"Tabitha," Grey Tabby, DSH, San Rafael

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Search details:

Tabitha is a five year old, indoor only, 15 pound, brown and black tabby DSH. When she went missing she was not wearing a collar and it was unknown if she was wearing a microchip because they had recently in the last month received Tabitha from a close friend who had passed away. 

Tabitha was seen at 4:30 AM on Saturday September 21st, running out of the back sliding door, being chased by the small dog in the home. Even after numerous searches and flyers all over the neighborhood, there were no sightings of Tabitha. We came out on the following Saturday, the 28th. 

After checking the yard and checking the surrounding neighborhood, Dino indicated that Tabitha's scent went into the open garage and he was frantic about jumping up onto and around the washer/dryer. They did say that the garage door is frequently left open for long periods since they live in a very safe neighborhood. Both me and the cat's person were searching in all the bins and shelves and drawers around the washer/dryer, but we couldn't find anything. I backed up a little to get a better viewpoint, and suddenly I saw what appeared to be a very large opening in the wall at the point where the wall and roof meet. The cat's person said that they had to create the hole to do some work on the roof a couple of months ago, but that it had not been covered up yet. From the floor to the hole in the roof, there was a series of shelves and bins that a cat easily could have hopped up onto and then into the hole and disappeared into the large space of the roof.

After clearing away all the items from the shelving, her husband was able to put a trap into the large space. This was one of two traps they had been using outside, in hopes of catching Tabitha. It was unclear whether there was a connection from this part of the roof over the garage to the rest of the house over the bedrooms. They said they would check and maybe put the second trap in the area of the second trap door near the bedrooms. 

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Name: Tabitha San Rafael
Activity type: walking
Description: -
Total distance: 1.12 km (0.7 mi)
Total time: 1:00:11
Moving time: 17:57
Average speed: 1.12 km/h (0.7 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 3.74 km/h (2.3 mi/h)
Max speed: 5.05 km/h (3.1 mi/h)
Average pace: 53:44 min/km (86:29 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 16:02 min/km (25:49 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 11:52 min/km (19:07 min/mi)
Max elevation: 9 m (31 ft)
Min elevation: -3 m (-9 ft)
Elevation gain: 30 m (100 ft)
Max grade: 9 %
Min grade: -5 %
Recorded: 9/28/2013 3:26pm

"Little Cookie," DSH, Siamese/Tabby Mix, Oakland - Found!

Found in Less Than 15 Minutes!

I received the following letter from Cookie's mom after the search:

"Hi Jackie---

Hope you and Dino are well.  

Please feel free to use it as well as the picture of Little Cookie and me on your website.

Eternal thanks to you and Dino :]

I am happy to be a reference for you, and to personally speak to, text or email with any prospective clients of yours. :]

Lauren

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I have nothing but the highest praise for Jackie and Dino. 

 My cat Little Cookie had fallen out a window when her claw got stuck in the window screen. Cookie, a strictly indoor kitty, is extremely shy and hides from most people, including my husband (although she is extremely attached to me[and I am to her!] and is continuously at my side, on my lap, in my bed, etc...) 

 Even though I knew she was almost undoubtedly on my property or close by (a freaked out indoor cat like Cookie will find the closest, best hiding spot and not move no matter what), and I had begun to search for her outside, I truly felt there was NO hope whatsoever of finding her, that I was searching in vain, and the tragedy of this would be absolutely heartbreaking for me, and how would I ever recover from losing Little Cookie. If she gets freaked out and hides very well*indoors* it would absolutely be impossible to find her outside when she is undoubtedly multiple times as freaked out as she’s ever been in her life indoors.

After some research on the internet, I found Jackie. Responding promptly to my phone call, she thoroughly gathered information from me over the phone and was able to schedule the search for that same day.  She arrived on time, was up front and couldn’t have been clearer about her rate structure, her work process, and what my job needed to be in this situation. She was very focused on the work at hand and totally knew exactly what she was doing as we gathered samples of Little Cookie’s scent from places in my house. 

Dino was super happy to be searching.  :] although he was extremely excited, Jackie kept him controlled and focused.  In 15 minutes or so, we honed in on a particular spot on my property.  Frankly, I truly thought Dino (and Jackie) were mistaken, about this spot.  Honestly I was a bit frustrated at their focus on this spot, and was aggravated that Jackie was persisting in asking me to move things so that Dino could have better access to this tight spot. (I may have even tried to discourage her!) She was saying that Dino was extraordinarily focused on this spot, even for him. And then to my utterly BLOWN MIND, I spotted Little Cookie in that very spot we were exploring.  I was humbled and shocked!! I just could not get over that she was found and in less than 30 minutes!! That Dino and Jackie were my very last hope of finding her and that they did was just the most mind blowing and relieving thing-- I was nothing short of absolutely stunned and more grateful than I can put into words.

