Smudgie is Lost!

Sharon & Smudgie wrote:
Twice a day, at least, I check this thread, to see if Smudgie has come
home yet, or if there is any more good news.

I was SO SURE she would be back home in a day or 2, at most

Sending more purrs for Smudgie to find her way home. Soon. Please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

Thank you so much, I was sure it would only be a couple of days too. It's a
week today and today is my lowest day so far. I am doing everything I can
think of to try to find her and it's still not enough. I am really beating
myself up over it now. Last night we put Febreze on our fence to hide any
smells in case male cats have been spraying (the neighbours must think I'm
so house proud!) and tried a different brand of ham in the trap. On one of
my looks out of the window around 1.30 this morning I did see another cat
eating the ham outside the trap but it didn't go in.

I now have another plan to try and see if Smudgie is actually coming into
the garden ...a few years ago we set up a webcam after someone pelted my car
with eggs in the night. It started recording when there was movement outside
and recorded for 2 minutes. Tonight my DH is going to convert the webcam to
infra red and set it up looking down into the garden. I know infra red
recordings can be grainy but Smudgie is easily identifiable from the side as
where the black fur meets the white along the side it's a very pronounced
wiggly line. At least if she IS coming into the garden I will know and it
will build my hope back up.

Unfortunately there was no article in the local paper today but there is a
free one out again tomorrow so perhaps it will be in there. Goodness knows
how far she may have wandered by now so it will spread the word a bit.

Thank you, and everyone, for helping me through this

Sharon



IMHO on reading this, perhaps there is too much activity" in your
garden. You made a larger hole in the fence, scared away ' truder cats,
etc. Perhaps the garden would be more enticing if it were absolutely
quiet. This is just a thought. You have tried so hard! Remember a
cat's ears are more sensitive than ours -- if they can hear an insect
move, they will probably hear the web cam too. We are still purring for
smudgie to decide to return to her home. Best wishes. MLB

Bobble wrote:
"CatNipped" wrote in
:

"Honey bees" are usually inoffensive little guys who cross-pollinate
plants for us and help keep us alive. However, people like me must
stay as far away as possible. Years ago, I walked out in flip-flops
to take out the garbage. A Bumble bee stung me on the very tip of the
smallest toe on my right foot (the first time I'd ever been stung by a
bee - and those type of allergies, if not treated, can escalate over
the years). I turned away to walk into my house, got half-way to the
front door and collapsed. I was *very* lucky that the guy who lived
across the street was outside cutting his grass and saw what happened.
He just swooped my up, threw me into his car, and broke all speed
records to get me to the hospital. As soon as the admitting nurse
found out if was an allergic reaction to bee sting, she dropped all
the paper work and brought me to the back. [In most cases of allergic
reactions, especially to venoms, take president even over heart
attacks.

By the time we made it to the hospital my leg was blown up to three
times its normal size and my throat was closing up, they had to
perform a tracheotomy. I was having a systemic reaction and they were
afraid my heart would shut down at any moment. After they had me
stabilized they agreed to release me with the promise that I'd see an
allergist as soon as possible.

The first test was bee venom. The doctor put a little scratch on the
inside of my elbow and said, "We do this test as carefully as
possible, upping the dose of venom to saline solution for every
scratch, so this will probably be a long boring procedure for you,
most people don't react at all until the 6th or 7th scratch, and then
with only a small redness around the scratch. The first scratch is
only 1 part venom to 50,000 parts saline solution." Then he walked out
to go see another patient while I waited out the 15 minutes before my
next scratch. However after about 3 minutes after he left, I flagged
down a nurse to ask her if it was OK for my arm to be swollen to twice
its sized from finger tip to shoulder, bright red, and hot to the
touch. The nurse took one look and, without saying anything to me ran
our of the exam room. My doctor and his PA came running into the room
to see for themselves (the first time I'd heard a doctor say, "God
*DAMN*, would you look at that). He sent his nurse out to get almost
every other doctor, no matter what their specialty - pretty soon there
were so many people in my room to look at my arm I though that they
might be calling in other patients from the waiting room!!

