: Shardik Male or Female: Male Neutered or Intact: Neutered Age: 4 or 5 Breed: DSH Personality: Scaredy cat, timid, cautious, mellow, very friendly or dominant personality? Very scared, timid, and cautious. Is your cat friendly to only a few special humans and special cats? Or is your cat friendly / neutral to most visitors and new cats? How does your cat behave with strangers or new cats? Seems more bonded to humans or cats? He is bonded to my husband and somewhat less to me, but is scared of everyone else. He is also not very found of other cats. Was your cat feral at one time or born to a feral mom? He was a stray when I found him 4 years ago. He was very skinny and in bad shape. I heard him crying in the bushes and he let me pick him up and take him home. Date missing: 10/11/03 Circumstances of cat missing: He got out of our apartment because we accidently left the screen on the sliding glass door open. I'll never forgive myself. Has cat ever been outside or missing previously? Describe behavior when outside: Yes. Two years ago when we lived in Arizona he jumped a 8 foot brick fence and lived in a corn field behind our house for 4 days. We lured him back with tuna and my husband was able to pick him up. What is the most frightened that you have ever seen your cat? Describe the circumstance, describe your cat's behavior, how long did it take for cat to recover. When I first brought him home he was terrified of my dogs. Within a few days to a week he was no longer scared of them. Describe the area where your cat first became missing: Outside of our apartment complex. There are bushes along everyone's patios. The apartment complex is located within a residential area, so there are houses with yards nearby. Describe the area and direction that your cat was last seen heading: He was headed towards the end of our building. There are private yards there. Behind our building there is a factory with a large parking lot. Any predators in area: coyotes, aggressive dogs, etc? There are coyotes and foxes, however, I have not seen a coyote near the buildings - but I have heard them calling in the distance, possibly from a nearby park. There are also ALOT of raccoons, skunks, and other cats. There are a lot of dogs in the neighborhood, but I haven't seen any running free. Any positive sightings? Does sighting seem solid? Yes, I have seen him twice. Also, my neighbors believe they saw him last night. Any health problems? No What methods of locating cat have you tried so far: Searching by foot and car, calling, fliers, leaving out food, clothes, used kitty litter, visiting and calling vets and shelters, talking to neighbors and neighborhood kids. If you are trapping, please describe your trapping routine: time that you set trap, time that you bring it in, do you cover trap or uncover trap, what food bait do you use, is that your cat's favorite food, how much food do you dribble, describe the locations you are trapping and why you think locations would be attractive to cat. We are currently leaving the trap by the entrance of the hole he was using (see previous posting). We bait it at night and pin it open during the day. Originally it was uncovered, but last night it rained so we covered it with a black garbage bag. Please also see my previous posting about Shardy. We miss him so much. Any advice will be appreciated. Suzie
Reginalupa	Shardik update	#1	[-]
Posts: 12 (10/29/03 08:07:20) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I spoke with Kat Albrecht last night and she was a great source of inspiration. I started to feel like maybe we had not run him further away by our efforts. Later (around 10 p.m.) Shardik walked right by our patio door. We called to him, but he ran away. Now we have a trap set by our door. We still don't have him back, but at least we know he's there. Any advice will still be greatly appreciated. Suzie
mizmeowski	Re: Shardik update	#2	[-]
Posts: 708 (10/29/03 09:30:57) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	[I'm combining your two threads, Suzie, so it is easier for me to follow Pauline] I also sent this message to Kat Albrecht today. I am desperate and hope someone can offer some advice. Our story is as follows: Our cat, Shardik, escaped from our apartment on October 11th. We did all of the conventional search techniques: calling, searching on foot and by car, fliers, and checking vets and shelters. By October 22nd we still hadn't seen him and feared that he was long gone. But as I left the apartment that day (to visit the local shelter again) I saw him in the bushes near the main entrance to our apartment building - just 3 doors down from our apartment. He saw me and quickly ran under the concrete slab in front of the doorway. I ran in and got tuna (his favorite snack) and went back to the hole. I could see him, but he was afraid of me. He wanted the tuna and crept up to the entrance. I fed him a little tuna by hand and tried to get him to come out enough that I could grab him. At one point he let me pet his head but when I got my hand on the back of his neck he pulled away. Finally, he growled at me and crawled back even further. The area under the slab is extensive and he moved back about 10 feet. I called my husband and we decided to block all other possible exits and put a live trap at the main entrance. When we were done the only way out was to go into the trap. We didn't put any other food under the slab, but did leave a bowl of water for him. One