Just about a week ago, our sweet little cat, Jabie, disappeared from our Bay View home. Maybe one of us left the patio door open a bit, I’m not sure. But after hours upon hours of walking the neighborhood, taping up posters and talking to every stranger we see, she’s still nowhere to be found.
Jabie’s never run away before, and my last experience with a missing animal was before Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. This time around it’s so different.
Even though Jabie remains elusive, I’m incredibly moved by the response we’ve seen on social media. Friends and strangers alike have shared her photos and done their best to chip in. It’s a reminder that our neighborhood really cares, even when they don’t know me or my family or my missing cat. Even if Jabie doesn’t come, I know this community has tried its best.
Still, I’m not giving up hope. Jabie is microchipped and healthy and has all of her claws. We’re told that runaway indoor cats stay close to home (we’re in the Fernwood area of Bay View – close to the lake, just south of Oklahoma), so I’ve left food on the deck, as well as blankets and chairs and clothes that are familiar to her.
Assuming she’s not lost or injured or worse, she can come home whenever she’s ready. I just hope that’s soon.
We’re checking MADACC every day, and our friends at the Wisconsin Humane Society have reposted our many Facebook messages. People who follow me on Twitter (and those who don’t) have retweeted our Craigslist ad. Children in the neighborhood have been on the lookout, too.
It’s a very sad time for our family, although really, our young daughter is taking Jabie’s disappearance better than my wife and I have. We’ve had Jabie for 11 years – we adopted her when she was a stray the first time around – and while she’s not a young cat, she’s not an old one, either.
I just want to know.
But based on Milwaukee’s generous and overwhelming offers of assistance, you already know that. And you understand how we feel.
A pet, especially such a loving little cat, is a member of the family, and I won’t give up trying to find her. Of course, please let me know if you see Jabie. I already appreciate your help, Milwaukee. If you find her, I’ll be eternally grateful.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
