One of my cats is missing :(

My friend of some eight years, Ellie, a female tortoiseshell American shorthair, decided to take a trip outside last week. She'd darted out a few times since we moved, and apparently she did so without me noticing for once. She was last seen on Wednesday, June 1st, in a yard just next door; unfortunately one of the residents let their giant Schnauzers out, who chased my cat out of their yard in the direction away from my own.



I've handed out and placed in neighborhood mailboxes some three dozen flyers, contacted animal control, cat rescue, local vets, walked the block or greater neighborhood at dawn or dusk a few times, put out food, treats, tuna, my worn clothes. No sign of her so far. I'm holding out hope however.

Ellie is the first pet who was ever 100% mine; I saved her from being euthanized due to being too young/too small to care for in a shelter at the age of ~3 weeks or so, after my good friend (and recent Dad! congrats again!) Aldwin Maloto rescued her on a hot day, abandoned in the parking lot outside his aparmtent.

She's my #1 buddy and has never shown as much pleasure and comfort as the times she's curled up in my arms, on my chest -- not a people cat. I've had her a year and a half or two longer than my other cat, Dagwood, and I've had her quite a bit longer than my dog, Nick. She's been with me through six moves; three apartments, three houses, three cities, two states. She's been with me in some of my near-worst times, and some of my best times.

She's a bit of a scaredy cat, not particularly amicable toward people she doesn't know. She's probably hiding under someone's deck or in someone's shed right now. I really hope she hasn't been hit by a car or had something else violent happen to her ... and I fear that if she hasn't been hurt, that she'd never be comfortable and happy in another home. Maybe that's partially ego ... I don't know, but in the end, I just want her home again, but if that can't be, I just hope she's safe and happy.

bamboo Dog Toys

I am constantly hunting for toys that my dog can't destroy in mere minutes or hours. I recently discovered bamboo dog toys which go by the assurance, "Battle Tested."

I had high hopes for the Combat Extreme Toss 'n' Pull:



When it arrived, my first assessment was good -- the tennis ball might be flakey, but the toy itself is heavy duty nylon, the kind of stuff you find in sporting and hiking goods. My dog proved too much for the toy, however.

A ~2 year old Lab/Shepherd mix who loves to chew, he has jaws of steel -- in under ten minutes, the tennis ball was shredded. In under an hour, he had managed to puncture the nylon, poly fill flying everywhere. The seam near the rope started to burst not long after. Since that day, I have to say though, no new punctures have been added, nor has the original puncture been extended as much as I would have thought. Poly fill continues to appear round my home however.

Still hunting the everlasting doggie gobstopper, I turned again to bamboo, and their Combat Big Kahuna:



My dog has a history of destroying the squeaker in any squeaky toy. The Big Kahuna is no exception -- I think the squeakiness went away within the first 24 hours. More happily, however, my dog has not managed to puncture this toy -- no poly fill mess to clean up.

The dog loves both toys, so I suppose they were worth the money, but I'd rather keep my dog happy without a mess ... and if anyone can point me in the direction of heavy duty squeak toys that actually LAST, please do! I've been through a number of types and brands, with mixed results at best.