The Unexpected Game of Hide and Seek: Gillian's Story of Rescuing Mavis

What would you do if your beloved pet went missing one day? Put yourself in the shoes of our guest, Gillian Robertson, as she recounts the desperate chase to find her runaway cat, Mavis. A story of devotion, Gillian and her boyfriend's relentless pursuit is a rollercoaster ride filled with neon signs, humane traps, and an unexpected game of hide and seek that lasted for a nerve-wracking 14 days.

As the story unfolds, you'll hear about their well-planned mission to bring Mavis back home, involving fried chicken, dry food, and an array of surveillance cameras. Learn about their tireless efforts to create a safe zone for Mavis, staying awake in shifts, watching the door in hopes of her return, and the emotional moment of reunion when Mavis finally recognized her owners. You'll not only be touched but also learn a thing or two about innovative pet rescue strategies.

However, this tale of reunion is not only about the pursuit but also about letting go. Gillian shares her insights on the tricky balance between relentless effort and stepping back, trusting Mavis's survival instincts. You'll be swept up in their heartwarming reunion story and might even gain some valuable advice on handling similar situations. But wait until you hear the surprise twist at the end—a warm invitation to Mitch's home in Vermont, evidence of the strong bond she shares with their listeners. So, join us for an episode filled with suspense, emotion, and a whole lot of love for pets.

"No Place Like Home" is a podcast about missing pets. I feature content from owners, finders, volunteers, and professionals.

I always appreciate a rating and review on your podcast app and a follow on Facebook, where you can find the show at nplhmitch. Find episodes, transcripts, and additional information at noplacelikehome.show.

If you have questions or feedback, you can contact me at nplhmitch@gmail.com.

Remember to always think missing, not stray or dumped.

This podcast was created, hosted, recorded, and produced by me, Mitch Bernard. The opinions expressed on this show are those of the people expressing them and do not necessarily represent the views of any other entity.

Chapters

• 0:00 Missing Pet
• 7:50 Finding and Trapping a Lost Cat
• 19:29 Rescuing a Lost Cat
• 26:55 Strategies for Finding Lost Animals
• 38:44 Reuniting With a Lost Pet

Transcript

Gillian Robertson (00:01):
I was texting Kaima, I was like, yeah, I like don't really know what I'm gonna say on this podcast because I think that I like trauma blocked most <laugh>. Like, he goes, I think that's a fair start, <laugh>. I was like, yeah. Well,

mitch bernard (00:13):
I actually went back to our text messages and found and our messenger messages <laugh> <laugh>. Actually, we shouldn't start talking about that until I introduce you. So welcome to No Place like Home, the podcast about missing pets. I'm your host, Mitch Bernard. Today we'll be talking about another field case from a year ago this week I'm excited to have with me Gillian Robertson, whose cat Mavis came back this week in 2022. In fact, we caught Mavis almost exactly a year ago. Next up: my interview with Gillian. I wanna talk about, first I wanna talk about Mavis a little bit. Like tell me a little bit about Mavis. What's she like? How long had you had her before she went missing?

Gillian Robertson (01:05):
Yeah, absolutely. So I, my boyfriend and I moved to Pittsburgh in May of 2021, and I think I waited about two weeks before I got a cat, which was a little bit too long if you ask me <laugh>.

mitch bernard (01:16):
Exactly. <laugh>.

Gillian Robertson (01:17):
So we, I kind of talked to like some foster cat homes and stuff and we were able to meet her. But this was during COVID, so yes. Um, the foster mom brought her down in a carrier to like the lobby of the apartment building that she was Oh yeah. Taking care of her. And so maybe this was like pretty uncomfortable. Yeah. Like not being in her space, but she just like buried her little head and like the nook of my arm when we went to go visit her, which is so cute. And I knew the first cat that I was gonna meet was like, okay, I want this <laugh>.

mitch bernard (01:47):
Yeah. What's the point in even pretending?

Gillian Robertson (01:49):
Yeah. So we, so then we ended up adopting her and then we had her, oh my God, last year was 2020. So we had her just over a year before she went missing. So maybe like a year and a couple months. Yeah. Um,

mitch bernard (02:01):
Yeah. And she was a kitten when you got her, or she was a grown cat when you got her?

Gillian Robertson (02:04):
No, she was two years old when we got her. Okay. Um, I kinda wanted a cat. Yeah.

mitch bernard (02:08):
Personality had developed, had

Gillian Robertson (02:10):
Developed a little bit and like, feel like kittens are all just like super crazy and you don't really know. Yeah. But, uh, but yeah.

mitch bernard (02:16):
Cool. And she's, um, is she there today? Of course she's there. You're at home, right?

Gillian Robertson (02:21):
Yeah,

mitch bernard (02:21):
She's somewhere

Gillian Robertson (02:22):
Today. She's, she's taking a good nap on the top of her cat

mitch bernard (02:24):
Tower. Maybe she'll come, maybe she'll come make a, she might

Gillian Robertson (02:27):
Sit up here. She likes to sit up here, but I can close the window. It's

mitch bernard (02:30):
A's a good seat. Um, so a year ago today? Yeah. Maybe yesterday, uh, you had posted something on Facebook or Nextdoor Facebook I think. Yeah.