I highly, highly recommend Jackie and Dino and shall always sing their praises and have tremendous gratitude to them.

lauren schneider
www.wonderlandgarden.com
510.914.2772

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Search details:

Cookie is a four year old, petite, 10 pound, indoor only, female DSH tabby/siamese mix. She went missing by accident at around 7:30 AM this morning, when she fell from a second story window after the screen came loose. When she went missing, she was not wearing a collar and she was not microchipped. 

There were no sightings of her after she went missing, even after an extensive search of the yard and surrounding neighborhood. 

I received a call around 12:31 PM asking to come help to look for her. I was there by 2:30 PM. 

After showing Dino the scent article, we first checked two vehicles on the property in the front of the house in case she was hiding in one of the cars, which was an oversized and raised truck with no shell. Dino said she was not there. From there we went to the back of the house, where four loose and feral cats lived on the property. The yard was a standard sized urban backyard, maybe 30 feet long by 30 feet wide, high fences and inside the yard was a lot of potted plants and an extensive organized wooden plank pile that was from ground to the height of the fence and maybe 15 feet long. After checking the perimeter of the fence and a hole in the base of one of the fences that led to a neighbor's yard, I saw from the corner of my eye a petite but leggy cat run from the middle of the yard to the plank pile. Cookie's mom thought it was one of the feral cats, but I decided to take Dino there to have him check. 

I took Dino to the location where I saw the cat run to and Dino frantically started to get deeper inside the pile, scratching at tree stumps and an old BBQ. We had to move several large cut and trimmed tree stumps stored underneath, along with several potted plants. I was also getting poked by other cactus plants. Dino barely had room to squeeze in, but he frantically pushed himself in. Cookie's mom said that she did see one of the feral cats on one of the levels of the plank pile and thought Dino was trying to get to that cat. But, I knew that Dino would not really care about another cat, but he would care if he smelled the cat we were looking for. I asked if we could continue to look through the pile and move some more items. 

Within one minute, Cookie's mom shouted, "I see Cookie! She is wedged down behind a large pot." I pulled Dino out of the search pile and held him with me while Cookie's mom pulled away pots one by one and pushed herself down to where she could reach her. She was about 10 feet to my left. After about another minute, she pulled Cookie out of the wood pile and held her close. She quickly went into the house to let Cookie loose.

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Name: Little Cookie Oakland
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 0.10 km (0.1 mi)
Total time: 34:59
Moving time: 01:29
Average speed: 0.18 km/h (0.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 4.22 km/h (2.6 mi/h)
Max speed: 4.22 km/h (2.6 mi/h)
Average pace: 334:30 min/km (538:20 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 14:14 min/km (22:54 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 14:14 min/km (22:54 min/mi)
Max elevation: 0 m (0 ft)
Min elevation: -5 m (-16 ft)
Elevation gain: 5 m (16 ft)
Max grade: 0 %
Min grade: 0 %
Recorded: 9/24/2013 3:27pm

"Shoe," DSH, Black and White, Mountain View

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search details:

Shoe is a three year old, 14 pound, indoor/outdoor, white with black DSH. He has extra toes on his front paws, which makes his paws appear very large.

When he went missing he was not wearing a collar, but he is microchipped. 

Shoe was last seen by his person inside his yard on Friday evening. He was seen the next day by  a neighbor inside the apartment complex at 9AM and at 9 PM the same day by another neighbor. He was also seen Sunday afternoon in the afternoon by the apartment manager. Shoe's person sent out a phone alert to the surrounding neighborhoods, which triggered another sighting of Shoe the following Wednesday morning several blocks away. Shoe's person went to the neighborhood, put up flyers and walked around looking for him, but did not see him. 

We came out the following Friday. We started the search from that sighting on Wednesday and we did find Shoe's scent. The track zig zagged around the surrounding area, eventually coming back to same neighborhood, and out again. 

The search was stopped at the four hour mark per Shoe's person. She said she would continue to look for him.

My belief is that Shoe was chased out of the area by a loose animal, like a dog or big raccoon. Shoe was well known in the area, and didn't appear to have any enemies. He had lived in the area for over three years and it appears he always got along with other animals. 

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Created by Google My Tracks on Android.

Name: Shoe Mountain View
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 12.14 km (7.5 mi)
Total time: 3:45:30
Moving time: 2:09:19
Average speed: 3.23 km/h (2.0 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 5.63 km/h (3.5 mi/h)
Max speed: 65.70 km/h (40.8 mi/h)
Average pace: 18:35 min/km (29:54 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 10:39 min/km (17:09 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0:55 min/km (1:28 min/mi)
Max elevation: 21 m (67 ft)
Min elevation: -12 m (-40 ft)
Elevation gain: 220 m (720 ft)
Max grade: 18 %
Min grade: -11 %
Recorded: 9/13/2013 8:21am

"Marley," Siamese, Seal Point, Antioch

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Search details:

Marley is a indoor only, two year old seal point Siamese. When he went missing he was wearing a collar with ID tag, but he is not microchipped. 

