Congratulations on your escape from the Republic of California!
Since Mother and I are..... hmmmmmmm *involved* with feral cats, I can
relate to much of your experience, right up to and including your close
encounter of the losing kind with a cat. In my particular case, I lost a
one round decision to Miss Kitty, a 2-1/2 pound feral, with about 23 pounds
of very bad attitude. She's now a barn cat at a hog farm some 80 miles
away, after doing 10 days in solitary. As for me, the infection in my
finger is clearing up very nicely, thank you.
When it comes to feral cats, about all I can offer is you do the best
you can at keeping them alive but sometimes, despite your effort, it isn't
going to work out. In our case, we have a neighbor from Hell who poisons
animals (long story). In your case, might I remind you that the part of the
country you now live in abounds with predators such as hawks (even eagles),
foxes, coyotes, cougars, badgers, weasles, snakes, etc. It is not beyond
the realm of possibility that snakes might have taken the missing kittens, a
Red Tail Hawk (quite common) taken your missing pet (sorry about that), etc.
Even in our part of Illinois, we've had people losing pets to a cougar for
years.
Welcome to the Midwest and best of luck to you.
Jack