Gillian Robertson (02:45):
So yeah. I can start from the beginning. So, um, yeah, my boyfriend and I, I have a friend from college who moved to Boston and my boyfriend and I were going out there for like three days, like a long weekend to go and visit my friend from college. Um, and we've never been to Boston before, so we were pretty excited <laugh>. So we get out there, I think we had maybe <laugh>, not even 20 hours, like I think we slept one sleep <laugh>. Wow. And, and my sister was watching my cat at the time. So I In your apartment? In my apartment, yeah. So I live on the first floor of an apartment building. So our front door just to sort of set the scene a little bit, um, doesn't really have a latch. Like you have to lock it in order for it to close. Oh. Um, it gets better in the winter.

mitch bernard (03:29):
You love those old houses the summer. Yeah. <laugh>,

Gillian Robertson (03:32):
Depending on the weather is whether that door closes or not. <laugh>. Um, so we've always been like super cautious about locking it and unlocking it or whatever. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But, um, so my sister was watching our cat while we were out of town and she came over to feed her with her five-year-old. And the five-year-old was dressed in an astronaut costume and they were just coming over to feed the cat and they didn't lock the door behind them and it blew open and Mavis got out. So the way that she described it to me, because I was in Boston at the time, was the door was open, Mavis ran out, she ran into the bush that was outside the front of our house, so just like right down the steps. And then they just sort of panicked and went and chased her. And so she ended up running two houses down the block under a patio and they saw her do that.

(04:19):
Um, so then they tried to set up a trap on one side of the patio where there was an opening and they didn't realize that there was an opening on the other side and they banged on the patio to try and scare her out. And then she was like gone in the wind. So I get a call, we chased her, we did all these things, <laugh>, and now she ran out. So my boyfriend ended up getting a flight back that next morning and then it was really expensive to buy tickets last minute and I'm very cheap. So I bought like the Delta non-refundable tickets, which I will probably still continue to do, but in hindsight did not work well for me on that trip. Um, and then I was able to get a flight out the next day because they were like my friend. So he's like, you hang out, like I'll go get her. And then we didn't realize what an adventure it was gonna be, <laugh>. Uh, so that was sort of how she got out. Um, and that's the story, a little bit about that. But

mitch bernard (05:10):
So, um, he got home how long after she had gone missing, like how long was the lapse before you got notified? After

Gillian Robertson (05:18):
She got out? I think he came home the next day. So I think we were notified at like 4:00 PM and then he got a flight out like 7:00 AM the next day. Wow. That's very nice. Yeah. And so he came home and I was like, at this point, so this is where I kind of posted on Facebook is. So my upstairs neighbor was this sweet, lovely woman. Um, she moved away and miss her dearly, but she is like this big cat lover and they had lost their cat the year before and she was like, anything I can do to help. Like, she was trying to communicate with my sister and I had never even talked to my upstairs neighbor really? Other than like passing in the backyard. Yeah. Um, and she, <laugh> was trying to help. She was out looking, she was trying everything, you know, searching everywhere.

(05:58):
Um, and so we get back and I'm like, okay. So I posted on Facebook because it was the only thing I could do from far away was like, what can I do online to help right now? Yeah. Because I remember in Boston, actually, I think I posted on Facebook and like our neighborhood page like, hey, lost my cat if you see 'em. And then some people tagged you. So I remember I was in Boston <laugh> right in the guest room Yeah. On the phone with you and you were like, alright, what is the layout of your <laugh> neighborhood and all that.

mitch bernard (06:25):
Yep.

Gillian Robertson (06:26):
Um,

mitch bernard (06:27):
Which it turns out you were like five blocks from me or something. Yeah. But I didn't know that then. Yeah. So yeah.

Gillian Robertson (06:34):
Yeah. So, um, so we were kind of going over some stuff, but I, at that point I was getting like, whenever you post on those pages, like 50 people come in and they're giving you all sorts of conflicting advice and you're already super like vulnerable and emotional and all

mitch bernard (06:49):
Of

Gillian Robertson (06:49):
The math that you're like, who do I trust? And you kind of have to do like, have to find one person to listen to. Yeah. And yeah. And I'm so happy that like you were there and helpful in like responding to my every message because I'm sure you trying to scroll back to the top of our messages <laugh>, it's like, I

mitch bernard (07:04):
Remember that. It was pretty funny. There was a lot because yeah. Well, we'll get to that after. But yeah. So, um, so what, according to my, what I found in Messenger, you had already set up a camera, I think by this time then. Um, so maybe we talked on texting someplace else before that, but probably like our first message as a messenger have the footage from the Wise camera. Um, was that the one that I lent you? I think, yeah.

Gillian Robertson (07:38):
'cause I didn't have cameras before you, so we must've been texting or like it just sat down in the, or you know what it might be is Facebook, my archive stuff after a year. Oh, that. So that's why you literally see

mitch bernard (07:48):
Today the first day. That would be quite a

Gillian Robertson (07:50):
Coincidence. We definitely texted before now. Yeah. Because I found her like four, I found her in two days from now. Yeah. Which we were texting for <crosstalk>.

mitch bernard (07:57):
Yeah. It had definitely, yeah, that's true. Because, uh, there was a lot of that damn cat, you know, <laugh> kind of messages at this point. <laugh>. So yeah. So I guess it was more than a year ago. But, um, so the first thing that, uh, we did was, I guess your sister had already gotten a trap set up.

