News From The Jungle

Mom, I know you've been going crazy (more than usual) looking for me and worrying about me, but you really don't have to fill up the house with every pound kitty you see. I AM TRYING to get home! Please make sure you save my space and toys for me!

I certainly hope you've got a big supply of catnip and tuna waiting for me! Purrrr.

For those who don't know, my mom's been hanging out at the pound a lot since I disappeared. Last week she found a cream-colored male tabby at the Town Lake Animal Center (Austin, TX). He's about 2 years old, and she named him Austin when she adopted him Friday (Jan. 5, 2007).

Austin has white boots on his rear legs, and his front paws look like they've been dipped in white. He also has white fur like a collar on his neck under his chin. He has short hair and a striped tail--not fluffy like mine. Unlike me, he has all of his toes.

He's really handsome and very sweet (like me, of course!). He was unaltered when he arrived at the pound, but was neutered there before Mom brought him home. Poor guy...I was just a tiny kitten when they did that to me. I can't imagine how it much hurt to have it done now to a grown-up cat. He has a microchip now, too. I'll be glad when Mom finds me so I can get one, too.

Austin has obviously been a house cat with outside privileges. He likes sleeping on Mom's bed, making biscuits on the comforter, and drinking from the potty (just like me). He's very calm, and puts up with Duchess swatting him and talking kitty-trash to him.

Mom hasn't taken a picture of him to make a Catster page yet, but she said if she can find Austin's original family, she'll give him back to them. Mom says somebody HAS to be looking for Austin and worried sick about him, because he is just so sweet and well-mannered.

She said if someone has adopted me and finds out she's looking for me, she would want them to let me come home, so she's trying to do the same for Austin. If she can't find his original mom, then Austin has a terrific forever home where he'll be safe and loved. I'll love him, too, when I get home. He's going to need me to help him manage the beasties and Little Duchess.

Of course, Mom's telling Austin "NO, NO" when he meows at the windows and doors at night--and she's right--he doesn't need to get out there and get lost again. Believe me, I know!

If any of you think Austin may be your lost fur-baby, or may know who he is separated from, please let my mom know. She doesn't want his mom and/or dad to have to worry about him.

By the way, Duchess, you can stop spreading that nasty rumor about me. I AM NOT OUT CATTIN' AROUND! Bite your tail! I did not choose to leave, and I sure wish someone would point me in the right direction to get home.

Purrs and Sandpaper Kisses,
Simon

Missing Cats--Let's Help Find Them

A wonderful new Catster feature started by my friend Mawse and her Mom! Be sure to visit the group and see the other lost/missing kitties. If you're lost, get your Mom or Dad to put your picture on the group, too! We love Catster and Mawse and all our friends!

Christmas Without My Family

12/27/2006
Well, Christmas was sad for all of us. I didn't make it home. I missed out on the trip to Houston to see my human sister, Kimmi, and her new boyfriend, Josh.
I know Mom didn't even put up a tree this year. I'm sorry this is so hard for my people. It's hard for me, too. I really love getting turkey and ham during the holiday season. Mom has a picture of me sitting in one of the dining room chairs, waiting to be served my portion of the Christmas feast when I was just 6 months old! Even at that young age, I knew what was good, and how to mind my manners. Ahh, the memories....
Simon

Trying So Hard to Be Home For Christmas

Dear Kitty Diary,

I'm still lost and trying to find my way home. It has gotten really cold now in Central Texas, and I sure miss my fireplace.

Actually, it wasn't my choice to leave my Mom and my two "cousins", Ace and Maggie. I was cat-napped by some bad people. Mom thinks one of them was a woman in a late model black Ford Explorer with a Kansas license plate. I meowed that my Mom said the lady wasn't in Kansas anymore and it's not nice to take someone else's kitty, esp. when there are so many orphans out here waiting for their forever homes.

My Mom has about 60 signs all over Austin, and about 600 flyers she's put on doors. She's still looking for me, putting out more signs and flyers on doors, asking everyone she sees about me, and I hope she finds me really soon.

Mom's been waiting for me to get home so I can help put up the Christmas tree. She knows how much I like flossing my teeth on the needles. Mom always wears a lot of red this time of year, too, and that's my favorite color.

Another reason I want to get home is I heard Mom got me a new little sister to keep me company. Duchess picked out my Mom 2 weeks ago when Mom was making one of her regular trips to the City Animal Shelter looking for me.

Duchess is a British Short-Haired Blue Tabby, and looks very much like me, only she's tiny. She's 7 months old, so she needs her big brother there to teach her how to manage Ace and Maggie--I don't know how those two doxies get along without me.