To cut a long, boring story short - they kept giving me a dosage into
my arm of 1 / 100,000 solution every week to get me inured to the
venom. That didn't work, again just caused extreme swelling, so they
cut that solution in half, putting half in one arm and half in the
other - no deal. They just simply couldn't find a solution dilute
enough, so I just quit going - why make myself miserable, feverish,
and sick every 5 days out of 7?

I was not at all thrilled to learn that Africanized Honey Bees were
making their way up to Texas from Mexico. ;


Funny story, well it is now. The other day DH came to me and said: "Do
you hear buzzing or is it my ears?" (He has tinnitus.) I said I could
hear it too, like a big mosquito. We went from room to room, he
followed me, but so did the sound. Hmmm. I said: "It's coming from
you!" and I lifted his shirt. Nothing. Buzzing continued. He then
remembered a few minutes ago he had put on his clean-from-the-
clothesline pants, so down they went. Out came a very angry wasp! Boy,
was he luckly he didn't get stung. He's not alergic (I am), but the
outcome could have been awful...

Bobble



WoW! MLB

"Sharon & Smudgie" wrote in message
...
Twice a day, at least, I check this thread, to see if Smudgie has come
home yet, or if there is any more good news.

I was SO SURE she would be back home in a day or 2, at most

Sending more purrs for Smudgie to find her way home. Soon. Please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

Thank you so much, I was sure it would only be a couple of days too. It's
a week today and today is my lowest day so far. I am doing everything I
can think of to try to find her and it's still not enough. I am really
beating myself up over it now. Last night we put Febreze on our fence to
hide any smells in case male cats have been spraying (the neighbours must
think I'm so house proud!) and tried a different brand of ham in the trap.
On one of my looks out of the window around 1.30 this morning I did see
another cat eating the ham outside the trap but it didn't go in.

I now have another plan to try and see if Smudgie is actually coming into
the garden ...a few years ago we set up a webcam after someone pelted my
car with eggs in the night. It started recording when there was movement
outside and recorded for 2 minutes. Tonight my DH is going to convert the
webcam to infra red and set it up looking down into the garden. I know
infra red recordings can be grainy but Smudgie is easily identifiable from
the side as where the black fur meets the white along the side it's a very
pronounced wiggly line. At least if she IS coming into the garden I will
know and it will build my hope back up.

Unfortunately there was no article in the local paper today but there is a
free one out again tomorrow so perhaps it will be in there. Goodness
knows how far she may have wandered by now so it will spread the word a
bit.

Thank you, and everyone, for helping me through this

Sharon

I think I remember, at the beginning of this thread, you saying that the
younger children were still in school. Are they out yet? If so maybe you
can make it a fun game for them to scour the places where an adult human
would not ever think of entering, but children and cats LOVE to hide in.
Just be sure when you talk to them to stress that the shouldn't run after
her or try to catch her - just to come running back to you to tell you where
she is. I'm not very creative, but a lot of people on the group are, so
maybe they can come up with something the children would love to play
without getting bored too quickly. Depending on how much cash you can spend
you might even want to go and buy some of those disposable cameras and hand
them out for the children to take pictures of any cat they think might be
Smudgie.

Just a thought!

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See our clowder at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

See the RPCA FAQ site, by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.com/rpcablog/

I think I remember, at the beginning of this thread, you saying that the
younger children were still in school. Are they out yet? If so maybe you
can make it a fun game for them to scour the places where an adult human
would not ever think of entering, but children and cats LOVE to hide in.
Just be sure when you talk to them to stress that the shouldn't run after
her or try to catch her - just to come running back to you to tell you
where she is. I'm not very creative, but a lot of people on the group
are, so maybe they can come up with something the children would love to
play without getting bored too quickly. Depending on how much cash you
can spend you might even want to go and buy some of those disposable
cameras and hand them out for the children to take pictures of any cat
they think might be Smudgie.

Just a thought!