Marley was last seen inside the house at 7 AM on a Tuesday when his person went to work. She said she came home at noon for lunch, but did not see him. When she arrived home later in the day, she looked again, but did not see him. 

Marley does have access to the small suburban back yard, and the other cat in the house is indoor/outdoor. 

They had recently moved to the house within the last two months, and the previous home was an apartment, where Marley had no access to the outside. 

There were no sightings of Marley after he went missing.

We performed the search the following Thursday.

After showing the surrounding area to Dino, which was extensive due to the multiple roads out of the neighborhood, plus the several trailheads to open space in the neighborhood, Dino found the track leading out of the neighborhood. 

The track was very straight and purposeful and continued like that for a couple of miles. Suddenly the track bolted off the to left and onto a trail and behind a bunch of houses, eventually coming out onto another trail. The track would eventually lead throughout numerous neighborhoods  and shopping centers and schools. 

The search was stopped by Marley's person at the four hour mark. 

My guess is that Marley was picked up somewhere in the large vicinity of where we checked around the house. It is unknown exactly where he was picked up. He could be in a vehicle or being carried. Delivery truck like UPS or USPS are common, or Marley's person thought it might have been a high school student who was walking through the neighborhood on their way home. However, it does appear that he got away from this vehicle or person and was then running loose by himself for quite some time.

They said they would continue to look for Marley. 

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Created by Google My Tracks on Android.

Name: Marley Antioch
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 9.93 km (6.2 mi)
Total time: 3:32:34
Moving time: 1:59:44
Average speed: 2.80 km/h (1.7 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 4.98 km/h (3.1 mi/h)
Max speed: 7.37 km/h (4.6 mi/h)
Average pace: 21:24 min/km (34:27 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 12:04 min/km (19:24 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 8:08 min/km (13:06 min/mi)
Max elevation: 77 m (252 ft)
Min elevation: 25 m (82 ft)
Elevation gain: 226 m (742 ft)
Max grade: 12 %
Min grade: -16 %
Recorded: 9/12/2013 11:52am

"Baby," Siamese/Tabby Mix, DSH, Scotts Valley

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Search details:

Baby is an indoor only, declawed, eleven year old, DSH, Siamese/tabby mix. When she went missing she was not wearing a collar, but she is microchipped. 

She escaped out the front door by accident at 7 AM on a Saturday while the person was taking trash outside, and was seen briefly underneath the front stairs by Baby's person (the wife), but then the person went back into the house without attempting to catch Baby. Per Baby's person (the husband), who was asleep when all this happened, at least an hour or more went by before a search for Baby was performed.

After she went missing there were no sightings of her.

We arrived the following Tuesday for the search.

The search area was a suburban area, but many of the houses, including Baby's were built on sides of cliffs and hillsides. After doing an extensive check of the area to find the track leading out, we found it leading away from the house, around a corner, down to the end of the main street and then eventually all the way into downtown Scotts Valley. 

By the time we got to the downtown area, I was convinced that Baby had been picked up and carried to the area, probably in a vehicle. It was certainly not the track of a loose, lost and scared cat. It was very purposeful.

Once we got to the downtown area, the track led into a large and fenced nursery. After getting permission to enter, Dino followed the track all around both the inside buildings and outside nursery areas. Eventually Dino found the track leading out of the nursery and then it went scattered all over the neighborhood like a loose and lost cat. This continued for another hour, eventually leading into a large mobile home park and out the front. At this point, the search was stopped by Baby's person at the four hour mark. 

To me it appears that somewhere on her street, which was long and winding, up to the next block where the track took off from, Baby was picked up and carried away by an unknown person, but my best guess is that this person had a connection to the nursery in some way. The nursery already was putting out bowls of food inside for cats allowed to run loose, so I think this person thought Baby was a stray since flyers for Baby did not go up until after 24 hours of her being missing, and she was not wearing a collar. I think that sometime between the time when Baby was last seen by the wife, she took off and was hiding in the neighborhood and not found by them.

Unfortunately, when Baby was taken to the nursery, due to the track going all over the nursery, Baby eventually took off from there and was then running loose in the neighborhood which was predominately industrial business parks, with the highway running parallel. 

The husband, who accompanied me on the search, said they would continue to look for Baby. 

Name: Baby Scotts Valley
Activity type: walking
Description: -
Total distance: 8.57 km (5.3 mi)
Total time: 3:44:58
Moving time: 1:56:45
Average speed: 2.29 km/h (1.4 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 4.40 km/h (2.7 mi/h)
Max speed: 6.05 km/h (3.8 mi/h)
Average pace: 26:15 min/km (42:14 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 13:37 min/km (21:55 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 9:55 min/km (15:57 min/mi)
Max elevation: 254 m (834 ft)
Min elevation: 157 m (516 ft)
Elevation gain: 211 m (692 ft)
Max grade: 16 %
Min grade: -14 %
Recorded: 9/10/2013 8:30am