Jules the Cat

Sunday March 8, 2009

Jules, a flamepoint or red point Siamese cat, ran away from home August 23, 2008. He left unintentionally. He had been hiding in the basement, and Joseph's band had a rehearsal, and band members left the basement doors open for a half hour. Jules saw his chance and ran outside.

Jules is declawed front and back. He had never been outside. He did not know where he was. I think he was in a panic from all the guys coming in the basement and making noise. He got outside and he just ran.

He did not mean to leave home.

Nobody missed him for at least 24 hours since he frequently disappeared within the house for long periods of time, hiding.

I assumed that since he was declawed, he was dead. I didn't even look for him for a couple of weeks. Then I did start looking, and posted signs in many places, including telephone poles on my street and on the streets on either side of my street, and at local animal hospitals and the Pound.

I looked for a few weeks then I gave up.

Meanwhile,

Jules found his way to Chetwood Place, which is about 5 blocks from my house. He hung around by a house with a dryer vent, which helped him keep warm. Somebody fed him from time to time. Also he stalked squirrels and probably ate bugs.

In the beginning of October 2008 I asked the Lord Arthur for magical help in finding Jules. So he did a spell that Jules will be found.

Cynthia F. was on that street, why I don't know, but she saw him and she trapped him around Halloween, mainly because she noticed he was shivering. She also worried that the Halloween revelers would frighten him.

After she captured him, she saw an ad on Petfinder describing a lost cat. The description matched Jules 100% except that the lost cat was in Bergen County.

Cynthia persuaded herself that the Bergen County cat could have hitched a ride to Union County and gotten lost. She contacted the ad poster and persuaded him - Tony - that she had his cat. Tony came down in person to pick up the cat.

When Jules saw Tony, he peed all over Cynthia's kitchen. Jules is afraid of men.
Cynthia had some misgivings and wondered privately if Tony abused Jules.
But, she let Tony have the cat.
Jules did not act pleased to see Tony. Instead he was afraid and traumatized.

Tony got Jules home to his palatial mansion in Washington Twp. and gave Jules his very own room, with queen size bed, toys, food and water and his private kitty litter box, and four windows with ledges.

Every time Tony tried to approach Jules, Jules would attack.

Inside of a week Tony knew Jules was not his cat and he wrote Cynthia and told her so.
Tony wanted to capture Jules and give him back to Cynthia. However, Jules would not hold still and Tony was unable to return Jules.

Then around the holidays, maybe January 1, 2009, the mailman came to Tony's house to make a delivery. The door was open. Jules dashed out the door and Tony never saw him again.

I don't think Tony looked for Jules.
Tony thinks Jules is mean.

We don't know anything about Jules in January 2009 other than that he was traveling east.

During February 2009 Jules took up residence by a house on Fern Street in Washington Twp., 2 miles from Tony's house and across the Garden State Parkway. These people fed Jules twice a day and gave him a little cat hut outside their front door. They basically left him alone and he felt comfy there. They KNEW he belonged to somebody and felt sure I would show up one day to claim him, and fed him faithfully.

Meanwhile,

At Wickked Faire on Feb. 21 or 22, Lord Arthur asked me how was my cat doing? Did I ever find him? I said No, I had never found him.

Then on Wednesday Feb. 25, Cynthia F. was at the Fanwood Animal Hospital. While there, she saw my sign about Jules being missing. As she looked at the picture of Jules she realized she had made a Big Mistake. She knew the cat in the picture was the cat she had trapped and delivered to Tony, 30 miles from home. The people at the Animal Hospital told her what an idiot she was.

Cynthia called me up and told me about my cat. She gave me contact information for Tony. I wrote Tony and he did not reply. I wrote his ex-girlfriend, who was very sure the cat Cynthia gave Tony was Tony's cat Elvis. She sent me a picture of Elvis but that cat did not look like Jules.

Meanwhile Cynthia sent me some pictures she had taken of Jules before she trapped him. These pictures looked just like Jules to me.

The ex-girlfriend got Tony's sister Sharon to write me. Sharon told me that Jules had escaped from Tony's house a couple months ago. Sharon told me exactly where to go look for Jules.

I went there on March 1, with some old Jules signs, and put the signs up, and handed out flyers to residents all around Tony's house. I skipped Tony's house deliberately.

Nobody had seen Jules.

I contacted the Lord Arthur and told him Jules was alive and could he please do another spell so I could find Jules. Arthur did a life reconstruction spell, which forces good things to happen in my life, especially bringing Jules back into it.

I printed out some new Jules flyers with an updated picture, and got 100 copies of it laminated on Friday. Then I took those posters and on Friday night March 6 I put them up on telephone poles on Wierimus Road, and also put fliers in every mailbox. I found a cat sanctuary pretty far down Wierimus Road, and hoped Jules had found it too, since they have heat lamps and they feed animals nightly. One of the people there suggested I put a tattoo on Jules for ID purposes. I plan to actually do this.

Toria did a spirit connection with Jules, probably on March 1. She connected to him spiritually and related to me what he was experiencing. It was a cold night and she said he was running around very cold. Toria predicted that I would go to Bergen County two more times and find Jules.

This prediction came true.

On Friday night March 6 I went there and put up all those posters.

Then on Saturday March 7 I went back and put up more posters, 8 hours worth of tramping around the area, five-block radius to the west of Tony's house.

When I got home, around 5 PM, there were messages waiting for me on my phone. Somebody, I think the sister, of the people that feed Jules, had driven along Wierimus and seen the poster and recognized the cat, and told the people and brought them my phone number. They called me and said they were 100% sure they had found my cat.

