Missing: Pets Lost And Found

Much loved pets go missing every day. Some are lost forever, whilst others are incredibly found days, weeks, months or even years later. Here is a mixed bag of stories.

Lost and Found © 2023 KEW (Image credit: Kate Eggleston-Wirtz)

The Hamster
One summer, our neighbours were going on vacation and I was asked to look after their two pets, a hamster and a cat. I was young and keen to take on the responsibility. This did not go well. On one of these caregiving mornings I was greeted with an empty hamster cage, door wide open. The hamster was never found.

The Snake
When I was growing up my brother John kept a menagerie of animals down in the basement. The mini zoo included several different types of snakes (thankfully none poisonous), a tokay gecko, a tarantula and loads of mice that were raised to feed the snakes. The basement was expansive and centre stage stood a monstrous octopus-like furnace entombed within walls of stone and cement. Vivariums lined the wall on one side. There was also an open entrance to a massive crawl space with a dirt floor that I never had the courage to enter, too many places for creepy-crawlies to hide.

I was about eight years old when one day John pulled me aside and let me in on a little secret, the boa constrictor had gone missing! He only shared this privileged information with me. This was in the middle of the summer when our family was just about to go on vacation for three weeks to visit relatives. On this occasion, my sister Becky was on her university break and working at a local department store. This meant she was going to be home alone with an unbeknownst to her, slithering escapee.

Now perhaps it was not the best idea to keep this information to ourselves, then again maybe it was. I wish I had an exciting tale to tell such as how my sister stumbled upon the snake in the kitchen, was terrified, threw open the back door that was violently ripped off its hinges, then frantically waved her hand in the air and ran away screaming. Now there’s a picture and that would have made for a really good story, however this is not the case. Seemingly her home alone experience unfolded quite uneventfully. Becky went to work and enjoyed her solitude. We came home and shortly thereafter she traipsed back to university none the wiser. About three months later John called me to come down into the bowels of the house. “Look at this,” he exclaimed. And there peacefully curled up around a big iron kettle on top of one of the mouse cages was the boa constrictor alive and well.

On a side note, recently I was talking about this particular incident to my friend Ruth Honey (appearing in the Elsa story below). She raised an excellent question, who fed the animals when John was away. John would have been the logical one to ask but sadly he is no longer with us, so I turned to my sister who said,

This is how I remember it but pretty sure I did not go into the basement to feed anyone…[The basement] was not inviting, which is why I wouldn’t be feeding the mice!

The Cats
Admiral Pet Insurance research showed that in August 2023 over a quarter of a million cats were listed as missing. The survey data disclosed there were particular circumstances that caused cats to suddenly disappear including: owners moving house, owners going on holiday, builders renovating the home or acquiring another pet.

However some good news came out of the API report 41 percent of these missing animals returned on their own volition, 18 percent were found by their owners, 16 percent had been found in outbuildings, 13 percent were found at their own home and the final 16 percent were found by someone local.

Jaffa

I remember a number of years ago glass artist Colette Halstead posting for several weeks on Facebook that she was desperately searching for her ginger cat Jaffa. The torment of the situation has stuck with me. When considering this article I contacted her to find out more. She has kindly given her permission to share the story.

Collette had recently moved to the country when Jaffa became her companion. He stood by her, soothed her soul, supported her as she started her glass making business out in the Lancashire countryside. They were inseparable for six years until one Friday evening Jaffa vanished. By Saturday morning she knew something was wrong.

When it happened I had an overwhelming sense that he was gone, but this didn’t stop me turning my immediate neighbourhood upside down to find him. I printed off a five-mile radius of Google earth screenshots, taped them together and used them as my map, I left no stone unturned to find him in case he was locked in anywhere. I systematically searched the area. Friends came with dogs to search the fields, friends came and helped me flyer everywhere, friends came and comforted me.

The first three weeks were the worst, I knew that by slim chance if he’d been trapped that he would not survive beyond that time frame, I really struggled emotionally here. I stopped looking and wandering through fields after about four weeks. I still miss Jaffa terribly…The worst feeling in the world is having no closure…

Elsa
Every so often in the news there are extraordinary stories about missing pets that miraculously reappear. One such story appeared on the BBC Midlands website about Elsa, a cat who went missing in 2007 and was joyfully reunited with her animal loving owner and original carer Ruth years later. In 2021 Ruth received an unbelievable phone call. Elsa had been found half a mile away from her home in Leicestershire. Apparently workers at the Nutts Lane industrial estate had been feeding her for over a decade until someone noticed a lump above one eye and out of great concern took her to a local vet. It was through the microchip database that Ruth was traced.

Ruth went on to crowd fund and raise over £2,000 for operations to remove Elsa’s multiple tumours. Elsa recovered brilliantly. Ruth said that at first, Elsa was very standoffish, but settled and became the most cuddly and loving cat.

Elsa and Ruth (Image credit: Ruth Honey)

Before I take leave, here are a couple of poems inspired by my brother’s escaped snake.

My Snake Marigold

She slithered out of her stronghold,
was lost for months my Marigold,
then found wrapped ‘round a kettle cold.
I brought her back into the fold.
And there she stayed, but not for long.
The great escape and she’s still gone.

Marigold’s Great Escape

I’m not hissss ssssnake, I never wassss.
I left him just becausssse, becausssse
I had to sssscare all that wasssss
out there! Beware! My tongue! My jawssss!
I’m ssstaying here in grassss and weedsssss
to sssslither doing sssscary deedsssssssss.

Thank you for reading, Kate J

Sources
BBC East Midlands, 10 December 2021. Owner’s cat found at nearby Hinkley factory after 14 years. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59594010 Accessed 24 January 2024.
Halstead, C. 2024. Email correspondence to Kate Eggleston-Wirtz 22 January.
Honey, R, 2024. Video call with Kate Eggleston-Wirtz 23 January.
Improve Veterinary Practice, 2022. New research and tracking experiment reveals extent of missing cat epidemic and behaviour of cats outside the house.
https://www.veterinary-practice.com/2022/cat-research-reveals-behaviour-and-missing-cats%20accessed%2021%20January%202024 Accessed 28 January 2024