Gillian Robertson (08:19):
No, she, so she, uh, I don't wanna throw her under the bus here, but she, um, so she, when I was in Boston, um, she called and she was like, okay, like I tried, can I go home now <laugh>? And I was like, I'll fight you immediately, <laugh>. Um, and so when we got back I was so stressed, I was like, please do not talk to me. Like yeah, I have my head to the ground. Like, I'm just trying to figure this out. So she hadn't done anything. I think that she stayed here for a couple hours the first night and then, uh, KAA, my boyfriend came back the next day and so Right. Okay. We were both like, please do not be in our space right now. <laugh>. Yeah.

mitch bernard (08:59):
That'll

Gillian Robertson (09:00):
Think we'll take it from here. That

mitch bernard (09:01):
Was stressful. It's very, it brings out a lot of strong feelings when your pet goes missing because it's like they're really important to you. And of course if it's someone else who has let them out, there's a quick, um, there's a tendency to quickly blame or, um, transfer the anger and the fear that you have about your pet being missing to this person instead of a hundred

Gillian Robertson (09:26):
Percent. Yeah. And I, and like even looking back, I honestly, I don't even remember in the moment because I was just so emotional. But um, in the moment, like it wasn't even that she had let her out. 'cause like accidents do happen and I know our front door kind of sucks. It was like, yeah, can I go home now? That was like, yeah, okay. I need somebody who's like dedicated to this. Yeah. This cat is like my baby. Like I love her so much. Um, this won't do <laugh>.

mitch bernard (09:52):
Yeah. So Exactly.

Gillian Robertson (09:54):
So I think that's why we rushed home as well because I was like, okay, I do not have an attentive person on the job. <laugh>. Yeah.

mitch bernard (09:59):
Yeah. Someone's gotta be on the ground there. So you get home and do you remember, um, like I guess we were talking already by then, then you came over and got a camera and a trap.

Gillian Robertson (10:12):
So first thing I hit the airport, my boyfriend comes to pick me up. You had messaged me like, okay, these are the first things you need to do. That's, so we head to FedEx straight from the airport. We got neon poster boards. Yeah. Um, you had sent me a poster of what it should look like. Right. So we had the, um, kind of had those on a thumbdrive. So we went to FedEx, we got like a hundred of the colored picture. Yep. Colored photos, <laugh> <laugh> with the words lost cat and just my phone number on them. Yeah. Um, we got a hundred of those. We got like four neon signs to post at major intersections. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and then we came home, oh, we also bought a staple gun there.

mitch bernard (10:50):
Oh, that's, that's

Gillian Robertson (10:50):
Right. Yeah. <laugh>. So we came home, I got crafty, started making some good posters. And then I think the same day that I landed from Boston, so which was the next day, we walked all around the neighborhood and started posting stuff. But unfortunately my cat is a tabby gray, Tabby the most standard issue cat out there. <laugh>. Yeah.

mitch bernard (11:12):
Yeah. They're gonna be either tab or black. That's pretty much every cat out there.

Gillian Robertson (11:16):
Yeah. <laugh>. And so then I think, so that same day as well as I had, I had posted on like our buy nothing page as well. Like, does anybody have any humane traps? And like four people responded. So I had like five traps and I was like, no, I need to use all of these. And then they were like, you need to have a camera on each of these. You were like, you need to have a camera on each of these traps because if anything goes in there, like you either need to let it out or whatever. 'cause they can't stay in there. Um, so then I think I went to you and you had three cameras and I was like, alright, that's three traps. That's

mitch bernard (11:47):
Right. So I had That's right.

Gillian Robertson (11:49):
So I had one trap at the neighbors where we last knew that she was under the porch mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which he was super gracious. He was like, yeah, you can like hang out in my backyard

mitch bernard (11:57):
A little bit. That's so nice. Because yeah,

Gillian Robertson (11:59):
I had convinced myself that she was here, there and everywhere. Yeah. Um, and so we tried to like sit in the backyard and try and like talk to her, but she's super friendly in the house. Like, just to describe her behavior a little bit. She's super friendly in the how, but she's also super skittish of things she doesn't know. So as long as she's in her comfort zone, she's good. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> the second, she's like unfamiliar with the space. Like every time I take her to the vet, she just like screams at me the entire car ride <laugh>. Um, but she's very much like a freeze versus a fight. So I'm very impressed that she did so well. <laugh> Yeah. Out in nature for a while. Um,

mitch bernard (12:36):
Yeah. How long is a while? How long was she gone? Total?

Gillian Robertson (12:39):
She was gone 14 days.

mitch bernard (12:42):
So that's, that's a long wait when you're

Gillian Robertson (12:46):
A long time not to sleep. <laugh>.

mitch bernard (12:48):
That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so you had the traps and the cameras up. I remember, um, at one point early on there was a, a woman who lived in one of the adjacent houses who went out with a hose and was like spraying. Uh, they, right. She, I feel like she, she sprayed away, uh, an animal from the tr away from the trap or a cat or something. Like there was something really nefarious feeling about

Gillian Robertson (13:17):
No, it was, it was one of the wireless cameras that I had set up. Oh. So on my front porch, on my front porch, I had a camera that faced like our front door. So we kind of have a audio medium trying to set the stage. I know my porch. So we have like a eight foot by eight foot covered porch and our front door is on that porch. So we had a camera facing our porch. And then I had put another wireless camera at the bottom of like six stairs just to see if she was like approaching the stairs and not necessarily on it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And yeah, my neighbor had come out to like water her lawn or something and didn't know what it was. But I was watching from one of the other cameras and could see her just completely spray my camera down. And I went out and I was like, excuse me, <laugh> <laugh>. Um, and she's like, oh, I didn't know what that was. And I was like, okay,

mitch bernard (14:06):
So lemme cover it in water. It's

Gillian Robertson (14:08):
Not even facing your direction. Like, it's literally just facing like the first two stairs of my, of my porch. Um.

mitch bernard (14:14):
Oh, that's so funny. Yeah. Yeah. I, I remember that because one of the screenshots that's early in our messenger conversation that we still have, uh, available was, um, showed her off, like to the side spray something or standing out there <laugh>. It's like, oh man. So yeah. So you had a nice little array of cameras because it, one of the things that we know is that, um, uh, a lot of cats, especially cats that don't have regular outdoor access and cats that are maybe a little bit fearful of strangers, they especially are the ones who wanna stay hidden. So we, it was very likely that she was gonna come, uh, around along one side of the house, maybe behind a bush or something, but not be brave enough to come up the stairs because that's exposing, you know, that's sort of, it's better lit and there's a white background. So she would feel more visible. But eventually we did get footage of her, uh, coming up at least a little bit.

