PONCHO the cat was taken up to the California hills for an "adventure." Unfortunately, he got way more than that. When they let him out for fresh air, he bolted down the mountain slope with them chasing behind.
NOTE: You cannot catch a cat, so resist the urge to chase! Even a cat with three legs dragging a leash is way faster than a human -- especially on a steep, barren mountain slope."
The red and grey dots show the direction he ran down away from the road.
This is the note I got on day 7:
"Please help us, Lost cat Finder!
"On Tuesday we took Poncho away for the first time to a California park near Berkeley. After we got out of the car, he freaked out, got out of his leash and fled down the slope. The next day we found but I didn’t know better at the time and grabbed him and forced him into the carrier. Unfortunately he got out the unzipped door back into the bushes."
"fter that, we never saw him. We’ve left water, wet food in humane traps, put our dirty laundry there, but nothing had been touched so far. We have a team of volunteers go and search every day and some nights but no response. Now it’s almost a week since he was lost. "
The area has many coyotes although in the areas we covered, we have not seen any clumps of cat fur or bones yet."
"Please help us find our cat!
Alekandra
Once I got the coordinates for the area and a good feel for the personality of this poor displaced cat, I was able to create a plan for them, so they could focus on a strategy instead of making more mistakes or worse, giving up.
I told them to pull the many traps they had scattered around the area as they would only draw in other critters, but it wa too late. The damage was done:
Lost cat survives coyote, bobcat, deer 12 days in the California wilderness.
Poor Poncho was miles from home and a much higher altituade that was used to and with other critters moving in the night, porbably very scared.
I studied the map to determine where he would most likley go, places he would most likley choose to hide by day, the direction of travel last seen and just in case, the direction of travel he might migrate along if he tired to get back to his home in Berkeley. Some lost displaced cats will stay put near the location lost (unless chased but some will start migrating toward home, so it's key to cover all angles rather than focus on one,
It took a lot of equipment for surveillance and "sitting shifts" from local volunteers who we had instructed to SIT in one place...NOT beat the bushes calling and searching and pushing him away. And then, right around midnight, the breakthrough: right as we were about to leave at a very faint and plaintive MEOW.
It was PONCHO! He was at the bottom of the top slope where the dense green was marked, rolling in the road near where he had been driving looking skinny and needing help. This brave soul grabbed him and did not let go. At last, Poncho was safe. Next, cat off to the vet, and human off to the hospital.
And here as you can see, Alek Ten is very, VERY happy to have her Poncho back home safe!
After 12 days lost in the wildernesss, Poncho is found and taken to the vet. here is the update!
"Hi Kim! He's doing great! He's already back to his normal Poncho self, but we are still working on getting him back to his normal weight.
He's been sleeping a lot these past few days, and he seems not to be as interested in playing with his toys before, but now he's getting better. I'm still amazed by how well he took care of himself during these 12 days he was in Tilden. We had a vet give him a checkup - no ticks, no fleas, just a little bit underweight.
We probably came out of this more beat up than he was!
I'm so glad we got him in time - the heatwave and wildfires in California have gone wild. The sky is a sick yellow in Northern Cal right now. Thank God Poncho's home in time to escape all that and just rest and eat.
Thank you!!
Aleksandra
another happy reunion with LostCATFinder.com lost cat search, info and coaching for owners all over the world.