Missing Astrid

We found half a dozen or so tiny bundles in a pen, some already spoken for. Scarcely had we approached than a grey streak rocketed up the mesh, to cling on like some oversized fly and stare at us with eyes like golden orbs. I was smitten.

At floor level, a miniature princess sat quietly, paws tucked under. Off-white coat, blue nose, paws and tail. Simply beautiful. Cathy and I were both hooked.

Both were available and a cuddle apiece delivered the coup de grace. Then so tiny that both fitted into a cat carrier with room to spare, their characters came through from day one. Her pedigree name of Astrid suited the princess, but the grey rocket was no Aurora. With a deep blue-grey coat suffused with peach blushes, she was instantly Peaches.

They grew into beautiful, gentle creatures, very loving and much loved.

A few days before Christmas 2008, Cathy found a lump on Astrid’s face near her whiskers. An operation was set for early January.

I picked up Astrid mid-afternoon, still a bit woozy from the anaesthetic and sporting a plastic bell collar to prevent her scratching the wound. A constant rattling from the cat carrier on the way home was an enraged cat trying to rid herself of the hated collar.

Once home, she was visibly distressed, banging into furniture with the edge of the collar, its rim outside her peripheral vision and her whiskers now useless as a distance measure. She made a number of really spirited attempts to get through the locked catflap.

But she calmed down and snoozed on the spare bed. When we retired at around 10pm, she was sprawled on an area of the hall tiles warmed by the heating pipes.

Come 6am next morning, we found the catflap broken and Astrid gone. In pitch darkness and a penetrating frost, we trawled the barn and the cowshed nearby that are her favourite haunts, calling her name, but without success. Common sense said she had gone to hide somewhere, but our real concern was that she had injured herself breaking the flap and that the bandage anchoring the collar might strangle her.

We looked again in daylight, nothing. Cathy spoke to the cowman, who promised to keep his eyes peeled. I e-mailed all my fellow volunteers at the village shop, giving a description and attaching a recent photo of Astrid. I placed a notice in the shop itself, complete with photo. We received a very warm and supportive response from so many people and actually found one couple out searching for Astrid themselves.

We already knew Lou Tyack of the Cats’ Protection League through her help with two feral cats. A call to Lou in Milton-under-Wychwood was invaluable, doing much to calm my wife’s fears that Astrid had run away, never to be seen again.

Lou told her that Astrid would hide, probably in a favourite spot or in someone’s shed or garage, and try to ditch the collar. Once the cat had either succeeded in removing the collar or calmed down, she would come home.

Being a very healthy cat, she could weather a few days away provided she had access to water in puddles or streams. Lou also told us to contact everyone in the village that we could and ask them to search garages and sheds. We leafleted our street.

We called the Blue Cross rescue centre at Burford to register our absent puss and our vet circulated details to local surgeries.

I went online to the Oxfordshire RSPCA, to find a wealth of help and advice. I immediately registered Astrid on the RSPCA’s lost and found register and the online National Pet Register. Both registers can be checked to see if your pet has been found. The RSPCA website also offers an extensive list of online lost and found registers for all pets.

I was delighted to find that the website has a lovely lady called Katherine monitoring it and she e-mailed me twice with queries and helpful advice.

Our cats always stay close to home, so have never been microchipped. Pets that have gone AWOL can jump into vans and cars to be discovered miles away. Without a chip, reuniting pet with owner can be problematic. Chipping costs about £25 at your vet; the Oxfordshire RSPCA holds chipping events around the county at a cost of £10 per pet. It is now chip time chez Wild.

There are numerous animal rescue centres in the UK, just type ‘animal rescue’ into your Internet search engine to bring up websites with lists and contact details.

If you have pet insurance, it may well contribute to the costs of searching for a missing pet.

By nightfall, no Astrid, and we spent a sleepless night, tuned to the slightest noise or the outside lights being triggered. Cats are truly sensitive to problems and Peaches moped and refused to eat because her sister was missing.

Lou Tyack had stressed that we should continually search favourite haunts and call Astrid’s name to remind her we were there, so on Day Two, we did exactly that.

And, at 3.30pm, a slightly bedraggled but otherwise unharmed Astrid walked down the path and we unashamedly shed a few tears of joy. The dreaded collar was still hanging round her neck, but split in two and resembling a child’s bib. The state of her coat and the smell were proof that she had been holed up in the cowshed. Once fed and watered, she gave herself a complete spring clean and slept the clock round.

A beloved pet going missing is a traumatic experience and panic a very natural reaction. The sooner you start the search process, the stronger your chances of finding the animal. Friends and neighbours are the best starting point, as it is likely that your pet is still in the area, but outside organisations like Cats’ Protection and the RSPCA are invaluable sources of expert help and support.

Thank you everybody, you were just wonderful.