I immediately went up there, feeling like life is incredible and miracles are happening to me, and I saw Jules. It's him all right. He would not come to me. So I left, after talking to Jules for a while.

Last night Toria dreamed Jules is here in our house.

This morning, Cynthia and I went up there and arrived by 7 AM, Jules usual morning feeding time. He was around. I got there first. I went and talked to him. He closed his eyes at me, very tranquil, like he was saying I know you, I trust you. But, he would not approach.

Then Cynthia arrived. She had her dog in the car and her dog barked very loudly. Jules freaked out and ran away. Cynthia set up the three Have a Heart traps, baited them with tunafish, and then I persuaded her to leave - she had wanted to sit and wait, but I didn't think that was such a good idea.

I left too.

The people - who are extremely nice people - told me that around 12 or 1 PM, Jules walked into one of the traps, part of the way, ate some tuna, then backed out of the trap.

They have refreshed the bait. They are not feeding him anymore. They will call me when he gets caught. They have spoken to a veterinarian friend of theirs for tips on trapping him.

They are sure, and I am pretty confident, that he will get trapped soon. Wherever I am when I get the call, I will drop what I am doing and go get him.

During the day today, Tony wrote me a bunch of times. We had a regular correspondence. He sent me four pictures of his cat Elvis. His cat looks exactly like Jules. Exactly.

However, I was able to determine one difference between the two cats. Jules has a knob on the end of his tail. Elvis does not.

If it turns out the cat is Elvis - which I am sure it is not Elvis - I will deliver the cat to Tony.

Today I bought a cat harness and leash. My plan is to take Jules out from time to time, on the leash, and teach him where he lives. That way, if he runs away again, he will be able to find home.

Also, I plan to hold him every day, and asked Toria to do same. Jules is difficult because he has not been held enough.

Also, I will get him tattooed. I think my home phone number should be tattooed on him, either on his ear or on his inner thigh.

And of course once I get hold of him he is going to the vet to get a thorough checkup.

The suspense is killing me.....

I have really enjoyed the incredible delight of seeing magic at work in my world. Watching spells work out, prayers come to fruition, the reward of persistence - it has been wonderful.

Monday March 9, 2009

Denouement

Today I was up on time and all dressed and ready to go to work, ON TIME, so I figured that meant all hell will break loose today (god forbid I should ever get there on time!!)

Sure enough, at 8 AM, the phone rang. It was the people in Bergen County - Jules had finally walked into the trap. They had put sardines in it rather than tuna, and they also put newspaper on the "floor" of the trap because kitties don't like the feel of metal.

That did the trick.

I took the day off from work, and went up to fetch him as fast as I could. Naturally today was a rainy day, so that made travel slow, plus I had to navigate rush hour morning traffic, which is always killer on the Parkway northbound. While I was on the way there, I called the animal hospital and made an appointment for Jules.

Picked him up from the people in Bergen County, tried to give them reward$$ but they would not let me give them money (hah! just wait til Christmas!!) They gave me the rest of the Meow Mix they had been feeding Jules with - they didn't need it, and since I feed feral cats twice a day, I can use it. I would not give Meow Mix to Jules or Mr. Snuggles (my other cat).

Took Jules home, brought him into the bathroom and shut the door, and let him out of the trap. He acclimated to me very fast and within a few minutes was sitting in my lap snoozing.

I felt on his tail - he has the knob or lump at the very end of it. Also he has a black dot on the tip end of his nose, very small black dot. Tony's ex-girlfriend had pointed out the dot to me as a distinguishing mark, I had never thought of it as such before but I do now. Elvis - Tony's cat - does not have a black dot on the tip end of his nose.

I put a collar and leash on him and we went around the house for a bit. My plan is to get him used to being collared and leashed, and I will take him for walks.

Took him to the vet to get him checked over. They found Nothing Wrong with him. He has gained 2 pounds. He has a worn off patch of fur on his throat; they checked for ringworm but the light did not turn green. However, on suspicion of ringworm, they gave me lotion to treat him with twice a day and I have to isolate him for 3 weeks til the culture they took of a few hairs from his throat is completed. If he has ringworm, he can infect Mr. Snuggles, and me, and Joe and Toe, and the whole house. So he stays isolated.

They also gave him rabies shot, distemper, feline leukemia shots, and they took blood and will check him for FIV and whatever else they check for. They gave him a flea pill, and they put flea stuff on the back of his neck - he has flea dirt on him but i have not seen any fleas.

They advised me to wash my hands frequently.

I have to bring in a stool sample asap so they can check for worms and parasites.

So then we went to Petco, he stayed in the car - I bought him a little cat bed, and a bowl, and a harness and a collar (got a leash yesterday). He is wearing the old red collar that I had laying around. He got used to it pretty fast. The leash kind of freaked him a little but not too bad.

I put the spare litter box in the upstairs bathroom, and the cat bed, and water bowl and food bowl, and opened the stepstool up, and put him in the upstairs bathroom. I sat with him for a while and he was very snuggly lap cat.

Speaking of snuggling, Mr. Snuggles, my other cat, is highly pissed off about Jules. He hissed at me probably because my hand smelled of Jules whom I had been patting. He put his catnip toy (Joseph's sock stuffed with catnip) in his food dish. I figured that was a form of protest. I threw out his toy. Joseph is going to need more socks -

Now I just have to wait, and keep patting the cat.