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See our clowder at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

See the RPCA FAQ site, by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.com/rpcablog/

Funnily enough we had a call about an hour ago from a little girl on her
mobile phone who said she thought she had seen her. My daughter took the
call and we went and investgated but nothing. However, I thought afterwards
that as we have caller i.d., if I see the call is from a mobile phone I
should ask the caller to take a photo of the cat on it and send it to my
mobile phone. That way I can see if it was her and would be quite happy to
refund the cost of sending the pic.

The schools here have another 2 weeks before they break up for summer. I do
hope she is home by then! In the meantime, we had been doing our searching
nearer to home than the area where the little girl thought she saw her, but
will now concentrate on the area of the possible sighting. Not sure why but
I am feeling very hopeful again, lets hope it's a sign! The cameras are a
great idea but by the time they got it to me and then I had the pics
developed Smudgie could have wandered off again Mind you, just knowing
she is ok WOULD be fantastic in itself.

Thank you for the good idea!
Sharon

Judith Latham wrote:
In article , Christina Websell
wrote:

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Tweed, do you guys have birds of prey over there? Hawks, falcons,
etc.?


Yes, we do, but nothing big enough to take a cat, except the golden
eagle and I've never heard that they do, mainly because they are
quite rare and frequent very remote areas perhaps. They will take
small lambs though.

Mainly, all our wildlife is pretty innocuous. Deer stags can be
dangerous to humans in the rutting season (October-ish) as they have
serious anger issues then ;-) but as they are not exactly all over
the place, they are fairly easy to avoid providing I don't go to
Bradgate Park at that time of year:

http://www.leicesterclimbs.f9.co.uk/BradgateI.htm

Tweed
What a great place to live! Granted you don't have the huge wilds we
have filled with predators and prey, but I'm not an outdoorsy type of
person (a bumble bee sting would be fatal).

I am a very outdoorsy sort of person. Maybe your bumble bees are
different? Ours are very mild-mannered and gentle. They *can* sting but
rarely do. They allow you to pick them up if you are careful when they
get trapped inside the house. Unlike a honey bee, they can sting and
not die, so you'd think they'd do it all the time because they can, but
they don't. The only time I ever got stung by a bumble bee was donkeys
years ago when I felt a strange crawling sensation inside my blouse and
grabbed it through the cloth, not knowing what it was. It was entitled
to sting me then, I think! I love bumble bees, there are plenty in my
garden going about their peaceful business. The idea of stinging me
would never occur to them.

Tweed


When I'm out gardening and bees come around I tell them I'm not going to
hurt them and ask them not to sting me. So far it's worked. The neighbours
probably think I'm odd but hey... so are they and we all get on very well.

Wasps, on the other hand, I get out of their way. One went up my skirt and
stung my backside many years ago.

Judith


Hornets don't listen to reason either MLB

"MLB" wrote in message
Tweed




Hornets don't listen to reason either MLB

Hornets are a very different thing.
We never get them where I live, but I saw them in Germany, hunting Nuele's
bees at the entrance to her hives, they kill bees.

Tweed

Sharon & Smudgie wrote:
I think I remember, at the beginning of this thread, you saying that the
younger children were still in school. Are they out yet? If so maybe you
can make it a fun game for them to scour the places where an adult human
would not ever think of entering, but children and cats LOVE to hide in.
Just be sure when you talk to them to stress that the shouldn't run after
her or try to catch her - just to come running back to you to tell you
where she is. I'm not very creative, but a lot of people on the group
are, so maybe they can come up with something the children would love to
play without getting bored too quickly. Depending on how much cash you
can spend you might even want to go and buy some of those disposable
cameras and hand them out for the children to take pictures of any cat
they think might be Smudgie.

Just a thought!

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See our clowder at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

See the RPCA FAQ site, by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.com/rpcablog/

Funnily enough we had a call about an hour ago from a little girl on her
mobile phone who said she thought she had seen her. My daughter took the
call and we went and investgated but nothing. However, I thought afterwards
that as we have caller i.d., if I see the call is from a mobile phone I
should ask the caller to take a photo of the cat on it and send it to my
mobile phone. That way I can see if it was her and would be quite happy to
refund the cost of sending the pic.

