Cat stolen from RV; I think maybe I was targeted?

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Cvj77z said:
My husband & I live fulltime in our 1968 Travco, in and around Portland, Oregon. In mid April I adopted a sweet cat (I'd been without a pet for a few years at this point, and decided it was time!) who was a 2 year old Persian.. Like most Persians he wasn't the most energetic, fortunately he wasn't very skittish either, basically I'm trying to say that he seemed to adapt to the RV lifestyle quite well. In a SEVERE lapse of judgement, I left the RV (and cat) under the care of a "friend" for a part of one evening... Long story short, there was a dog involved, my kitty got out, and this wasn't noticed until I returned a couple of hours later. Of course we looked on foot in the area all night and the following day, with no luck...

Now a word about where we were parked: alongside a city park in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Portland. The park was right beside us (it takes up about 4 square city blocks), across the street was a section 8 apartment complex that probably has around 30 or 40 apartments, with 2 & 3 story Craftsman style homes on either side of it. I've seen RVs, skoolies and the like parked here fairly often, but never more than 2 or 3 at a time, and never for more than 5 or 6 days. I assume that unfortunately people do leave behind a mess some of the time... At the time when the cat got out we'd been there for about 4 days and were doing some rearranging in the RV... So there was some stuff outside on the sidewalk, definitely not blocking anything, nor was it a lot of stuff, but I definitely picked up on the way we were being looked at and treated. We did not leave behind any garbage (or anything at all) when we drove off, but sadly people jump to conclusions drawing from their past experiences... Normally I could care less about how some snooty middle aged women are staring at me, but unfortunately this time is different.

We weren't able to stay parked there for as long as I wanted to, to see if he would return, but were there for 2 more nights after he went missing. As I explained, I had just gotten him and hadn't had the chance yet to take him to the vet and have him microchipped. His previous owner hadn't had it done either. After that I posted flyers, put ads online, checked shelters, and returned to search the area. My husband asked around and said that out of 20 or so people there were two different parties who seemed a little suspicious; no big red flags though, they were likely just rude.

Now 5 weeks have passed, and I'm fairly sure that someone right in that area is keeping him. I also think there's a good chance that they knew he was mine & that he came from the RV, and they thought that they could give him a better life than me, that they were doing him a favor, and/or that I wouldn't care he was gone. That's the reason I mention feeling judged. The past few weeks I haven't been as aggressive about physically searching or posting flyers, though I've continued to search online & check shelters. Tomorrow though I'm going to return with a vengeance!! Lots and lots of flyers, and I'm going to zero in on vets and groomers in the area.

So, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar? I hope I don't sound paranoid, but believe me, the judgement & condescension was undeniable. Whether that would make someone actually target my cat and i, I can't be sure... it makes sense that they might think I won't look very hard (ha sorely wrong), and that I'd be reluctant to file a police report (only because I have no concrete proof of ownership, like a chip). If I'm relentless about my flyers I'm hoping that they will realize they really made a mistake, or that a friend or neighbor will come forward motivated by guilt or greed (seeking the reward).

I apologize for the length of this message, I'm really giving Tolstoy a run for his money! Any advice would be much appreciated, especially if it pertains to a stolen pet, but really anything at all about what to do when your pet has gone missing from your RV. I'd love to hear your stories. And if anyone is in Portland, please let me know and I'll direct you to one of my ads. I'm not giving up. I just want my sweet boy home with me!
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Reading your post reminds me of my cat Rascal.. he was an inside/outside cat.. come and go through a pet door. I live on a farm of 61 acres, not in a neighborhood, but my farm backs up to a neighborhood of houses. He came up missing one day, 8 months later I saw his picture posted on Facebook by a friend who had shared it.. he was 12 miles away at someone’s barn. He had showed up there 7 months earlier.. obviously someone had taken him but he wouldn’t have anything to do with other people, so he had been trapped. The people at this home said he wouldn’t come near them.. I called to him and he answered, came to me and I picked him up cuddling him like a baby.. the lady was shocked as he would never come near any of them. He was frail and dirty. Obviously He could not find his way home so he had stayed at this barn where her big cat had fought with him everyday she said. She had put her cat up so he could come and eat. He had been my baby since birth, so he knew who I was and came to me immediately after hearing my voice. Your cat may find his way back to the original owner unless someone took in what they thought was a stray. Be thankful if someone is taking care of him, as the opposite would be him roaming and hiding out in fear since he is not an outside cat. Keep looking as one day someone may see your post, but being a friendly cat, they may have adopted him and love him as their own. I hope you find him, until then I hope someone is taking good care of him. I spent months wondering what had happened to my cat.. if he was hurt, dead ir alive. We do get attached to our pets..
 
