Since Erik has the camera, I can't take pictures of Fred to show the world.  However, when I get home I am going to look through the FredCam pictures to find the series of photos from when he was captured in the trap.

Before Erik left yesterday, he was feeling confident that I would successfully get Fred on Thursday night.  I was hopeful.  Around 10-10:30, I set the trap with fresh food and headed for the bedroom.  At 1 am, my first alarm to check the trap went off.  No Fred.  At 3:30 am, my second alarm went off.  No Fred.  WAIT.  My sleepy eyes readjusted and saw a cat in the trap.  Outside, I saw that it was definitely, 100% Fred.  He didn't look pissed.  In fact, he looked like he was thinking "are you going to take me inside, or what?"

I carried the cage inside.  Now, the Humane Society recommends leaving the cat inside the cage until you get the cat to the vet.  I did not, for 3 reasons.  1) Those directions are for feral cats.  2) He looked so pitiful in there, I could not bring myself to do it.  3) It was 3:30 in the morning, I was tired and forgot.  Deal with it.

I let him out and he calmly walked out.  He immediately began sniffing the house all over and meowing at the top of his lungs.  At first, it seemed like he was meowing to be let back outside (which obviously was not going to happen).  But I think he was just meowing because he was freaked, and it's what he does when he gets freaked.

Then, the smell hit me.  Oh god, the smell.  He smells like the inside of an old garbage can.  His fur feels dirty.  My eyes started turning red.  Still, I picked him up and held him and loved him and kissed him and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.  The punishment has begun.  (Don't worry, I scrubbed myself clean afterwards).  What was weird was that not only did he not mind all the attention, he actually thrived on it.  It was the only thing to get him to stop meowing constantly, and he actually started purring.  Fred rarely purrs.  But he was a regular motorboat last night.

But what about Holly?  Was she excited to see her brother?  Hell no.  She backed away and hissed at him.  Of course, I wouldn't be eager to greet him with that smell, either.  Luckily, Fred was smart for once in his life and stayed away from his freaked-out sister.  Usually, when Holly gets upset, Fred chases after her to see what's wrong, which results in a catfight.  Not last night - Fred stayed far away and that was just fine with Holly.

Once I could tell that I wouldn't have to worry about them fighting, I decided to go back to bed.  Don't get me wrong - I was thrilled that we got him - but by then it was 4 in the morning, and I was about to fall asleep standing up.  This was not what Fred had in mind, though.  For the rest of the morning, he walked around listening to his constant MEOW MEOW MEOW echo off the walls... under the mattress... into my ear... into my other ear... directly into my face.  He refused to let me go to sleep - as if he thought that I should pay constant attention to him since we went to so much trouble to capture him.  So I stayed up, petting Fred (while breathing through my mouth) and then chasing after him when he walked away and started crying.  His sleep schedule is all messed up now, so mine had to get messed up too.

I tried to feed him more (he's so skinny, I'd find out later that he dropped between 3-4 pounds) and he did eat a bit, but he mostly wanted to explore.  This morning, he cried when I clipped his (horrendously long) nails but did not growl.  He let me pick him up without crying.  In fact, he didn't give off his high-pitched patchetic cry at all.  His cry is deeper and more forceful - I guess he matured a lot during his time on the street.  Now he's street smart!

He let me put him in the carrier without a fuss.  But as soon as it was closed, and he realized the carrier only meant one thing: VET'S OFFICE.  He cried out his long, drawn out cry that seems to involve every vocal coard, every nook and cranny of his larynx.  It sounded like he was crying "egg roll" -  eGG-rOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGL.  I told him he wasn't in enough trouble that he'd be turned into Chinese food, but that didn't seem to calm him down.  I had no sympathy for him - HE was the one who stayed away from 3 weeks, who ran away from us so many times, and who spent his rumspringa in a sewer.  It's his own damn fault.