Gillian Robertson (15:17):
Right. This was a good, yeah. Okay. So it took me a while to sort of figure out what the camera angles were mm-hmm. <affirmative> what, where the trap should be type of thing. So, um, just to sort of start from the beginning and then I'll loop back to the first time we saw her on the camera. Mm-hmm. Um, so I had a couple traps set up, um, kind of in different neighbor's yards against three of them. We were using trail cans, um, some wireless cans for the ones that were closer to me. 'cause they need to be closer to your wifi. Okay. And we had caught like a raccoon or two and then I started to like hear raccoon noises in the night, all that stuff. So I knew that I was attracting predators, which I was like, I don't wanna do. Um, so then we did the raccoon distraction with the, um, marshmallows and peanut butter type things. Um, yeah. But because of the posters, I had gotten a call that they were like, Hey, we have a tavi. And we had gotten a couple of them, but they were pretty far out, like I would say like seven blocks away. And I was like, yeah, I don't like,

mitch bernard (16:17):
That's quite far from, and

Gillian Robertson (16:18):
It was like a fighting and I was like, okay, well, like she has a tavi, like I know. Yeah. But this call that we had gotten this one night, it was around like 9:30 PM um, it was just like a block and a half down. So we literally, we just like put on our shoes and we ran. We had no tools, we had nothing.

mitch bernard (16:35):
<laugh>, what are we gonna do when we get there?

Gillian Robertson (16:38):
So show up and there's this tabby cat. And I think at this point I really, I don't know how to express, I'm sure like if you've ever experienced this, just like the emotional trauma, like we had been staying up all night just staring at the cameras. Like we were so exhausted. So we found this cat, super nice cat, super drunk, <laugh>. We picked him up and like he just, he had this, it was like totally a tomboy cat. Definitely not my cat, but in hindsight, <laugh>, that's the time. I was like, oh my god, a kitty that looks like mine. Yeah. Which I think is something that we, again, even like listening to Rachel's

mitch bernard (17:09):
Normal's story

Gillian Robertson (17:09):
Is something that we go through. But he had this like deep guttural meow and I was like, I don't know about that. And I was like, I also don't know if her nails have grown this long in the past. Yeah. <laugh>. But um, but we were like, yeah, we think this is our cat. We think this is our cat. And the people who called us were like, oh, we have a cat carrier that you can borrow. And we put the cat in the carrier and I'm like, this isn't my cat. Yeah. I'm like, damn it. Um, sorry, dunno if I can cut on here. But, um, oh,

mitch bernard (17:39):
Of course.

Gillian Robertson (17:40):
And then I come back, we come back to our house, we're kind of like, darn, like we totally thought that was our cat. And I look at the wise cam notification and it's like, activity your front porch. So up until this point we had been keeping our front door just like open that's like five inches. The only time we closed it was to go check on this other cat <laugh>. And we see Mavis like just totally her like creep up to the porch. 'cause we had like food and water on the front porch, no truck yet. Really. And she creeps up on the front porch and she's like, hi guys.

mitch bernard (18:11):
<laugh>, <laugh>

Gillian Robertson (18:12):
Turns around and leaves. And I was like, dude, <laugh>, we had, I forgot about that. Oh my God. We had the door open like all

mitch bernard (18:20):
Day all the time. We

Gillian Robertson (18:21):
Literally had mosquitoes like making

mitch bernard (18:24):
Homes. So we

Gillian Robertson (18:25):
Recovered a mosquito bites. We have flies everywhere. Like we were leaving windows open, doors open in case she wanted to get in, which yeah. Is lucky that we don't have any other pets that we could do that. Right. But yeah, it didn't end up <laugh>. That was not the way <laugh>, um, in my reach somebody else. But Mavis was not, not into that. Um, but yeah, that was the first time we saw her on camera and I'm like, okay, she's here. And I think at this point I was sort of reaching the neurosis where we were talking about Carmen Brothers and I was like, okay, like we haven't seen her. Like, I need, I need to know that she's here. Like we should do the tracking. And then you were able to calm me down. Um, first of all, I think I messaged you maybe like a thousand times each day. <laugh>

mitch bernard (19:08):
Roughly <laugh> entire

Gillian Robertson (19:09):
Process from the hours of 2:00 AM to 2:00 AM again,

mitch bernard (19:12):
Fortunately we liked each other, so it worked out okay. <laugh>. It wasn't like God. Yeah. We got

Gillian Robertson (19:17):
Along really well, but then we had a sighting. So I was like, okay, all Carmen can tell me that she's in the area anyway. Right. Right. So this isn't necessary. So now it's about trying to get her in, which at that point, once you see her, your instinct is just to be like, okay, I can do anything. Like what should I do? I should do everything all at once. Like I gotta whip out all the tools. Um, at some point we had a string rigged to the door. Somebody was sitting on the couch. That's right. So I took the first shift until 2:00 AM and then my boyfriend took the shift from like 2:00 AM to like 6:00 AM Yeah. And um, when he had to go, or like, luckily he was on, um, some sort of summer break at this point, but he had to go to like school at some point in this. So we were taking shifts of like who was manning the door. But we literally had like Mac guy <laugh> the, a string to the handle of the door that like looped all the way back through. So if she walked in, like we didn't have to stand, you

mitch bernard (20:10):
Could just pull the cord <laugh>. Yeah. Which is a very good plan. Like it's a, it really is. 'cause you've got the cameras going and if you can get it closed that fast, it's a great Yeah, that's a great tool.