day passed and he would not go into the trap. I began to worry about his condition and feared he would simply die under there. By the second day I was frantic and we moved the trap away from the entrance to check on him. We couldn't see him. We didn't know whether he had found another way out or if he had crawled in a corner and was out of view. We didn't know if he was weak from not eating or if he had even come close enough to the entrance to get the water. So we removed the trap and decided to wait to make sure he was okay. We didn't see him Friday, but Saturday morning he was there again. When he saw us he went further under the slab and disappeared from view. We left him food and water under the slab and by Sunday the food was eaten (but by what we do not know - we have healthy skunk, raccoon, and feral cat populations around our building). We put a trap near the entrance, but did not block it. Sunday night we caught a cat, but not the right one. Last night we caught nothing. There is no longer any evidence that Shardik is going under the slab. There are no tracks leading in or out and yesterday I put a little tuna inside the entrance and it has not been touched. I am very afraid that we missed our only chance to catch him. I think we have done everything wrong. By blocking him in under the slab I think we ruined any chance that he will ever go into a trap. I am also very afraid that we have caused him to abandon his safe spot and go God knows where. I am afraid we will never see him again. The only ray of hope is that our neighbors 2 doors down thought they saw him last night and called us, but when we went out to look we couldn't find any sign of him. How badly do you think we screwed up? Do you think we have chased him away? What should we do now? Should we remove the trap and hope he starts using the space under the slab again? At least he's protected there and we can feed him. My husband thinks that if we see him under the slab again that we should block him in again and "go for broke". I'm afraid that we will kill him. I don't know what to do and I would greatly appreciate your insight. My heart is broken. I can't eat, sleep, or work. I only want to get him home again. We live in the Chicago suburbs and it will be cold soon. I feel like we are running out of time. Any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
mizmeowski	Re: Shardik update	#3	[-]
Posts: 708 (10/29/03 09:35:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi Suzie, That's GREAT you got a sighting! And Shardik is brave enough to show his body. You've done a great job finding out info and trying different search techniques. Just a quick note then I am going to read your info again more carefully . . I will have more comments later, but in the meantime please read about House Trapping here www.house.catsinthebag.org/ and also Libby's story here: pub56.ezboard.com/fcatsin...D=57.topic Pauline Anything that you do is better than nothing. You never know which search technique will be THE one. And just because you don't see your cat does not mean your cat is not there; cats do not simply disappear.
mizmeowski	Re: Shardik update	#4	[-]
Posts: 708 (10/29/03 11:49:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hopefully you have read everything on House Trapping and Libby's story [see links above]. Because Shardik has not entered the trap (and we know he was in direct vicinity of the trap when he was under the pavement) it is time to use your patio door as a House Trap. In order for the House Trap to work you must convince Shardik that your house has all GOOD things: food and safety. You also must convince Shardik your house has NO scary things: people and dogs. You will need to crack your patio door open enough that Shardik can enter. How far away (in feet) was Shardik last night from your patio door? A) If he was walking more than 10 feet from the patio door, you will need to lure him closer to the patio door. Crack open your patio door. Put a bowl of tuna with dribbles leading to it out at dusk - 11 pm along the same path that he walked. Each day put the food 12-18 inches closer to your patio door. Keep a second bowl of tuna inside the patio door in case he is bold enough to go straight inside. B) If the patio door is only a couple feet from where he was walking, then crack open the door and place the tuna INSIDE the door, with dribbles of tuna leading up to the patio door. * Get Feliway spray (read about it here www.resources.catsinthebag.org/ ). Spray around the patio door, and in the path leading from the bowl of tuna to the door. Do not call out to Shardik. Do not look for Shardik on foot. Do not mess with the bowl or keep checking on it by going outside. If anyone has any interaction it should be your husband since Shardik is most bonded with him, though I recommend that you let Shardik come home on his own. Any interaction that causes Shardik to pull away, will simply REINFORCE the idea that people are scary, and the location that the interaction took place is scary. Keep all good things right there on the patio so he will stay put. Then bring the good things closer and closer until he is inside. Let me know if you have any questions, but please be sure to read those pages I linked. Pauline Anything that you do is better than nothing. You never know which search technique will be THE one. And just because you don't see your cat does not mean your cat is not there; cats do not simply disappear.
