Ten weeks missing!

Hard to believe Bender has been gone this long already -- I was fairly sure he would have been back within a week or two. Well, the search goes on, and "no news" continues to be "good news." We still get a few calls a week, but none that are him - the nice thing is that people are still looking and calling. I hope he's warm and safe somewhere, and I'm relying on his microchip and a few nice people to bring him home - I don't care if it takes a year or ten years. Meanwhile, Julius has developed a fondness for crackers.

Meet Julius & Cow-Cow!

During our search for Bender, we've somehow been persuaded to adopt these two, who we met along the way. Julius was given to us by a very nice lady down the block - and, well, that was pretty much love at first sight. He's pretty rambunctious, and he's still eating warmed formula with his food, but hey, how could you not want this little guy? Cow-Cow we found during a recent "Bender sighting" in a field a few miles away. We've been posting "found cat" ads everywhere, but no one is claiming her. She appears to have made herself at home, so, unless someone claims her, I guess she's staying.

A cat with a collar and tag? Now we're talking.

The calls seem to come in waves - some days I get none, some days several. Today I've had two calls about a sighting of a Benderlike cat in the same spot in my own neighborhood, but this time with a round collar! Yahoo! This would mark the very first time someone has spotted a similar cat and been certain that it also had a round tag on a collar - as Bender did when he left. Getting my hopes up? You bet. Gabe and I wandered around tonight in that area with flashlights, assisted by a few Good Samaritans - no sign of the cat, but if it was Bender, then we're close. We also had a call the other day from a guy three miles due east of here who's sure he's been feeding Bender in his backyard for two months. Hey, I'll check out every call - please keep looking! Oh, and we did adopt Julius and Cow-Cow. Man, when Bender comes home, it's going to be a very full house. How did I ever get into this?

Someone else has gone missing.

In my search, I've met some wonderful people who have also lost their animals. This handsome young guy is Lucas, and he disappeared from his home in Folsom in mid-November. His mom is going just about crazy looking for him. When he left, Lucas was wearing a light green collar with a red heart ID tag and a small bell. For those of you who live in the Folsom area, could you keep your eyes open for him? His mom misses him terribly.

Bender may have company when he returns.

I haven't made any promises yet, but this very nice lady who I met in my travels assures me this little guy, Julius, would be perfect as a companion for Max (Bender's original buddy, still at home and a little lonely). She's been bottle-feeding him, but says he's now ready to go home. With me. She says there are very few people she would trust him with, but I am one of them (I know, I know, I am such a sucker for flattery). But I couldn't possibly take him . . . could I? That would be . . . three cats. And that's not counting Bender. Uh-oh . . . am I turning into "that guy?" Should I just give in and start wearing my hair in a comb-over?

Still no Bender, but look at this girl!

It's now been over two months, and still not a single confirmed sighting of Bender. Many, many calls for look-alikes, and a lot of near-misses, but not a single call that I know for sure is Bender. I'm doing a lot of walking and have made a lot of new friends, but still no Bender. By no means are we giving up, though -- the search continues. Some of the big signs are starting to disappear, so we're busy keeping those in shape and making sure people know that he's still gone - in short, annoying everybody. Two days ago I received a call from a woman who was sure she had found Bender in a field - I went out there, climbed through a barbed-wire fence and found, not Bender, but this little girl - quite lost and afraid, but well-fed and friendly. Because none of the local neighbors knew who she was, I took her home - temporarily. Just for a few days. I swear. Until we find the true owner. And, until then, we've named her Cow-Cow.