He's at the vet now.  Everyone there was so impressed that he came home (until I admitted that we had to use a humane trap).  Wile at the vet, he will be checked for injuries, worms, feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and more, as well as bathed.  A lot.  He'll also be given a microchip.  During this torture, I'll be getting him and his sister new collars and tags.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for their support and well wishes, and indulging in the FredWatch.  On Monday, I'll be returning the humane trap to the Humane Society with the reward money I set aside.  We may never have been reunited with Fred if it had not been for the Humane Society, so they deserve the reward as a donation.  For more information on the Charlotte Humane Society, please visit their site. 

CAUGHT ON TAPE


The night before last, I saw Fred AGAIN in a neighbor's yard.  So we decided to put the trap in their yard last night (with their permission, of course).  But since we could not put the web cam there, we put a can of food out on our porch just in case.  The above was taken a little after midnight - FRED caught in the act!
We found this evidence around 3 am, when I woke up to go check the trap in the neighbor's yard.  IT WAS FULL!  But not with Fred - just another poor stray tabby cat.  At least we know the trap works!  Upon finding the above evidence, we put the trap BACK on our porch because we KNOW he's coming back here for food.  Tonight we spring the trap again, without the towel on top so it's easier for him to see the food inside.  

WE'RE ON TO YOU, FRED.

ETA: Due to the brilliant idea of using a webcam to track this trap, the offices of FNUR FNUR declare today to be "NATIONAL FITZ DAY".

In this picture, is Erik petting him, or grabbing him?  PROBABLY BOTH!

Yesterday, we picked up a Humane Trap from the kind people at the Humane Society.  We did not set it last night because you're supposed to check it often and that's not good for a school night.  We put it out BUT did not set it today, which was recommended to let the cat get familiar with it and feel comfortable enough to step inside.  The AWESOME story of the trap is on Erik's blog, with the brilliant bunny trail.  

Tonight... the trap is set...

NOW HE'S JUST BEING A JERK



Another day, another Fred sighting.  Like Erik said, this is actually typical behavior for him.  Becky thinks he is engaging in kitty Rumspringa where he is off enjoying the forbidden world before coming back.  I think he's trying to tick off his mom on purpose, like the rebellious teenager he is.  Either way, he is SO GROUNDED when he gets back.

The Humane Society in our area does not use or lend humane traps.  However, Charlotte Animal Control does, so I am waiting for their "Trap Officer" to return my call.

Last night, I went out to look for him and saw him sneaking off someone's porch.  He stopped and looked at me for a moment while I shook a canister of treats.  But before I could say "come here so I can feed you/capture you!" he ran away.... INTO THE SEWER.  I knew it!  Luckily, it's one that's very open so it looks like it's easy for him to get back out.  But he is getting SUCH a bath when we get him back.  

Today when we go look for him, I won't chase after him but I will vigorously rub my hands in cat nip before going out. 

Last night, it rained.  Actually, it was more like a storm.  Fred absolutely hates water - you should see him when we try to give him a bath (he almost clawed Erik in the eyeball).  So when the rain started coming down in sheets, punctuated by thunder and lightning, I was very worried about him.  I know he'd try to find somewhere dry and warm.  I hope he didn't try to crawl inside of a car engine, like my mom's cat once did.  (It was a miracle we heard him meow before we started the car.)

More rain is on the way for today and tomorrow.   Charlotte is on the outskirts of the projected path of Tropical Storm Ernesto.  When it was just a bit of rain, I was worried.  Now I am panicked.  We spent most of last night looking out the window, hoping to see another floppy-bellied silhouette.

I'm sad.

STILL MISSING, BUT THERE'S HOPE


Fred loves to sit on the tower and watch his dad.

Last night, I was passing flyers out when I got a call from someone down the street saying he just saw a cat matching Fred's description, but the cat just ran into the bushes.  I ran over there, and we spent the next 20 minutes or so calling his name and searching for him.  No luck.  There is another cat (stray or outdoor cat) who looks like Fred, but is wearing a collar, and this neighbor could not be sure if the cat he saw was wearing a collar or not.  Still, it was hopeful - the neighbor offered to put food out for him in his open garage, and I gave him two of Fred's milk rings to put out for him.  I passed out the rest of the flyers (60-70 just last night) and talked to neighbors and people walking their dogs.