Reginalupa	Thank you	#5	[-]
Posts: 12 (10/29/03 14:59:31) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thank you for your advice. We will start trying tonight - I just hope he comes by our door again. To answer your question - he was only a couple of feet from the door. Our patio is not very big and Shardik seems to be keeping close to the building (based on where he was last night and our neighbors' sightings). Thank you again for your advice. I'll keep you posted on our progress. Suzie
mizmeowski	Re: Thank you	#6	[-]
Posts: 708 (10/29/03 17:17:14) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Be sure to read Libby's story. If Shardik does enter the apt you will need to figure out a way to close the door without approaching him. If you stand up and walk towards him, it may again scare him away. Whatever you do, DO NOT chase after him. He already is sticking close to the apt which is great! You don't want to do ANYTHING that can be interpreted as intimidating. It is better to have him EAT and walk away, than to eat and then someone tries to grab him and fails. When you finally do entrap him (whether it be with a door, a trap or by grabbing) you need to do it decisively.. . .all or nothing. While you House Trap, you can also trap with a humane trap along the same path that you saw him walk. Good Luck! Anything that you do is better than nothing. You never know which search technique will be THE one. And just because you don't see your cat does not mean your cat is not there; cats do not simply disappear.
Reginalupa	Still no luck	#7	[-]
Posts: 12 (10/31/03 08:03:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Pauline, So far no luck. My husband and I have been sitting quietly with the lights off in the evening but Shardik has not returned. We have, however, attracted another cat that comes by each night. It is possible that Shardik is visiting after we go to sleep. We are leaving out tuna and dry food and both are largely eaten by morning. I think the amount of dry food eaten is too much to be one cat. Although the raccoons and skunks may also be getting a free meal. Anyway,we are setting up a video camera tonight. What are the odds that he's not around anymore? I'm beginning to get discouraged again. Thanks again for your help. Suzie
Reginalupa	Some luck	#8	[-]
Posts: 12 (11/01/03 07:55:37) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	We set the video camera up last night and the other cat came by and ate 3 times. I was losing hope when at about 4 a.m. Shardik came to the food. The food was just outside of our door. The problem is that my husband is reluctant to leave the patio door open overnight. He's affraid a skunk or raccoon (or even a person) may come in if the door is unattended. Also, we have a trap set up on our porch. We dribbled tuna into the trap, and all of the tuna up to the trip plate was eaten but the trap wasn't sprung and the tuna past the trip plate wasn't eaten. Unfortunately, the trap wasn't in the field of view of the camera - so we don't know which cat went part way into the trap. We'll keep trying. If you have any additional advice please let us know. Thanks for listening. It's nice to be able to tell someone about this who understands how it feels to be missing a kitty. Suzie
mizmeowski	Re: Some luck	#9	[-]
Posts: 708 (11/01/03 09:38:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Did you read Libby's story here on the forum? Please read these stories to help you understand these techniques so that in YOUR unique case YOU can make the best decisions. Excellent news that he ate at 4 am! OK now that you've positively IDd Shardik you have to decide which way to contain him: either the House Trap or the humane trap. You cannot use both. If he eats at your Kitty Buffet he won't be hungry enough to enter the trap. If your husband doesn't want to do the House Trap then that means you use the humane trap. Read ALL the pages on trapping. www.trap.catsinthebag.org/ Set up your humane trap by following the tips on those pages. Because of the time of day that Shardik visited, I would set the trap later in the evening to avoid getting the other cat. If you know whose pet this is, you can ask them to keep their cat in. You can also put flyers around asking your neighbors to keep their pets in and let them be aware you are trapping. Just keep trapping and you will get that Shardik! Anything that you do is better than nothing. You never know which search technique will be THE one. And just because you don't see your cat does not mean your cat is not there; cats do not simply disappear.
