Jack is Back!

Jack and Fey are littermates by farm cats in Nebraska and had never been apart.  They were the first cats my husband brought home after his beloved Kaos died of an infection after having been lost for three weeks.  Needless to say, Jack slipping out one Sunday was cause for concern.

Jack and our other cats are indoors-only.  On average, indoor cats live three times longer than outdoor cats.  Jack loves a roll around on a sunny sidewalk, and this time we didn't see him slip out.

When we realized he was gone, we went into desperate cat-finding mode.  I posted on craigslist and lost-pet websites.  My husband biked around the neighborhood for hours.  We drove around at all hours, staring at houses, calling for Jack, and clanging dishes.  We printed over 500 fliers and distributed them door-to-door throughout our neighborhood.  We called the animal shelter and went over every 2-3 days to make sure Jack wasn't among the adoptable.

What we found, for six days wasn't Jack, but rather a caring community.  We received several phone calls letting us know of possible Jack sightings.  People stopped to talk with us, to give encouragement, and to promise to be on the lookout for our Mr. Jack.

We learned that we have a unique community of families and students just like us.  Did you know that within our area there is a bookbinder, a paranormal investigator, and a storm-chaser?  We also ran into three other families that have lost their cats.  Keep your eyes peeled - without our community looking, we would have never found Jack.

Speaking of finding Jack, our favorite storm-chasing neighbor was coming in from a night of paintball and saw Jack sitting on one of the fence columns around our apartment complex.  He called us several times in the wee hours and finally coaxed Jack inside, waiting for us to wake up and get his messages.

Jack is home!  We've learned several things and made some changes around the house.  All five of our cats wear collars with tags now and on October 29, the Norman shelter is holding a low-cost clinic.  They're offering microchipping for $20 - so you better believe we'll be there!

Once again, I want to thank our entire community.  All of you kept us uplifted - without your words of encouragement and phone calls, we would have certainly lost hope.  Thank you.

I'm including a photo of all of our Jack sightings.  The pink areas are where we posted fliers.  If anyone needs to borrow our live traps to try and catch their kitties, well, you know how to contact us!