JULY 2001

On the day of the move, we sedated Charm for the four hour drive to Texas in order to make the trip a little less stressful for her.  However, she still serenaded Susan with her depressing cat meow (She sounds very sad when she is confined to a cage).  Once we arrived and organized all our stuff, Charm was allowed out of her cage to roam the house.  Over the next few days, Charm remained mostly hidden behind the couch, behind the dryer, or under the kitchen cabinets.  With a little coaxing, she would occasionally come out and socialize.  However, she was always very skittish and we could tell she really wanted to be back outside in the wild.  Therefore, after about three days inside of the house, Susan and I gave Charm her freedom.

In order to make the outside environment more comfortable and familiar, we placed some of Charm's favorite items on the back porch.  This included her food bowl, several toys, and a large plant that she liked to hide behind (It is the same plant you can see in the above Halloween picture).  After releasing her, we returned inside to allow Charm a chance to become familiar with her surroundings...unsure as to whether we would ever see her again.

Susan and I were both pleasantly surprised to see Charm waiting for us the next night behind the bushes near the front door.  During this first evening she discovered she could stand on the outside ledge of the window and look inside to see her favorite cat friends (Charm always liked Calypso...however, Calypso was usually a little scared of Charm).  Unfortunately, this was the last evening Susan and I ever saw Charm.

We're not sure what happened to her, but we have done everything in our power to try and find her.  I have spent hours outside roaming the area calling her name and both Susan and I searched all the local animal shelters.  However, Charm is nowhere to be found.  Our only consolation is that we hope she is happy and enjoying her new home in Texas.  There is a large wooded area to the North and a large creek nearby, so there are plenty of places for her to live and plenty of food to eat.  Hopefully, we will come home someday and find her hiding in our bushes with the desire to resume her relationship with us.

-Nathan