Randi Pokladnik	Re: Some luck	#10	[-]
Posts: 8 (11/01/03 10:28:18) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Dear Suzie, Try this... I was too afraid of leaving the door open because we live in the woods. So I bravely slept on a sleeping bag with just a crack in the patio door (too small for most raccoons but large enough for Mini). Mini didn't show up but I think if you are seeing your kitty it may work... I also sprayed my clothes with Feliway. We are trying a new plan to get our Mini tonight. My sister who lives a few doors down the street, saw footprints last night. We had sprinkled flour on her deck. So we are praying this is Mini. We have set two traps out and will leave them till dark (the footprints showed up just after dark) We are keeping our fingers crossed... even a sighting would be a God send at this point . I haven't seen her but once since she escaped from the house September 24. Good luck with your methods. I know how you are feeling and am crossing my fingers for you! Randi
Reginalupa	Shardik is HOME!!!!	#11	[-]
Posts: 12 (11/05/03 08:58:31) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Pauline, We finally trapped Shardik this morning at approximately 3:30 a.m!! He has lost a lot of weight but otherwise seems fine. I'll give all the details of how we finally got him later. I slept very little last night and I don't have the energy to tell the whole story now. What I do want to say is how very grateful I am for this forum and the Cats in the Bag website. Thank you Pauline for your advice and for your wonderful website. I can't tell you how many times your words - "cats do not simply disappear" gave me hope -- especially during the first week and a half when we had no sightings. Thank you for everything, Suzie & A very happy (and complete) family
mizmeowski	Re: Shardik is HOME!!!!	#12	[-]
Posts: 708 (11/05/03 15:08:08) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Congratulations! Yippee! I'm so happy to hear Shardik is back at home. I'll be looking forward to details when you've had a chance to get some sleep $:*\$ Pauline Anything that you do is better than nothing. You never know which search technique will be THE one. And just because you don't see your cat does not mean your cat is not there; cats do not simply disappear.
Reginalupa	Re: Shardik is HOME!!!!	#13	[-]
Posts: 12 (11/06/03 10:51:44) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I still can't believe our Shardik is home. Yesterday I went home at lunch just to see him again. As I promised yesterday, I'd like to give the details of his capture in case they are useful to someone else. Shardik was finally captured Tuesday night in a box trap. We had been trapping since the first week he escaped. We had captured a total of 2 skunks and 5 different cats! Our traps were always baited with Shardik's favorite treat - tuna. Once we knew that Shardik was visiting our patio, we placed a trap there as well. We also left out dry cat food and tuna in bowls. We wanted to make sure Shardik visited our patio on a regular basis. We set up a video camera which was hooked up to a VCR (so we could tape for 8 hours). The first night Shardik came at 4 am, but the next night he came at 2, 3:30, and 5 o'clock. Also on the second night we moved the trap closer to the food so that it was in the field of view of the camera and we could judge his reaction to it. He ignored it completely. But interestingly, he also ignored the tuna outside of the trap. He was only interested in his crunchy food. This seemed very odd given Shardik's love of tuna. But I believe it may be possible that Shardik developed an negative association with tuna after we cornered him under the concrete by the main door to our building during the previous week. So, we removed the tuna. The third night, we pinned open the trap and placed the crunchy food by the front door of the trap. Shardik went to the food without hesitation and visited the bowl 3 times during the night. So far so good. The next night we placed the bowl half way back in the trap. Shardik refused to enter the trap the first time he visited, but entered hesitantly the 2nd time. Later during that night (he visited 4 or 5 times), he seemed very comfortable going inside the trap to eat. At this point I wanted to continue to ease him into the trap. But the weather was supposed to turn very cold by the end of the week. So we decided to put the food all the way back and set the trap. I felt confident that Shardik would go in the trap, but I knew from the video tapes that other cats and raccoons also visited the food at night. If we were going to catch Shardik I knew that I had to keep all of the other animals out of HIS trap. So Tuesday night I stayed up and waited. I turned out all the lights, and set everything else up as usual. Shardik first came by at 11 pm. He circled the trap and left. He came again at 1:30, showed some interest in entering the trap but then something frightened him away. Immediately afterwards another cat came up and I tapped on the sliding glass door and it ran away. Five minutes later Shardik came back and slowly walked in the trap. We had put a few crunchies leading toward the back and he ate them as he entered. He went all the way back to the trip plate, stood there for what seemed to me like forever, and backed out and left! My heart sank. But I knew he'd come back. During the next 2 hours I had to continually frighten away another cat (he was quite persistent). Somewhere around 3:30 I began to get very tired (and a little discouraged). I closed my eyes just for a couple of minutes and then I heard it - the trap shut. My first thought was that the other cat had came back and I had to get him out fast before Shardik came