The schools here have another 2 weeks before they break up for summer. I do
hope she is home by then! In the meantime, we had been doing our searching
nearer to home than the area where the little girl thought she saw her, but
will now concentrate on the area of the possible sighting. Not sure why but
I am feeling very hopeful again, lets hope it's a sign! The cameras are a
great idea but by the time they got it to me and then I had the pics
developed Smudgie could have wandered off again Mind you, just knowing
she is ok WOULD be fantastic in itself.

Thank you for the good idea!
Sharon



Sending purrs that tonight will be the night for her return! MLB

On Jul 7, 3:47*pm, Judith Latham wrote:
In article , Christina Websell





wrote:
"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Tweed, do you guys have birds of prey over there? *Hawks, falcons,
etc.?

Yes, we do, but nothing big enough to take a cat, except the golden
eagle and I've never heard that they do, mainly because they are
quite rare and frequent very remote areas perhaps. *They will take
small lambs though.

Mainly, all our wildlife is pretty innocuous. Deer stags can be
dangerous to humans in the rutting season (October-ish) as they have
serious anger issues then ;-) but as they are not exactly all over
the place, they are fairly easy to avoid providing I don't go to
Bradgate Park at that time of year:

http://www.leicesterclimbs.f9.co.uk/BradgateI.htm

Tweed

What a great place to live! *Granted you don't have the huge wilds we
have filled with predators and prey, but I'm not an outdoorsy type of
person (a bumble bee sting would be fatal).

I am a very outdoorsy sort of person. *Maybe your bumble bees are
different? Ours are very mild-mannered and gentle. They *can* sting but
rarely do. *They allow you to pick them up if you are careful when they
get trapped inside the house. *Unlike a honey bee, they can sting and
not die, so you'd think they'd do it all the time because they can, but
they don't. The only time I ever got stung by a bumble bee was donkeys
years ago when I felt a strange crawling sensation inside my blouse and
grabbed it through the cloth, not knowing what it was. It was entitled
to sting me then, I think! I love bumble bees, there are plenty in my
garden going about their peaceful business. *The idea of stinging me
would never occur to them.
Tweed

When I'm out gardening and bees come around I tell them I'm not going to
hurt them and ask them not to sting me. So far it's worked. The neighbours
probably think I'm odd but hey... so are they and we all get on very well..

Wasps, on the other hand, I get out of their way. One went up my skirt and
stung my backside many years ago.

Judith

--
One thing I've learned from keeping bees. I had a shirt that a friend
had
brought me from Hawaii. It had large flowers all over it on a white
background.
When I was outside the honey bees would swarm around me. On top of
that,
I usually wear perfume. They honestly thought I was a giant flower.
Going
outdoors in plain clothing makes a great difference.
Wasps and yellowjackets are just plain wicked. I avoid them no matter
what.
The honey bees just aren't a threat at all.

Sherry

Sending purrs that tonight will be the night for her return! MLB

Unfortunately not We have discovered though the local cats are coming
round about midnight and eating the few bits of ham outside the trap! There
were 4 practically lined up there waiting for some.

It's raining here today (Bedfordshire) and Smudgie hates the rain

Sharon

"Sharon & Smudgie" wrote in message
news:8AeZn.51622$cJ6.19162@hurricane...

Sending purrs that tonight will be the night for her return! MLB

Unfortunately not We have discovered though the local cats are coming
round about midnight and eating the few bits of ham outside the trap!
There were 4 practically lined up there waiting for some.

It's raining here today (Bedfordshire) and Smudgie hates the rain

Sharon

A little update .. the local newspaper have done a quarter page article on
Smudge with a pic and I have had one call already from a lady who is very
sure she saw her yesterday! This was down the other end of our estate where
we did our searching for her last night. The lady said said the cat looked
very bedraggled and was walking slowly and nervously. She is going to tell
all her neighbours to keep a lookout too, apparently there are lots of
people with cats in her street so it's possible Smudgie is finding food and
water there.

Oh, she is on the local news website too!
http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/lut-news...dge.6406701.jp

Now I'm hopeful again
Sharon