By DALE BRAKHAGE / Community Columnist

Have cats mysteriously vanished from your neighborhood? At least 10 pet cats disappeared from two neighborhoods in Indian Springs lately. They were not wild cats, but domestic cats, house pets with collars, rabies tags and families that loved them.

Prissy was first. She was 11 years old, one of three house cats belonging to John and Katrina Blackwell. They live off McGuire Road. Prissy was not a roaming animal, so the next day Katrina put up “Missing Cat” signs throughout Indian Springs. Sadly, after a week Prissy was obviously gone.

One week later, and less than a half mile away, Beth and Buddy Heerton lost their pet cat. They live off Miller Circle. Beth reported, “Our cat just vanished.”

In the month of May, five cats disappeared from houses on her block. Beth said, “Some of those cats were very streetwise; yet they vanished without a trace. No one heard anything. No one found a fluff of hair, blood or any sign of them.”

Back at the Blackwells, their two other cats disappeared in June.

“We believe something came onto the land and scared away our cats, Thomas and Jojo,” speculated Katrina. “Coyotes, or something. Thomas would have never left our property.”

There is a glad/sad/glad ending, however, to the Thomas and Jojo story. They came back. After four days of being gone, Thomas came home; but he had a crushed pelvis. Thomas had no other injuries, but the cat was hurt so dreadfully he had to be put to sleep. Two days after that, Jojo returned, freaked out but uninjured. That was a difficult week emotionally for Katrina, John and their two young sons.

The same month, another family on the same street lost two well-loved and cared-for house cats.

In the June 29 issue of The Village Voice, our Indian Springs Newsletter, Mayor Steve Zerkis mentioned missing cats. He gave good advice about keeping pets safe.

Is it coyotes? There seem to be fewer this year, but some have been seen.

The mystery remains. If anyone knows what happened to the cats, please e-mail this columnist.

 

Dale Brakhage writes a weekly column about Indian Springs and its residents. You can reach him at dale@dalebrakhage.com.