Update: Boudika is home safe. Writes Lola in comments:
Boudika has returned! Thank you to everyone who sent good thoughts!
She was soaking wet and covered in mud, but after a bath and a hearty meal, she seems to be doing quite well.
We’ll have to decide how to proceed. I think a microchip is in order, though that hardly prevents straying. Keeping animals locked inside, who were born to run free is easier said than done. We’ll do the best we can.
We really appreciate the support that Ballardites are so willing to provide.
Ballard has always been a wonderful community and I’m happy to be a part
of it.
Thank you all and Happy Spring,
~ Lola, Daniel, Keira, Bisou and Boudika
Earlier: Three weeks ago Lola, Daniel and 10-year-old Keira moved to Crown Hill near the intersection of 14th Ave NW and NW 87th Street. Two days ago they started letting their cats Boudika (the dark tabby ) and her sister Bisou (the orange tabby) outside. “We figured they would be safe up here, because they have a big backyard and we’re away from heavy traffic. They did well to return home when called, but last night our Tabby, “Boudika” just took off. We haven’t seen her since,” Lola emailed us.
Boudika is a “petit striped tabby with long fluffy fur and a luxurious tail. She’s got green eyes and a green collar around her neck with a tag sporting her name and our phone numbers.”
“The move has been hard on all of us and the kitties were helping us start to feel a little more settled,” Lola says. “Apparently the call of the wild is stronger than the call for dinner right now.” If you have any tips, please write to goldenspiraldesigns@yahoo.com or call Daniel at 410-303-1772 or Lola at 206-919-4025
OMG, I am so sorry to see this story. Perhaps since this story ran she’s come back home? We always snap the top of a soup can, or preferrably to them, a can of their favorite food when we can’t locate 1 of our guys. I will think positive things and hope for good karma today guys.
Sorry to hear about your girl! Don’t give up hope!! We have a very small female cat who is 7 years old. She disappeared a few months before we moved to Ballard. I looked everywhere for her and I posted signs. We heard nothing. Three months to the day, she returned. She was very skinny, and full of worms and fleas, but home safe and sound. I sadly was not expecting her to return after 3 months. It was a wonderful surprise! We moved shortly after she came home. We hope your girl comes home soon! GooD LUCK!
Sorry to hear about your girl! Don’t give up hope!! We have a very small female cat who is 7 years old. She disappeared a few months before we moved to Ballard. I looked everywhere for her and I posted signs. We heard nothing. Three months to the day, she returned. She was very skinny, and full of worms and fleas, but home safe and sound. I sadly was not expecting her to return after 3 months. It was a wonderful surprise! We moved shortly after she came home. We hope your girl comes home soon! GooD LUCK!
You don’t say where the family moved from, but there’s a chance Boudika is trying to return “home” – her old home. When I was young my family moved, and our cat disappeared as soon as we let him outside. A few days later our old neighbors called and said our cat was meowing at their doorstep. He had somehow traveled more than a mile (and across a very busy street) to the place he still thought of as home.
You don’t say where the family moved from, but there’s a chance Boudika is trying to return “home” – her old home. When I was young my family moved, and our cat disappeared as soon as we let him outside. A few days later our old neighbors called and said our cat was meowing at their doorstep. He had somehow traveled more than a mile (and across a very busy street) to the place he still thought of as home.
Don’t let your cats roam freely. Problem solved!
Don’t let your cats roam freely. Problem solved!
One of my cats went missing for 2 days once. Highly unusual, as my cats are always close by and never wander far. Turns out he was stuck in my neighbors garage. The garage is detached and pretty far from the house. They didn’t hear his cries until 2 days later when they went near enough to the garage to hear him.
My cat went missing for almost 2 days once. Turns out he was stuck in my neighbor’s garage, which he uses as a woodworking shop. The garage is detached from the house and they couldn’t hear my cat crying until they got close to the garage. Cats are so independent and curious, sometimes that keeps them away for awhile. I hope you find your girl soon.
It never ceases to amaze me that people let their animals roam free, and then are bummed when they don’t come back, get picked up by someone else, hit by a car, etc. I’m sorry Boudika hasn’t come home — I really am — and I pray she’s safe someplace. Hopefully someone will see your phone number on her tag and call you. When you get her back, keep her inside. There are a lot of things you can do to enrich your cats without letting them outside. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox.
Boudika has returned! Thank you to everyone who sent good thoughts!
She was soaking wet and covered in mud, but after a bath and a hearty meal, she seems to be doing quite well.
We’ll have to decide how to proceed. I think a microchip is in order, though that hardly prevents straying. Keeping animals locked inside, who were born to run free is easier said than done. We’ll do the best we can.
We really appreciate the support that Ballardites are so willing to provide.
Ballard has always been a wonderful community and I’m happy to be a part
of it.
Thank you all and Happy Spring,
~ Lola, Daniel, Keira, Bisou and Boudika
To those who like to kick people when they’re down… it all comes back around!
Why do people wait until their pet is lost to microchip it?
That’s cool, I don’t like having songbirds around anyways…
They don’t. They wait until it comes back to microchip it.
So glad to hear your kitty is OK! I have a girl who looks just like her.
Also, I have 3 cats who’ve been indoor-only since I started piling up hummingbird bodies (that’s just too far for me: moles, starlings, rats–fine). They haven’t suffered. They get lots of inside play time and have towers to climb and sunny window seats in which to bask and stare at the crows. Indoor cats just live longer, by years.
As a fellow kitty-phile, I encourage you to consider keeping them indoors. You make your own decisions, though. :)
I’m missing a few thousand song birds from the area. Anyone seen them lately?
“…who were born to run free.”? She’s not a wild animal — she’s a domestic pet for God’s sake. She’ll be fine, and much safer, kept inside your home. Please think about it.
Wow. So many haters. It’s amazing to note the psychology of people who use snide passive-aggressiveness to prove points. Does it make them feel good about themselves? Does it make them feel as if they’ve contributed to the greater good? Someone noted to me once that Seattle has a disproportionate amount of people with passive-aggressive tendencies… Is it something in the water? Is it the grey skies?
It’s because some people are so dumb that they only respond to passive/aggressiveness.
Only chip the pets you want back! ;-)
My snark was reserved until the cat came home.
I’m sorry, but cats have been domesticated for so long that it’s ignorant to call them “born to run free.” I am happy your cat is back but face reality – you live in a city, keep your cats indoors!!