What an awful way to end a vacation! And you didn't skip a beat doing everything possible to get him back to safety. Great job, so glad to hear he's back where he belongs with stories of his vacation too :-)

Always nice to hear a happy ending to these kinds of tales. Kudos to you for your due diligence! :)

..and woe be unto the petsitter. :(

He was probably looking for you, wondering why you weren't coming home. Could that talking be scolding you? WHAT A RELIEF for you that he came home. I'm being torn between leaving my baby home while we have a short family reunion. I've never left her. But it's so hot and I'm concerned about where to leave her if we have to stop to eat and there's no cool place to park the car. Also, there's going to be a new puppy when we get there and I think that's going to be stressful plus all the people she doesn't know. Otherwise, she's a good traveler, briefly joys that sights from my shoulder and then just sleeps in her carrier.

I love happy endings! Thank you for sharing your story.

Terrapots, don't be afraid to cut the cord, your baby will be just fine (as long as you don't hire labmomma's pet sitter!) Seriously though, you can set your AC up on a timer to cool your home during the hottest part of the day. And when you come home she will be sooo happy to see you.

I am so glad for the happy ending. I have no doubt that she was telling you all about her adventures while you were gone and it must have been quite an adventure.

Glad to hear the she is home and safe.

Scary!

I'm glad he came home (& I love the idea of scattering daughter's dirty clothes around outside!)

About that petsitter-
Do we need to set up a Pets Forum bail money fund?

I am so glad that your cat came home!! I can't believe that a petsitter would be so cavalier with someone else's animal...especially when they are being paid to take care of the cat!!! Unbelievable...

Happy Ending to a stressful story. Glad he came home.

This has been the same petsitter I have used since 1999. Never a problem before. When she started with me she was a single mom of 2 high school boys getting ready to move on to college. She has now remarried and her husband has come with her the past two times she has sat for me. You cannot tell me that between the two adults, they couldn't get a plan together? She has a cat, I hate to even think how ineffective she would be if her own cat got out.

I called several times from the boat, and she was fine. On Wednesday nite when I got a cell signal and called her, I could tell in her voice that something was wrong, but she kept telling me all was well. I was suspicious, but I thought perhaps calling her so late, I had just caught her sleeping - Alaska time is 4 hrs behind East Coast.

I called again the next afternoon when we were in spot with cell service (on an expedition cruise - so not many cell tower signals when you are on a small boat adventure). When I called the next day she acted oddly again and I kept asking her if everything was alright. "Yes, I am just sick". "Are you sure, your voice doesn't sound right, is everything and everyone okay". "Yes, just not feeling good". She was very short with me. I knew then that something wasn't right.

I immediately found my SIL on the boat and had her call the house as her dog was here for a few days while her petsitter was away. She then called to see how her dog was and said I was on a hike. Sitter fessed up to my SIL while I was actually sitting in the wheelhouse hearing my SIL's end of the conversation. I immediately had SIL give me the phone. Explanation through sobbing about what happened. Didn't want to ruin your trip, yada yada. I freaked out on her I told her I wanted her to pull herself together and stop crying and start acting like an adult - this woman is 50 yr. old school teacher. This was Thursday late night Eastern Time and cat was gone from Monday p.m. - too many days. She had done nothing except look around the yard and obvious places around the house. I went off on her (badly, I am embarrassed to admit) and told her to put the cat box outside, call the shelters, call the police and ask if anyone had reported seeing him or if they picked him up. I then called my parents to come to my home and pull out the beds - look well throughout the house to be sure he wasn't hiding, ordered 3 live traps from my exterminator, and asked petsitter to put DD clothes outfront.

At that point she was fired. DH was out on actual excursion with a naturalist. Told him when he returned and we decided not to tell my DD until we were home. Still had 4 days to go.

It was hell for the rest of the time as we had a full 24 hours of travel with a redeye coming in on Sunday morning and then a 2 hr. ride home from the airport. My DD was continually telling me how much she missed Louie and how she hoped he would like the souveniers she had gotten him. She had found some soft animal birds that chirp. I was physically ill when I had to lie to her. Lying to me is the number one no-no.

DH feels torn. Understands that petsitter was trying to not ruin our vacation, but is upset at her inaction.

We found the cat within 14 hours of arriving on terra firma at the house.

I just felt that she could have done more. There are plenty of photos around the house of the cat, she could have made flyers, she could have done more.

I kept checing back with her asking her if she had called the shelter again. Her answer was I left your phone number. I freaked again and told her I wanted her to call 2 times per day to each shelter and the police station that they were not going to call us. She was just plain lazy in this situation. At 4:30 p.m. eastern time the traps hadn't shown up. My exterminator is my neighbor, petsitter says I'll find the number in the phone book. I told her NO WAY - WALK UP TO HIS HOUSE, KNOCK ON THE DOOR AND TELL HIM WHAT IS GOING ON. She did and the traps showed up poste haste and my neighbor actually check the traps at 11 p.m. each nite to be sure the cat wouldn't be stuck in one all night should he go in.

I will not have her back again. No bail money needed, just have no confidence whatsoever in her for future needs.

I will find another petsitter, as I prefer to have my pets at home while I vacation. I do not board my animals, never have, never will. I am not going to lose confidence in all petsitters because of this petsitter's inaction.

The lady who runs our shelter's adoption at the Petsmart remarked she should be shot. I think so too, but I am just so thankful we have him back that I am chalking it up to a terrible experience from which I learned a very valuable lesson and DD cat is home. Had this turned out differently, I may have needed some bail money - big time.

Thanks for the positive responses. I hope the hints for looking can help someone should they face the same horrible situation.

I think you have done a great service in explaining what to do if an animal is lost.

It is such a shame that your vacation has been ruined, but wonderful that you found your cat.

Sammy

I am so glad you persistence paid off and you have your cat back. I am also sorry you had to go thru this ordeal.