I also worry about my job. Uncle John really counts on me to keep the mice and rats out of the house. It's the kind of job that's so much fun it doesn't feel like work! I always get fresh tuna when I bring in a mouse--that's the best part! MMMMMmmmmmmm.

I know Mom's been leaving stuff out, like her dirty sweatpants and stinky socks for me to smell, but I just haven't been able to get close enough yet.

If any of the folks in Texas spot me, I sure hope they'll let my Mom know. Austin is a lot smaller than Houston where we came from 2 years ago, but it's still a really big city when it comes to finding a lost catster.

I feel bad that Mom's been so sad. I'm sad,too. I really love my family, especially my Mom, and I miss them and her. I miss that patch of catnip she planted just for me, too, and my own little garden of tall grasses with the fuzzy tops.

I also heard Ace recently lost all his back teeth. I want him to know how sorry I am, but I'm glad he can eat again without hurting (and doesn't have bad breath anymore). For a canine, he's really pretty cool. Especially the way he took on that burglar last winter.

Mom has seen some kitties that looked a lot like me at the city shelter--even one tonight--but they had all their toes. I only have 3 on my front left paw since I had that big cancer tumor in August. BTW, the operation wasn't fun, but I was sure feeling better. I could jump higher into the pecan trees in my yard than ever before!

Any of you catsters or kitsters reading this, please stay warm and stay close to your Humans,

Simon

Please Help Mommy Find Me Nov. 10, 2006

Meow Meow Meow,
I'm still lost somewhere in Austin. If you see me, please tell my mom. I want to go home, and I know my mom is going nuts trying to find me. I haven't seen Mommy, Maggie or Ace since Oct. 12. I came in for a bite of supper, but went back out to watch all those red lights on that big bridge next door. Every night they go really, really slow.

Sometimes there's a big bang up there on that bridge and I come running inside, but after that, it's really cool because there will be red, white, and blue flashing lights. Those usually go away after a while, but then a few days later in that same spot, I can see yellow flashing lights And the red, white, and blue ones. I didn't get to watch from my park bench, though, because some mean people came in the middle of the night while Mommy was sleeping and snuck off with it.

I was going to hang out on the front porch with Mommy after supper, but it was such a nice bright moonlit night that was perfect for mousing. Ace and Maggie tried to tell Mommy something was wrong about 3 a.m. that night (Friday the 13th--not a good time for kitties), and she got up with her flashlight but didn't see anything. She thought it was weird I didn't come in to check on her and get a snack, but she was really tired and went back to bed.

I don't know where I am. I sure hope I can figure out my way home. Mommy thinks maybe the people who took my park bench came back and took me, too. Or that maybe I just got too curious about something and went to explore on the other side of that bridge. Late at night, when it's Zero Dark Thirty, there aren't any cars. The railroad goes under that bridge, and there are some pretty good mousing places along the railroad. I've never tried it before, though. I find plenty of mice at home.

I miss sleeping on the rug by the fireplace with Ace and Maggie, and I miss watching the hummingbirds that visit Mommy's flowers. I guess it's too cold for the hummingbirds now, but I know Mommy will soon be putting up those cool snakes that light up and blink pretty colors (Mommy said they aren't really snakes, but Christmas lights..they still look like snakes to me). The leaves are falling now, too, and I like that crunchy sound they make.

What I like so much...and I really miss are those really tall grasses and the catnip she planted just for me. She wanted me to have my own special jungle to hide out in.

I always lived inside until we moved from Friendswood to Austin 2 years ago. Mommy and Uncle John have been working really hard to fix up this house, so when the windows were open, I discovered it was fun to go out and watch the world from under the shrubs. Then I figured out if I jumped up into a pecan tree, it really drove Maggie and Ace nuts because I can get closer to the squirrels than they can.

Uncle John installed a "doggy" door last spring, but I've declared it a "4-legged kid" door, and I use it, too. Mommy's been talking to Uncle John about finding a way to block it at night to keep us all in. She said there's a bar that gets in the way and the thing to block it with won't slide in. I've been glad she can't block it, but maybe she was right.

If you live in or around Austin, and email my Mommy (sjweb1960@yahoo.com), she'll send you a flyer with my picture on it so you can post where you work or in your neighborhood.

She's gone to about 400 doors with flyers, put out lots of posters, posted my picture and info on lots of websites, and goes to the Town Lake Animal Center almost daily. She's really sad and wants to find me just as much as I want to come home.

A nice can of tuna, a fresh drink from the potty (I still prefer that to the water bowl Mommy gave me), and a long nap on Mommy's bed would be really good right now.

Thanks for helping Mommy look for me.

Sandpaper Kisses,
Simon