My daughter had a cat one time and had it declawed. It was a indoor cat but it got out one day and ran away and then got lost apparently. About a week later the cat showed up on her porch a terrible mess . Cuts bruses and covered with dried up blood. I can’t imagine what that cat went through. They had to put it down it was hurt so bad. I hope all cat lovers think twice about declawing your cat.
 
Cvj77z said:
My husband & I live fulltime in our 1968 Travco, in and around Portland, Oregon. In mid April I adopted a sweet cat (I'd been without a pet for a few years at this point, and decided it was time!) who was a 2 year old Persian.. Like most Persians he wasn't the most energetic, fortunately he wasn't very skittish either, basically I'm trying to say that he seemed to adapt to the RV lifestyle quite well. In a SEVERE lapse of judgement, I left the RV (and cat) under the care of a "friend" for a part of one evening... Long story short, there was a dog involved, my kitty got out, and this wasn't noticed until I returned a couple of hours later. Of course we looked on foot in the area all night and the following day, with no luck...

Now a word about where we were parked: alongside a city park in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Portland. The park was right beside us (it takes up about 4 square city blocks), across the street was a section 8 apartment complex that probably has around 30 or 40 apartments, with 2 & 3 story Craftsman style homes on either side of it. I've seen RVs, skoolies and the like parked here fairly often, but never more than 2 or 3 at a time, and never for more than 5 or 6 days. I assume that unfortunately people do leave behind a mess some of the time... At the time when the cat got out we'd been there for about 4 days and were doing some rearranging in the RV... So there was some stuff outside on the sidewalk, definitely not blocking anything, nor was it a lot of stuff, but I definitely picked up on the way we were being looked at and treated. We did not leave behind any garbage (or anything at all) when we drove off, but sadly people jump to conclusions drawing from their past experiences... Normally I could care less about how some snooty middle aged women are staring at me, but unfortunately this time is different.

We weren't able to stay parked there for as long as I wanted to, to see if he would return, but were there for 2 more nights after he went missing. As I explained, I had just gotten him and hadn't had the chance yet to take him to the vet and have him microchipped. His previous owner hadn't had it done either. After that I posted flyers, put ads online, checked shelters, and returned to search the area. My husband asked around and said that out of 20 or so people there were two different parties who seemed a little suspicious; no big red flags though, they were likely just rude.

Now 5 weeks have passed, and I'm fairly sure that someone right in that area is keeping him. I also think there's a good chance that they knew he was mine & that he came from the RV, and they thought that they could give him a better life than me, that they were doing him a favor, and/or that I wouldn't care he was gone. That's the reason I mention feeling judged. The past few weeks I haven't been as aggressive about physically searching or posting flyers, though I've continued to search online & check shelters. Tomorrow though I'm going to return with a vengeance!! Lots and lots of flyers, and I'm going to zero in on vets and groomers in the area.

So, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar? I hope I don't sound paranoid, but believe me, the judgement & condescension was undeniable. Whether that would make someone actually target my cat and i, I can't be sure... it makes sense that they might think I won't look very hard (ha sorely wrong), and that I'd be reluctant to file a police report (only because I have no concrete proof of ownership, like a chip). If I'm relentless about my flyers I'm hoping that they will realize they really made a mistake, or that a friend or neighbor will come forward motivated by guilt or greed (seeking the reward).

I apologize for the length of this message, I'm really giving Tolstoy a run for his money! Any advice would be much appreciated, especially if it pertains to a stolen pet, but really anything at all about what to do when your pet has gone missing from your RV. I'd love to hear your stories. And if anyone is in Portland, please let me know and I'll direct you to one of my ads. I'm not giving up. I just want my sweet boy home with me!
Click to expand...
I'm so sorry about your cat. We camp with our cat and he's only gotten out once, through a storage door we accidentally left cracked. I was crazy, hoping he wouldn't go far. I looked around outside and found him by the tire screaming (or so it seemed to me).
 
Ah, I missed the date of the original post. Yep, a year! I've lost 2 cats on the road while traveling. Had a few disappear from our home (we live in the country, we think coyotes got them), and decided finally, no more cats.

Then a stray shows up about 5 months ago, a little baby kitten. My son adopted it. So, it's his now.
 
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