Gillian Robertson (20:22):
Yeah. Because you don't wanna like get up and scare her out. Right. Um, so we were, we were doing shifts of that for a while. Um, we had, so eventually I got rid of all the other chap other than the one on the front porch. 'cause the front porch was where I had seen her. Yeah. At this point I had bought her some fried chicken, which even now to this day when she gets excited about it in the house, I'm like, you don't deserve this. Only the ants got the fried chicken. We tried tuna, but she loved her dry food and yeah, she doesn't like seafood stuff, so it ended up just being her dry food that we used <laugh> to make it work. But yeah, once we started trap training her with the cameras I think was the most successful thing. Yeah. We had, we had toys on a string at some point. Yep.

mitch bernard (21:08):
<laugh>, I remember that. And I remember there was one night when the emotions really took over and you did like, try to open the door and like bring her in or lure her. Or maybe there was a window, or maybe it was kind of did, I can't remember. But there was one night when it was like, after all of this work of like ignoring their instincts and really, I just felt so bad for you. 'cause you were just like, I thought, I just thought she would just come in, you know, <laugh>. Yeah. I don't remember what it was, but Yeah. Because we

Gillian Robertson (21:38):
Could see her on the front porch and so Yeah. We, I mean you had given us like a jar of like sardine skins or something. So we had this like buffet inside of the doors. Yeah. <laugh>. I was like, in hindsight there's like other animals out there <laugh> our door open.

mitch bernard (21:53):
I dunno

Gillian Robertson (21:53):
If this is the best plan. Um, but we had like this whole buffet. So every time we saw her on the front porch, we were like, come on. Like just come inside. Yeah. Um, but we would see on the camera that she would come up and kind of sniff the door a little bit. Yeah. And then like, not be too sure about it. And then leave. And on the camera we could tell too that her body language was like not comfortable on the front porch. Yeah. But she was, uh, willing to go up there at least. Yeah. And so that was kind of where we just decided to focus our efforts. Yeah. But yeah. And then one night you were like, it's too much <laugh> <laugh>. We just need to slowly start moving the food back into, um, the crate a little bit at a time. Yeah. And I think at that point when I took away the distractions, I left the water bowl on the front porch, like just free range because um,

mitch bernard (22:45):
Yeah, it was hot. That's fine.

Gillian Robertson (22:46):
Yeah. And then I think over the course of like four nights, we slowly inched the food back. 'cause we already knew that her body language wasn't super great. Yeah. Um, we could see her come consistently on the camera like at dusk sometime in the middle of the night and dawn. And so once you start to get that consistency and being able to see that, um, was, was key. Absolutely. Yeah. Um, and so I remember there was a night where I was like, okay, like tonight is the night. And I know that because she's been so consistent that tonight we actually rig the trap to go

mitch bernard (23:22):
Yes. Instead of just tying it open and Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And then you watched her go into the trap, right?

Gillian Robertson (23:32):
Yeah. So we were sitting on our couch. We were binging alone. We had the door closed this time. Yeah. Um, because we could tell that it was making her kind of uncomfortable. We just had the camera on and we saw her come up and this night we were both like, tonight's the night. Yeah. Like, we are ready. Like we know she's here, we know she's safe. Um, and so yeah, she went into the trap, it went off, we went out with a blanket just to cover her <laugh>. Yeah. There's some video of that. And then brought her inside and we put her in our guest room, which we sort of set up as like a safe zone just for her to get reacclimated. We had Yeah. Her litter box, water, food, that sort of thing. A good hiding place for her to hide in. Yeah. Um, but we put her in the guest room and she just started howling. I don't know if other people's cats do that or <laugh>, it's just to make this thing. Yeah. But she started, she was under, and I think she howled for like 48 hours when she got there. Wow. It was a lot. Um, yeah. But she just kind of yelled under the bed and then we got her to come outta the bed. And the second that she like smelled her hand and knew it was us, she just started doing like flips and purse

mitch bernard (24:32):
And was so happy all

Gillian Robertson (24:33):
Up against us. Yeah. I don't think I'd ever cried that hard. Um, yeah. And been so excited for a night of sleep in my life. Yeah. Um, yeah. So it was, it was a crazy time. Um, but yeah. But she came home,

mitch bernard (24:46):
So Yeah. So, um, you did everything right, the, I mean, just really, it was really amazing. I was really proud of you. Um, and uh, it's so important what you're saying about the fact that, you know, she's back in her home in her space and she still was feeling displaced. She still didn't feel at home. And it took her time to realize that you're the people. Oh yeah. No, no, no, I'm home. Okay. You know, it's like, I was just talking to somebody, um, yesterday who was saying, you know, why don't they just go home? Like, why don't they just go home to their owners? You know, especially if they're going to the house. Like why don't they come when they're called? Why don't they just circle back home? Why did they stay, you know, out of place? And I was like, you, you, they just don't, they turn off all of that stuff. I'm like, their survival skills are the only thing that matters until they feel like they're safe. And then once they feel they're safe and fed and sheltered and they've got water, then they can start paying attention to love and comfort and all that other stuff.

