Hi all:

I'm writing via google in an Internet cafe in Killarney, Ireland.
Darn it will take a long time for this post to post!

I just got a call from my father about Otis.  He has escaped from the
cat boarding place where I had taken him.  He's been sighted multiple
times by people in the neighbourhood and my brother actually had him
in his arms at one point; however, nobody has been able to catch him
yet.  He's been gone three and a half days.

When I dropped him off, I cried uncontrollably for a long time and
kept thinking that this was the last time I was going to see him for
some reason.  I was concerned about one of the doors in the place and
told her to only let him out when that door was secured as I thought
he could pry the top open.  I was so upset after I dropped him off
that I wasn't sure what to do.  Fred told me to go back and get the
cats but instead I called the woman back and explained that, despite
what other people said about their cats, mine really was an escape
artist and that she had to be very *very* careful.  She assured me
that he would be fine and to go off and have a wonderful holiday.  I
felt so terrible about it for some reason that I wanted to go back and
get him and I DIDN'T and I AM SICK ABOUT IT.  I want to go home and
find my Otis before he moves out of the neighbourhood.  It is
surrounded by busy streets and I don't want him hit by a car or moving
on where nobody will find him.  We're travelling on points and don't
have a flexible ticket.  I'll bet it would be thousands and thousands
of dollars to get us all back to Canada.  I really want that bad
feeling that I had to be wrong.  That I will see him again.

The woman who owns the cat boarding place is in close affiliation with
one of the cat rescue places in the city.  They have given her two
traps which they have baited with tuna and towels from our house.  My
parents and brother are phoning back the people who say that Otis was
in their yard or doorstep and going to ask them to take some food and
even prop their doors open when the food is out.  They dropped off
flyers all over the neighbourhood.  The big problem is what to do with
him if they find him.  You can't carry a cat carrier around with you
while you're tracking a cat - too big and it scares the cat.  You just
can't hold Otis very long though - he's 13.5 pounds of crazy athletic
determined Siamese.  There are tons of loose cats in the neighbourhood
- I hate to think how many cats they might accidentally trap.

The ironic part is that I took the cats to the boarding place so that
I could save my family the agony of possibly losing him if Otis
wandered too far when I was gone.  Of course, the smartest thing was
to have left him at home.  I just didn't want to risk the coyotes if
the cats stayed out at night.

So, while my husband tries to put the kids to bed, I have run out to
the Internet place to see if I could possibly ask for some purrs and
prayers for little Otis to get back safely.  I know that I've asked a
lot from you lately.  You're such a powerful group - you helped me get
him back last year, which was a miraculous story.  I really need him
back.  I need him to be safe and at my house.  Purrs might also be
needed by the owner of the cat place - my father says that she's close
to collapse and hasn't slept in three nights.  When I called her
before I left, I was actually crying, saying that I couldn't bear to
lose him again and to please be careful.

Thank you and blessings,

Susan M
Otis and Chester