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| Nowby 4 months ago |
A little more than 3 weeks ago we went on a one week vacation and had a pet/house sitter to take care of our pets, including Puffy and Nowby, the proud product testers of the site. To our horror, when we returned, we found out that the pet sitter had accidentally let Nowby out the FIRST DAY of our vacation.... It was horrific news, especially since Nowby has a collar with a bell, and that she had never been outside. Plus the temperature had dropped to about freezing at times.
We then started a frantic search for Nowby, calling her name all around the neighborhood but there was no response. We also put up "Lost Pet" flyers on light poles. Soon we were contacted by our neighbors who've seen Nowby. She was seen eating stale bread meant for deer in one neighbor's backyard, and seen by others running into nearby storm drains.
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| A Nowby Sighting |
I put her food out but it was never touched. But a week ago I started putting out tuna and low and behold it along with dry food were gobbled up, presumably by Nowby. Then two nights ago I devised a "humane cat trap". I opened the garage door partly- just enough so the cat can come in. Then I splattered some tuna juice right outside the garage, and then placed the can of tuna about 15 ft inside. I waited quietly in my car and stared at the side mirror for any sign of Nowby. After over an hour I went back inside the house but left the garage partly open. About half an hour later I noticed Puffy gathered at the door into the garge, so I went back into to the garage and found that most of the tuna was gone! Dismayed I figured that I would try again tomorrow. But just 5 minutes later our dog Penny started woofing quietly as she sat under the desk next to me. I got up and she lead me to the garage door. Convinced that Nowby must be inside the garage, I quickly opened the door into the garage and hit the garage door button. I saw a cat sprint away but the garage door closed just in time. Nowby was home again!
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| Nowby hiding in the garage |
Apparently Nowby was suffering from Lost Cat Behavior- a condition where she would not respond to her name but yet would find shelter nearby the house.
But now I am faced with a huge problem. Nowby is so frightened that she would hiss when we tried to approach her. We were able to get her back inside the house but she refused to eat anything. She would hide underneath couches or behind the toilet. I also noticed that about 1/4 inch of her right year was gone. She must have been through so much outside and her mind tuned into the sole purpose of survival. It was so disheartening to see how the cat doesn't seem to recognize us anymore.
Today in the afternoon we decided we needed to do something to get Nowby to eat. So we got her to run into a bathroom with bowls of tuna and dry food and closed the door. We left her alone in isolation for about 3 hours before she started meowing incessantly. Upon opening the door I was overjoyed to see that most of the food was gone.
Later on in the night I got a pair of thick gloves and managed to pet Nowby for about half an hour. Surprisingly she didn't attack me- a few times she tried to nip at my gloved hand but it wasn't vicious at all. So we were very encouraged by that.
As for Puffy she doesn't seem to recognize her sister and would hiss at Nowby or simply avoid going near her. It was sad to see because they were so close before- plaything together all the time and grooming each other every day.
Right now Nowby is hiding behind a media stand in my office. She is meowing a sad meow incessantly. I just hope she would get comfortable soon enough and don't stay so frightened. Tomorrow we will be taking her to the vet for an exam.
Nowby is still very afraid of us but it seems that she is getting more comfortable. She rolled over, attacked the aquarium, and played with Penny's leash- all in front of us. Still whenever we moved close she would scurry away or hide her entire body behind the curtains. She is also vocalizing less now which is a good sign.
Nowby is still timid and scared but not as bad. She will now actually comfortable showing her body when at the living room window. But whenever she goes from one hiding place to another she does so in a frantic manner still. Yesterday, however, I was able to give her a tiny piece of salmon on my finger while she was hiding underneath the couch. She is meowing less now but still is vocalizing quite frequently. Another good sign is that she seems to be using the Litter Robot again.
Nowby is still hiding either in one of the bathrooms or underneath one of our couches. We've stopped trying to get close to her and pet her so that she doesn't keep getting frightened. Last night she leaped to a 8 1/2 ft. high window ledge in a bathroom, perhaps in hopes of getting back out. The cat is now meowing incessantly at the living room window. But it's good that she's eating. We're taking her to the vet tomorrow morning for a physical.
