Stella & Stuart’s Big Adventure; pt 4
Missing Cat
I am over 5,000 miles away and my Stuart was gallivanting around in a Slovakian forest.
All hope to find my cat was with strangers.
Thankfully, George and Renee were committed to finding and trapping Stuart. That committment came with struggles.
George had to travel back to Kyiv which left Renee home alone. She was worrying about the safety of her husband who was doing another rescue mission in Ukraine as well as having to deal with finding a lost cat she doesn’t know. This mission seemed impossible.
Over the next few days we stayed hopeful that Stuart would pop up. Renee had Stella confined to a small room to keep her safe, but this was causing havoc to her home. Renee’s cats were outside farm cats and she was not keen on having a new indoor guest.
She needed Stella to get to the foster family in Bratislava.
I needed to not feel like I was separating my cats. And, I needed to feel that Renee was still going to continue to search for Stuart even after Stella was gone.
Everything inside me told me that as soon as Stella was gone, I would lose contact with Renee.
Friends around the globe.
Thankfully, I had friends in Bratislava that could help me get Stella to her foster family. Elle was amazing to join a taxi driver that Lisa found on a 4 hour journey from Bratislava, to the middle of Slovakia, back to Bratislava with my tiny Stella in a plastic carrier to a foster family that I had never met.
Can we sit on that sentence for a minute? Elle, an American displaced from Ukraine in Bratislava. Lisa, an American in Scotland. A Slovakian taxi driver. A Slovakian foster family. An American, stuck in China. And, a Ukrainian cat.This sounds like it should be a “walk into a bar” type of situation.
Stella gets to Loretta. Falls in love with the grandma.
My friend Anna had recommended the family to me and they were welcoming and supportive and caring. The mom, Loretta, was so kind and helpful and her mother, the Grandma, opened up her home to Stella. Elle supplied Loretta with the basics of a litter box, litter, and cat food and Loretta never asked for anything more. Grandma bonded with Stella and the two became quick friends. She made sure Stella everything she needed.
I was a bit jealous when Grandma told me that Stella slept in her bed.
Back to the escape artist, Stuart.
My go-to cat team of Lisa, Olga, and my Mom were my all day and all night messages. We became instantly co-dependent on each other for support. Lisa has experience with trapping cats and this became much needed in communicating with Renee and Frank. While they know how to care for animals, it takes a different set of skills to trap an animal. Especially a cat.
We all thought my fat boy, who loves pillows and blankets, would be found in several days because of the lure of food. He proved us wrong.
Stuart was out in the Slovakian forest for 18 days.
Not sure what the final straw was for Stuart. I think part of his being found was that the day before, I had paid the final piece for Stella’s trip to China sans Stuart. His cat mind saw this in the energy around him and he said, “Hell no, not without me!”.
Those 18 days leading up to his being found were grueling. Lisa, Olga, my Mom, Elle, and my teammates were my constant supports. Lisa had supplied Renee and Frank with food, carriers, and a new trap that was all delivered to their home. I had gone from mandatory quarantine to a city wide lockdown in Shanghai. Olga was in western Ukraine safe from harm and in contact with a shelter in Bratislava to make posters for my missing cat. The three of us argued over carriers and supports for the cats. Lisa had arguments with Frank. Frank was about done with women telling him what to do. I was conflicted with staying in China or leaving to fly to Slovakia to get my cats. The city wide lockdown ensured that I was not able to leave. However, there were many days and weeks where I got to sit on these thoughts and let them fester.
I felt like I could finally breathe when Stuart was with Stella again.
How did Stuart get to Bratislava?
Remember the Slovakian taxi driver?
This sweet man, drove to pick up Stuart and then took him to a vet to get him checked out because Renee had found 3 ticks on Stuart. Loretta, the foster mom, was in contact with the taxi driver and those two coordinated Stuart being seen at the vet. The taxi driver knew the vet and because of the whole story, they didn’t charge me. People are amazing.
Don’t worry. The taxi driver was paid.
Stuart had a total of 9 ticks removed. My forest prince was with his Stella.
Now, to get them to China and get me out of a lockdown.
Stay tuned for part 5!
