kolling@magic.ARPA (01/22/85)
Your cat may be at a local animal shelter; you should check frequently, because they generally can only hold an animal for a few days before lack of room results in euthanizing it. DON'T depend on calling them up and asking something like "Have you a grey cat?" -- they have so many, and one person's idea of a grey cat is another person's idea of black and grey and so forth, that this is totally undependable -- you have to check in person. Also, be sure to ask to see the sick cats, which are generally kept separately, and the dead cats and any records they have of cats they're disposed of. Alternatively, the cat may be trapped somewhere, perhaps in a neighbor's garage, and it can't get out. Visit people and ask them to look around and listen, post "lost notices" on telephone poles describing the cat and giving your phone number. I'm also told that the best times to look for the cat is when it's quiet in the evening and morning, so it can hear you call. Give it time to come to you, in case it's hurt. It might have wandered into an open truck and been carried some distance away, and so forth, so hang in there -- cats have turned up months after being lost.