09/22/2025
❤️🐱’GOTCHA AGAIN’ DAY🐱❤️
This is a tale of love, persistence and hope for anyone whose cat has gone missing:
A few years ago John and Vanessa came to adopt two kitties from us and while John was attracted to Eliza’s friendliness, Vanessa didn’t see any cat but the big, orange furball that was Nacho! And Nacho, who let very few people near him, was equally taken with Vanessa! He even reached out for her when she stopped rubbing him! 🥹 Yup, he was OBSESSED with her! It was, quite simply, an amazing ’Gotcha Day’ for the two tightly bonded kitties!
Fast forward over two years later and Nacho, who was still Vanessa’s special boy, got out of the house! What followed was a tale of patience on Vanessa’s and John’s part and a refusal to give up on getting Nacho home!🥹 And we are beyond thrilled to say that after SIX incredibly long weeks, they have their boy back!😻
Here’s Nacho’s story, along with some insight into what happens when an indoor cat gets outside;
If an indoor kitty isn’t caught quickly, they will go into something called survival mode. That’s where their instincts kick in and, in order to survive, they see everyone and everything as a threat…including their loved owners. Therefore, the cat will hide away, sometimes for days on end. When they start to move around, it is typically after dark when it gets quieter. Walking around after dark and shaking a bag of treats, shining a flashlight into any small space a cat may hide (hoping to catch a reflection of their eyes), or quietly sitting on your steps and calling their name may help you find them, since one bit of good news is that indoor cats typically won’t move very far from their home. But oftentimes, cats will need to be trapped, which is how Vanessa and John caught Nacho.
Timeline:
Aug. 8th - Nacho gets out of the house and is last seen running around a corner and out of sight. Vanessa does a Facebook post asking people to keep an eye open for him. She makes sure all her neighbours know to watch for him. Meanwhile, Eliza is lost without her bestie and is wandering around the house crying for Nacho.💔
Aug. 9th - Vanessa lets us know Nacho is missing, we post about it on our page and give her some advice. Vanessa and John start setting a wire trap: alternating baiting it with tuna, sardines and Nacho’s favourite treats.
Aug. 27th - This was the first time they had a probable sighting of Nacho! That means that for 20 nights they were out walking around, calling his name, following up on any small clue, and setting two traps (having bought a 2nd trap) without any indications Nacho was still in the area! But at no point would they consider giving up on bringing Nacho home. They even bought a trail cam. Excitement was high that evening!
Aug. 28th to Sept. 12th - Heartbreakingly, there were no further sightings of Nacho. Despite being beyond stressed and discouraged, Vanessa and John continued to look for him and set the traps every evening.
Sept. 13th - Nacho started showing up in the evenings on their’s or their neighbour’s deck. They started putting Eliza in a room and leaving their back door open, praying he would come inside. They continued setting up the two wire cages, one in their yard and one in their neighbour’s yard.
Sept. 16th - Nacho was starting to come into their house at night but would scurry away before the door could be closed, keeping him inside. He still wasn’t going near the wire traps so they borrowed a large wooden one.
Sept. 17th - A lynx was spotted in the area, further increasing their worry for Nacho’s safety!
Sept. 18th - The previous night Vanessa and John left their door open again, set a trail of yummies for Nacho to follow, set up the wooden trap in their dining room and at 1:30 a.m. they finally trapped Nacho!!!
This ‘Gotcha Again Day’ may have been more beautiful and emotional than the first!🥹
Still in survival mode, Nacho was super scared and hid under the bed, staying away from everyone. He was also very skinny! Vanessa set up the bedroom with food, water and a litter pan for him and gave him time to decompress. By the evening he was calmer and interested in roaming around the house and looking to Vanessa for rubs.🥹
One huge positive is that both Nacho and Eliza were fully vaccinate meaning it was much less likely that Nacho would pick up any diseases during those six weeks that could have made him very sick and/or he could have spread to Eliza.
Vanessa and John definitely win the Pet-Parent of the Year Award!🥇 We thank them for not giving up on Nacho and literally doing everything they could to get him back. Those were six incredibly long weeks with an amazingly happy ending!😻
(Nacho is pictured below, safely back in his favourite napping spot. 🥰)