Gillian Robertson (25:57):
And I think that's one thing too that you kind of were talking to me about is like their behavior and who they are in your house Yeah. Plays a role in what we can sort of assume about their behavior outside. Definitely. But they are totally different outside. They are in pray mode. Every noise they hear is a threat. If they hear you calling their name, they think that's somebody hunting them because they're like, that's me and I don't wanna be found because I'm scared right now. Right. And I remember <laugh>, I remember you saying her brain is the size of a walnut. So now whenever I'm mad at her, I call her walnut brain, but <laugh>, um, <laugh>. But like Yeah. Like they literally, they have instinct and it is food safety warm heaters. Yeah.

mitch bernard (26:40):
Like, don't get killed. And that's, you know, once that's established, then they can, yeah. So, um,

Gillian Robertson (26:46):
Because I remember one of the nights I went out into the alley and I was using like the flashlight, like, I don't know, it's really hard to control yourself when you're going through this and it's all you're thinking about and you're just thinking, what else can I do when the answer is do less.

mitch bernard (27:00):
Yeah, exactly. Do less so hard. Especially

Gillian Robertson (27:02):
Like, and so I saw her eyes in the, with the flashlight, like two houses down. And I was like, and then I kind of like tiptoed that way and I saw her dart and then like, I was like, okay, Mitch told me don't <laugh> chase. So I just like turned around. I was like, okay, I don't wanna move you any further. Because then she had ran like four houses away and I'm like, that's too far. <laugh>. Yeah, that's too far. And we live a block away from like a pretty busy street. So I was like, I'm not trying to scare her. Uh, but, and then I was getting calls about people seeing her and their backyard, but their dogs had chased her away and all

mitch bernard (27:37):
That stuff. And so it was so hard, and especially being close that close to kind of that major throughway, it's just a two lane road and the speed limit is 25, but it's an artery right off the interstate and right to so many neighborhoods that, um, you know, traffic gets really heavy and pedestrians have been killed there, pedestrians have been injured there. And um, the last thing you wanna do is to have that animal venture, you know, toward the road. You want them to go back into the deeper into the neighborhood.

Gillian Robertson (28:10):
I don't think Zers respect steep limits no matter what they are either.

mitch bernard (28:13):
It's, it's crazy. Yeah. I mean it's nuts. Uh, that road is just, it's shocking how dangerous it is given that it's a two-lane road with parallel parking and 25 mile an hour speed limit. Like Yeah. How is that possible and stoplights Anyway, um, yeah, I was really proud of you. You learned a lot and you really, um, you know, like internalized it, you took it very seriously, unlike a lot of people. So it was really good, really

Gillian Robertson (28:40):
Good. I think I just turned off my brain and I was like, what Mitch says goes <laugh> <laugh>. Like, I can no longer function for myself. Um, I'm not, and I think like being able to like be self-aware, to be like, okay, I know I'm not making the best decisions right now. Yeah. Like, I need to choose one channel of what I'm doing

mitch bernard (29:00):
Yeah.

Gillian Robertson (29:00):
And stick to it. Yeah. Because it's so easy to overthink, it's easy to almost over research to do all of that.

mitch bernard (29:07):
So Yeah. And especially when you've got all those voices coming from different sources on Facebook. And some of them might be correct, but you don't know if you don't know. So figuring out who knows what they're talking about and what sources are legit and like good advice is, I mean, it's very confusing. It's very hard. And we were, I was actually talking about this with a few other, um, responders yesterday. Um, like what do you do when, uh, someone just ignores your advice or actually takes else's advice, else's advice and it's directly co uh, introverting the things that you're telling them to do. Like, what do you do? Um, like how long do you stick with it before you just say, you know what, if you're gonna listen to somebody else and not follow my advice? Like, I've had cases where that happened and I just said to the person, I am happy to help you, but I can't help you if you're gonna also to like, I have a plan and I'm sharing that plan with you, but if you're gonna work somebody else's plan too, and that's like in conflict with mine, it's not gonna work.

(30:21):
And I, my time is precious, so I will go and I will help somebody else. Um, and you, you know, you've got help, that's fine. So, um, it, but it's can be frustrating people. Um, this one person I was responder I was talking to has a situation where her cat, her client, um, the cat is missing and this client is doing all these things that other people are telling her to do despite what the trained professional responder is telling her. And she knows that the animal is in danger if she doesn't get the animal home soon. So just 'cause of some specific circumstances and she just feels like really frustrated because she doesn't wanna step out because she knows that's could be dangerous for the animal, but at the same time, it's so frustrating to have somebody doing stuff against what you're trying to get them to do. So, yeah,

Gillian Robertson (31:17):
Absolutely. And I think after interviewing you for 14 days straight about every single move that I could possibly make, like afterwards I was like, I don't want anybody else to go through this. You know? Yeah. Like if there is somebody that I see on like the Facebook page or anything, like, I wanna be able to help and there is that balance of like, I wanna help the animal Yeah. But I can't help the owner do what is best. Like if you, you, it only works as much as you put the energy in. Definitely. And I think even hearing Rachel's story about like doing that for two months straight is like, people give up hope so quick, like you said, because of the emotional trauma and I mean, it's really, really hard. Yeah. And I think that you, but you have to stay focused to a certain degree.

