Elsie Homecoming

Luckily I didn't have to tutor today. Otherwise I wouldn't have caught Elsie.

Unlike yesterday, when she was waiting in the neighbor's yard when I arrived, she didn't come right away today, probably because there was a tree-trimming truck making lots of noise on the street. But she eventually came and ate stinky canned food. I tried putting it into the cat carrier--just to get her used to it. She would put her head in, but wouldn't go much farther.  And then she sat just out of reach and bathed.

I kept talking to her and urging her to come over so I could brush her or pet her. Eventually the truck left, and she came over. She was scratching at her ears, so I scratched her back and neck, and she meowed and purred, rubbing around my legs.

I figured: why not? So I gently picked her up and plopped her into the carrier, which I'd stood on end. Only had to scruff her very briefly! After I latched the door, I started shaking. I couldn't believe I'd finally gotten her.

So now she's home! I kept her in the carrier for about 45 minutes, while I sat next to her (I was talking on the phone). She went from meowing anxiously to sitting quietly and occasionally purring.  I sprayed Feliway around, and filled up her dishes with food and water.

Just let her out, and she quietly walked around, then went into the basement. It might take her a while to reemerge, but that's OK. At least she's home, almost exactly 3 months after she got away.

How I located Elsie

Did I not tell this story yet?

Last Monday, August 1, I got two phone messages from different people. One was from the Humane Society. "Someone called us--she thinks she may know where your cat is." The other was from the somebody, Pam, who had been feeding a light-colored, fluffy, blue-eyed cat over at her mom's house on L Avenue NE (just a few blocks from the vet's).

Pam said that she'd been feeding the cat for about 3 weeks. She had wanted to find the cat's owner, and had resolved to catch her and take her to the animal shelter. She was telling a friend, and the friend said "Oh, that sounds like the cat on the "lost cat" poster I saw hanging up in the neighborhood."  The poster was gone, so Pam called over at the Humane Society (where I'd made a report when Elsie got away) to see if they knew anything, and they gave her my number.

I went over and met Pam that evening, and as I came up the driveway, there was Elsie, standing under a bush between Pam's mom's house and the neighbor's house! "Elsie!" I said. "There you are! Where have you been?"

She scampered off. Apparently, she was very easily spooked, Pam said, but she would let Pam feed and pet her.

I felt so relieved to know where she was! Pam and I decided that I needed to come and get her reacquainted with me.  So over the next few days, I came--sometimes meeting Pam, and eventually on my own. I let the neighbor know what I was doing--it's a bit of a rough neighborhood, so I didn't want to alarm anyone.

At first, I didn't see her.  I just sat on Pam's mom's back steps and read my "Peterson's Guide to Birds" app on my phone. One night, just after I finished reading about the elusive (and possibly extinct) Ivory-billed Woodpecker, I looked up to see Elsie walking up to the dish of canned cat food I'd set out. She ate, and let me pet her, eventually relaxing and purring a bit. Then a neighbor's dogs started barking and she dashed off. Still. It was great to see her!

The main thing I was trying to figure out was how to catch her so I could bring her home. She was definitely skittish, and I know from experience that she is very strong, so the idea of grabbing her to put her in a carrier seemed unlikely. I investigated ideas, from ways to trap cats with live traps to getting a "Cat-in-the-Bag" to maybe putting sedative in her food (didn't fly; the sedative takes too long to take effect).

In the end, it was Elsie herself who became relaxed and happy enough to let me pick her up. Without that, she'd still be living in that backyard.  And without Pam's kindness and diligence, I may never have found her! Right now, I'm just feeling relieved and grateful.