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Otis - LONG - reflections on finding him



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 10th 03, 03:20 PM
polonca12000
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Default Otis - LONG - reflections on finding him

I'm so glad you are reunited again. I do hope Otis stays home from now on.
Best wishes,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"Susan M" wrote in message
om...
Hi all:

This whole heart-wrenching experience really has had me thinking.

snip


  #3  
Old August 12th 03, 08:08 PM
M.L. Briggs
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Wonderful story! I am so glad you finally found him. About fifteen
years ago in heavy winter, I saw a huge white cat with green eyes in
this condo area (cats not allowed). I noticed a collar, so I started
calling local cat rescue groups. I also put out food.I later learned
of another local group, so called them. Within the hour they called
back to say a lady had called in to report her lost big white cat with
green eyes. Then she called me. I told her I knew he would return
because I had been feeding him. Early the next morning I set out in the
snow calling "Oliver". I followed cat foot prints in the snow to the
northeast cul-de- sac. This time when I called his name, I heard a
noise and then saw him come over a fence. Calling his name repeatedly I
approached and picked him up. He must have weighed 20 pounds. This was
quite a long way from my unit. and he was heavy to carry, but I got him
home. The lady next door took him in as my Siamese (illegal) would have
freaked out. When the owner came to get him, I discovered she lived
about two miles away .This was on a heavily travelled street too. I
also found out that "Oliver" had just recovered from broken hip surgery.
My neighbor and I gave her the "word" about keeping him inside. Thanks
for bringing back that memory and, again good luck. MLB

Susan M wrote:

Hi all:

This whole heart-wrenching experience really has had me thinking.

First, let me just tell you where he was found relative to our new and
old houses. To get to where he was he had to cross a large off-leash
dog area, which is patrolled by coyotes at night. Then, he had to
walk a mile in unfamiliar territory to get to this group of houses
where he stayed for three days. It was across another busy street
that he would have found our old house. Amazing.

One of the things that really amazes me is the way all these little
things fell together to allow me to find him. First, I made the
poster up at 5 AM Tuesday morning, when I finally accepted that he
wasn't going to just stroll home. As soon as the vet clinic opened, I
showed it to the locum vet, who is just there a couple of days a
month. He happened to work through lunch that day and go for a late 2
PM walk by the clinic and catch a glimpse of Otis. If it hadn't been
for that, I would never have hand delivered the 200 flyers that I did
to that part of the neighbourhood. It was just too far away from
where we'd lost him. Otis was also wearing a collar with a big purple
heart on it. He has a twin cat in that part of the neighbourhood that
was also spotted - what kept me believing that it was actually Otis
that people had seen was the fact that they had noticed the heart.
Then, I forced myself to talk to these hoodlum looking BMX biker kids
who turned out to be sweet guys and who also spotted Otis. This kept
up my hope. A bunch of people let me put cat food in their yards.
Then, all these people called, culminating in the two young boys
actually spotting his final hiding place. If any one of those things
had not happened, I might not have found him.

Second, I forced myself to talk to all kinds of people. While a
reasonably well-adjusted person, an introvert I remain! But for Otis,
anything! I discovered that there are piles of incredibly nice
empathetic people out there. It was really heart warming and a great
antidote to the evening news. Two people phoned wihout any news at all
but just to express their sympathy and hope that I would find him. I
stopped by one those people house after I found Otis just to let them
know. They invited me in and I got to see their beautiful cats and
now we know some great new neighbours. Out of all the people I talked
to, there was only one grumpy person - but I felt that I could even
bring around this grumpy old man, who eventually took my poster and
agreed to call if he saw anything.

Third, I was buoyed by the support and understanding from rpca *yet
again*. You all really understand and to know that there are people
sending their thoughts really helps somehow.

I always thought that I'd be the sort of person who would, in the
midst of terrible pain and grief at losing a kitty best friend,
immediately adopt another cat. My heart has lots of love in it and
there are so many cats to save and shower with that love. I also
thought that Chester would really step up to the plate if Otis was
gone. Otis really pushes him around and Chester is most affectionate
when Otis is not around. Chester is certainly and always an angel
wrapped in fluffy cat fur but he is Chester and not Otis. Chester
will sleep on the end of the bed but gets prowly and plays by himself
all night. He may grace you with a half our of fur on arm contact in
the AM but that's all. He has fierce bouts of affection about 5 times
a day for sure though. I went up to the SPCA and saw all the kitties
for adoption there. They were beautiful (six identical carmel
coloured 6 week old kittens, one 30 pound black short haired *not fat*
black cat that looked like a bear cub) and, with the exception of one
crazy kitten that kept trying to snag me through the bars, I couldn't
bear the thought of them instead of Otis. I guess what I'm trying to
say, is that I couldn't believe how much I missed *Otis*. He is a
total pain in the ass but balances that by being an incredibly
attached and involved cat. I could manage to pretend to get through
the days ok when he was gone but any time that I saw a picture of him
or imagined him cold and wet in the hailstorms we had, I started
crying all over again. I felt for all of you all over again whose
kitties have gone to the RB and couldn't believe how much it could
hurt.

When we brought him back, he hid under the furniture from my mom and
Fred but came out when I sat down. He sat behind me on the sofa and
put his paw so that it touched my shoulder. When I turned sideways
and put my arm out by him, he rested his head in total surrender on my
arm and purred. Last night, he jumped up, tapped me on the shoulder,
and curled up purring and purring and purring. He is sitting watching
me type right now looking kind of resigned. He'd rather go to sleep
and cuddle.

I'd better go do what he is directing me to do.

Thanks again,

Susan M.
Otis and Chester



 




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