(32:03):
Yeah. Even if it's from like the hours of like six to 9:00 PM Right. And like 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM and know are your like focus hours. Like I know it gets exhausting, but like cats are really incredibly resilient when they're outside. Yeah. They have incredible instincts. They know how to avoid danger. I don't think my cat even lost a pound in the past few days. I was like, how many spiders did you eat? Because I have seen you like try to chase the fly and it just not go well for you <laugh>. So I do not know how you did it, but I'm like, I'm impressed because I think she was a street cat maybe at some point in her life,

mitch bernard (32:34):
I dunno. Oh yeah, maybe so.

Gillian Robertson (32:36):
But now she's just a couch lump and I'm like, I've seen you try and kill bugs and you're not very good at it <laugh>, so like, whatcha eating at there? Because there's no way you caught a bird like <laugh>. Um, but, but yeah, no, it's been, you really have to stay dedicated.

mitch bernard (32:53):
Yeah, it is very, I mean there, I've had cases where it does go on so long that, um, you know, maybe the family's resources, financial resources, um, time off from work that they can take, all of that stuff runs dry and, um, you know, there aren't a lot of people around still to hang more posters or distribute more flyers or whatever. And, um, at some point, you know, you can't, like, you can make it your life for the first few days or the first week or two weeks or something mm-hmm. <affirmative> depending on your situation. But after a while you, it can't, you can't sustain that level of intensity, um, over a long period. You, I mean, you have to, you have to live your life. So that's a very difficult point when people get to a point when they are having that talk with themselves about what, how much of my life can I, um, how much longer can I put, you know, 80% of myself into this versus, you know, maybe I pull back.

(34:00):
So I spend, like you said, a few hours a night or something. And it's, it's hard because you feel, um, guilty if you're not spending all your time doing that. Like, um, you, you don't love them enough if you're not putting all of your time into it. But it's just a reality that, you know, I'm sure I would love to talk to someone actually who works with like, missing people Yeah. Families of missing people, missing children, especially like how do you make that decision about when it's okay to return to some semblance of normalcy and still feel like you're doing what you need to do to bring that person home? You know, it's just, at some point it's just life. You know, you've gotta, not everybody has the luxury of just quitting work and doing it full time.

Gillian Robertson (34:48):
Luckily, like I have a boyfriend, I don't have kids, like Right. I, I had time to take off p t o wise. Yeah. You know, I was able to put in those efforts. But it is, I mean, some people have kids, they've gotta take kids Yeah. To places they can't dedicate all of this, all of this time and attention to it. Absolutely. But, but I do think that there are some like key basic things that you can do that can last a while, whether that's flyers. Yeah. Like put up flyers please, <laugh>. Um, if you have a trap that, you know, you just set up the night before and you keep a camera on it, like Yeah. Because I do feel like you, and correct me if I'm wrong, please, but like you can sleep through the night and then in the morning, like as long as you check it, like if

mitch bernard (35:37):
There's, I mean the ideal is to have the camera, um, signal your phone or something and wake you up. Okay. But yeah, you can definitely, um, I mean it depends on the situation, but you don't want, um, an animal to be in that kind of situation if the weather is in any way health threatening, like it's too hot and they don't have water or it's not shaded. I just read a case about, um, somebody who left a carrier like a dog crate exposed kind of carrier of kittens outside in, you know, the heat of summer in the sun, unprotected, no food, no water, and they can't, you know, there's no shade. They can't, there's no, it's unrelenting and you know, animals will die. Oh, totally. Um, and the other concern is, um, predators, whether human obnoxious people who are gonna, you know, poke and torment the cat or, um, you know, other animals trying to get to the food that they have. And that can end not well for the animal, depending on what animal it is.

Gillian Robertson (36:48):
It's another factor as well. Like, let's say you catch an animal that is not yours. Right. Um, could your animal see that and then be like, I don't wanna be near

mitch bernard (36:58):
Whatever. Yeah. Matter. Yeah. I mean, with Rachel's cat, Toby, there were, um, raccoons up in that yard all the time and, uh, we did the raccoon distractions with dog chow and marshmallows and peanut butter and whatnot. But sometimes they would still come around to the trap. But one of the things I like about these wise cameras and lots of other security type cameras is that they have a two-way mic. So when I would mm-hmm. <affirmative>, see, you know, Mo, when I, I would get the notification that there was motion at the camera and I would look and it would be something other than Toby, uh, I would just say, God, you know, get away. Yeah. And they would kind of freak out and they would leave. And fortunately they did every time. But, um, but there were a couple of times when, um, we did catch raccoons despite, you know, our best efforts and we'd have to go out and clean the trap.

(37:52):
Yeah. 'cause you know, when they panic, they're tearing things, they're peeing, sometimes they poop, they, you know, whatever. And you don't want any kind of, even if it were not a diseased animal, you don't want any kind of, um, waste or anything to turn them off the smell of Yeah. You know, you want it to smell like sardines and mackerel and <laugh> ffc and rotche sweet chicken and whatever. Uh, so yeah, that can be a pain. But, um, so that's why, you know, most people who do like a lot of t n r or um, trapping will try to get there within half hour to an hour. But, you know, it just depends on your situation. And it's better to, you know, have them trapped for two hours than not trap them at all. So that's fair. As long as is safe for them. So, um, yeah. So then Mavis came home and you were so happy and, um, we stayed friends and my, my chat uh, threads are super long because our love language is memes and hidden videos. So it's like just pages and pages and pages stupid each other.