back. I ran out, looked in the trap, and couldn't believe my eyes! It was Shardik! Later in the day my husband watched the video tape. He said that the last time Shardik came, he circled the trap and went straight in without hesitation. I think "pre-baiting" the trap was very important in our success. Although we didn't do it for long, it allowed him to become more comfortable with the trap. Also, having the video camera allowed us to monitor our success. Without it we may have never realized that he was not interested in tuna. Anyway, that's our story and Shardik is home. He has lost a lot of weight. He also seems tired..he sleeps a lot. Although he has more energy today than yesterday. We are taking him to the vet on Saturday. Another odd thing is that he is very clingy. He used to be somewhat aloof, but now he wants to be close to us all of the time. He immediately recognized our other cat and our dog and seems to feel very comfortable with them. However, our other cat, Apache, is not comfortable with him. She's acting as if she's never seen him before! They were never good buddies, but now she is terrified of him. Have you ever seen this behavior? I guess it will just take time. Thanks again for everything. Suzie
OpusDaisy	Re: Shardik is HOME!!!!	#14	[-]
Posts: 21 (11/06/03 12:29:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I am so happy for you! And thank you for posting how you dealt with the trap. My Hardee will go in just up to the trip plate and back out. I want to push setting it, but know that we only have one chance. Your persistence and patience just gave me a whole lot more hope! Give you kitty a big snuggle for me! Opus
mizmeowski	Re: Shardik is HOME!!!!	#15	[-]
Posts: 708 (11/06/03 13:35:54) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Suzie, What a great description of your methods! Thank you sooo much for all the details that you provided. You are absolutely right in that unless owners have a camera, they will have no idea how their kitty is reacting! May I put your description on my website? I don't think anyone else has been able to observe with such detail the reactions of their cat. And, without the camera, you might have assumed that Shardik was NOWHERE around (except for that one night when he came up to patio) as most people do when in fact, he returned 3 times in one night!!! I have an additional favor of you. I don't know a single thing about video cameras. When you get the chance, could you please start a new thread titled: Using Video Camera Surveillance and then explain how you set it up? I am guessing that you viewed it on your TV which was hidden from Shardik's view? (Heehee cracks me up to imagine what Shardik would think if he peeked inside your window and saw himself on camera like he might be shoplifting or something $:*\$ ) In answer to your question about behavior, ALL those things are very common. Aloof kitties all of a sudden become velcro kitties. Resident kitties can't remember the lost kitty and hiss at them (Feliway plug in will help A LOT). If territoriality is bad, re-introduce them as if Shardik was a brand new cat, little by little everyday. Please stick around when you can to help any other lost kitty families with your experiences. We'd love to have you around. Pauline Anything that you do is better than nothing. You never know which search technique will be THE one. And just because you don't see your cat does not mean your cat is not there; cats do not simply disappear.
Reginalupa	Re: Shardik is HOME!!!!	#16	[-]
Posts: 12 (11/07/03 11:20:45) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Pauline, Please feel free to use anything that you think would be useful to others on your website. It would be wonderful if something that we did or learned during our ordeal helped others find their lost kitties. Also, I would be more than happy to start a thread on using video cameras. Not only did using the camera let us know he was visiting and helped us decide on what to do next, it also gave me hope. Being able to see him each day, if only on tape, kept me going. To answer your question about the TV, yes - you can view what the camera is recording on a TV, much like video surveillance in stores. But you don't have to. We used the TV to make sure that we were getting an image from the camera. Once we were sure everything was hooked up correctly, we turned the TV off. The camera then recorded directly to a VHS tape in the VCR. We simply played the tape the next morning (fast forwarding until someone showed up). I'll work on a more detailed description of the set up and post it as soon as possible. I know how I set up the equipment, but putting it into words may take me a little time. Before Shardik got away, I didn't know a single thing about video cameras! I learned only out of necessity, and I'd be glad to try to help others learn as well. Suzie
Reginalupa	Using Video Cameras	#17	[-]
Posts: 12 (11/11/03 17:14:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi Pauline, I hope you see this posting. I just wanted you to know that I'm working on that new thread that you asked me start. I'm trying to get some digital images of the video setup because I'm afraid that my verbal description alone will be confusing. I hope to have the info posted by tomorrow in the a.m. I just didn't want you to think that I forgot. Thanks, Suzie
mizmeowski	Re: Using Video Cameras	#18	[-]
Posts: 708 (11/11/03 18:48:58) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thank you soooo much, Suzie! That sounds terrific!!! Anything that you do is better than nothing. You never know which search technique will be THE one. And just because you don't see your cat does not mean your cat is not there; cats do not simply disappear.