Around 3 in the morning, Erik woke up and glanced out the window just in time to catch a silhouette of a tabby cat - shorthaired, short tail, big floppy belly (a sure sign of a well-fed and neutered male cat) walking along the street.  He rushed out and saw him in the road, and crept closer to him.  Erik called his name out, and the cat dashed away.  He rushed out after him, seeing him by a dumpster across the street and then bolting to the bushes.  Fearing he had scared the cat, Erik woke me up and we went creeping around the dumpster and our neighbors' bushes, shaking a bag of food and calling out his name in a way that was loud enough for a cat to respond to but quiet enough to not wake everyone.  I was worried someone would call the cops, and rightly so: "There are two people stumbling outside my window with a flashlight!"  But the cops were not called, and we never saw the cat.  I'm confident it was Fred, and it gives me hope.  This means he is alive and sticking close to home.  I put food out by that dumpster in case he was hanging out there.  This morning, that food had not been touched - but the food on our porch had definitely been eaten.  Hopefully by Fred, and not his collar-wearing doppleganger.  

Holly is still only eating her half of the food, and has become very affectionate to the point of being clingy.  She follows us if we move more than 3 feet away from her.  While it's very evident how much she misses him, E & I know that when he comes back, she'll smell him all over, sniff "Where the hell have you been?" and then go sulk in the corner.

STILL MISSING

This is one of my favorite pictures of Fred.  This morning, I took every photo I have of Fred and uploaded it to Flickr - Fred has his very own tag.  

Yesterday, E worked from home during the afternoon.  During every break, he walked around the neighborhood, calling Fred's name.  He also went to the shelter to see if he was there.  I searched the Animal Control's online pet listing of all the pets they have picked up, and registered my pet so that if one comes in fitting his description, it will alert me.  I still plan on checking the shelters, though.  We put up more flyers last night and called out his name.  We put out fresh food, water, his blanket, his favorite toy, a letter box, and the pet carrier for him to have a safe place to sleep in if he gets back and we're not here.  This morning, the food had not been touched.

We're trying to be hopeful but we can't help but miss him.  It's hard seeing his milk carton rings scattered on the floor and wonder if he'll ever be back to play with them.  Holly and Fred share the same large food bowl.  I've been putting the same amount of food in, out of habit.  But I noticed this morning that Holly is only eating her half - she's leaving the rest for her brother, and wondering why he isn't there to eat it.

MISSING


Sometime during the afternoon/evening this past Saturday, Fred got out of the house.  We noticed he wasn't around during the day on Sunday, and when we searched the house Sunday evening and realized he was not there, then we knew there was a problem.  Erik and I searched the neighborhood with flashlights and food, searching bushes, under cars, parking lots, nooks and crannies, everywhere.  We put up posters.  We left food and a blanket out on the porch for him, and tried to sleep.

This morning, one of our neighbors said he saw Fred on Saturday evening (which is how we knew about when he got out, since the last time we saw him was on Saturday afternoon).  He was sitting on the steps across from our place, probably staring and wondering why we had not opened the door yet to find him.  Our neighbor did not realize at the time he was our cat - it was only when he saw our posters that he did.

Erik is reminding me that cats are tough, and Fred has all of his claws.  He likes to get up into high places, which is one hell of a lot safer than in the middle of the road.  But I'm worried about him.  He's my little boy, the same one who cries and squeaks when I pick him up and makes a run for the door when it's open but never goes farther than 1 foot outside (until Saturday, that is).  He's a spoiled indoor cat with a big belly from all of the food I give him.  He likes to lie on my ankles, and his favorite orange blanket, and chase milk carton rings, and now he is outside and hungry and lost and scared.  And I'm scared too.