Gillian Robertson (39:09):
No, absolutely. I know I was thinking about it with it being like a year since Mavis has been gone. Yeah. I was like, Mitch and I have been friends for a whole year. I don't think we ever stopped talking after that. Even know you moved away. I know your whole name, but I'm very happy for you.

mitch bernard (39:22):
Um, you should come visit

Gillian Robertson (39:23):
<laugh>. Okay. I'll, um, but yeah, no. And so I think too, sort of after, just to talk about her behavior when she came home

mitch bernard (39:31):
A little bit. Yes. Yeah.

Gillian Robertson (39:33):
Um, so she did yell for like 24 hours <laugh>. But then I think, 'cause I was scared that we were gonna have to start from like square one with like socializing her again. Like I had no idea what she had been through. Yeah. But I think around like day three or four, she was like, um, back. Yeah. Like, and she had that's

mitch bernard (39:49):
Fine.

Gillian Robertson (39:50):
Kind of calmed down a bit with like, she was almost more clingy after she got back. I think that she was just so grateful to be home. Yeah. And now she's, she's still super lovable, but sometimes I'm, it does take time. But I think once she realized that she was in her safe space again

mitch bernard (40:03):
Yeah. It

Gillian Robertson (40:04):
Was all good.

mitch bernard (40:05):
Yeah. And she knew both of you and like, yeah. There's no, there's not like a lot of, um, disruption in the house, like new pets or new kids or, you know, a lot of business travel or something like that around that time. So she had a chance to really kind of settle back in and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, feel, feel like her maus self again. So, which is awesome. Is she coming by?

Gillian Robertson (40:29):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> <laugh>.

mitch bernard (40:30):
Well there. She's Hi baby girl. Oh my goodness. So sweet. Yeah. Oh, hi cutie. Oh my goodness. She did. Are you cute? You're very cute. It's like a really, she's like, this is not what I came over here for. <laugh>. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me your story, tell the listener our story. 'cause it's a good story. And, um, you really did a lot of things right and Oh, I, I'm hoping that I will get to interview the person I'm, uh, thinking of here. But we were talking about the other cat that you saw that reminded you that made you thought might be Mavis. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I did work on a case where, um, a guy was missing his orange tabby and Oh

Gillian Robertson (41:16):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

mitch bernard (41:17):
Found a cat and was actually, a lot of times he, some people would find an orange cat and he was certain that it was, it was his cat, but at one point they trapped a cat and he would really thought it was his cat brought it home like in a carrier, brought it home. Yeah. And, and only found out later that it wasn't his cat. Fortunately he did not give up on his own cat. He found out the story behind the cat that he had brought home and that he, that that cat had been tossed out of his home and so was homeless. And so he now has both cats. So, um, I guess I just spoiled the story if he does come on the show. But <laugh> <laugh>, it's still such a good story, but yeah, it's really easy to, um, mistake another cat for your own, uh, especially when you really want it to be yours and be done with it. So, um, absolutely.

Gillian Robertson (42:11):
Was it, was it you that I was talking about that caps have a distinct whisker pattern that like

mitch bernard (42:17):
I, someone told me that Yeah, I don't know whether it was you or,

Gillian Robertson (42:21):
So if you have a closeup picture of their face, you can sort of tell based on like how many, like little, I don't know, like dimples or like pores that they have

mitch bernard (42:28):
Foll for the whi like follicles or whatever. Yeah,

Gillian Robertson (42:29):
Yeah. The follicles. Um, you can identify cats that look similar by their whiskers if you have a close picture

mitch bernard (42:36):
Of them. That is really cool. Actually. I should try doing that with Tarka to see like what his pattern is. 'cause um, I think it's really important to have good pictures, maybe video just for that identification stuff. 'cause it is hard to be sure, especially if you have a kind of common looking, like to me, TACAS looks unlike any other black cat in the world, <laugh> because of his particular like body shape and build Yeah. And everything. But, um, yeah, it can be, it can be hard to, to distinguish, you know, if you're not, if they're not there and you're just wanting it to be them. So

Gillian Robertson (43:14):
Yeah, it takes so many good pictures of your cats for multiple reasons, but also in case you ever need to make a poster <laugh>.

mitch bernard (43:19):
That's right. They're great. Luckily I

Gillian Robertson (43:21):
Had like thousands and thousands to choose from. But

mitch bernard (43:24):
Yeah, me too. I keep a couple in my favorites folder and that's about it. Yeah. Otherwise I just, they're just all pal mail through my <laugh>

Gillian Robertson (43:31):
Through my

mitch bernard (43:32):
Photo library. Um, well it was really nice to see you see your face. Yeah. After all this time. So, uh, you know, invitations open, come up to Vermont, we'd love to have you <laugh>. Awesome. Yeah, thank you for having me. And talk time high and then kisses for Mavis if she'll accept them. You know, <laugh>,

Gillian Robertson (43:51):
She's eating a bug right now, but we'll let her know.

mitch bernard (43:53):
<laugh>. Nice. Good job. Good job. Uh, so take care and I will talk to you soon.

Gillian Robertson (43:59):
All right. Thank you <laugh>. Bye.

mitch bernard (44:04):
No place like Home is a podcast about missing pets. I feature content from owners, finders, volunteers, and professionals. I always appreciate a rating and review on your podcast app. And I'll follow on Facebook where you can find the show at N P L H as in no place like Home Mitch. Find episodes, transcripts, and additional information at no place like home.buzz sprout.com. If you have questions or feedback, you can contact me at m mitch@gmail.com. Remember to always think missing, not stray or dumped. This podcast was created, hosted, recorded, and produced by me, Mitch Bernard. The opinions expressed on this show are those of the people expressing them and do not necessarily represent the views of any other entity.