This Elsa. She is 6 years old, a bit shy around people, but very cuddly when she warms up. Three weeks ago, we moved to a new apartment. The plan was to take her to the new apartment before the movers came, but came the morning of, and she was nowhere to be found. I tried looking for her, but then the movers were there, and we just had to get going. I continued looking for through the day, but nothing. I was at the old apartment two days in a row afterwards to clean out, with no signs of her anywhere. Eventually, I just came to the conclusion she must have gotten out while the movers were coming in and out. I went looking for her in the woods by the old apartment, sent pictures of her to all my friends, made Facebook posts, and whatnot.
She had not. Three days ago, I got a message from my old renter asking if I was missing a cat. Apparently, the new owners had found her while doing renovations. She was hiding under the kitchen bench. I'm still not sure how she got there. Guys, I was there all alone for two days in a row, and she never made a sound.
Anyways, she was still alive. Luckily, she had access to water in the toilet and was a bit overweight, so she had a bit to get on. But 3 freaking weeks. Without food. I took her to the vet, she spent one night there for observations. They did bloodtests, and yes, she was dehydrated and some other stuff, but overall, she was still in pretty good shape. The vet told me she was expecting a half dead cat when I called to make the appointment. I told her that she was a bit fat before all this, and you know what the vet said? She still is. She is still overweight after 3 weeks without eating.
She is home now, it's a new place and she had been through a horrendous ordeal so I was expecting her to hide for a while before feeling at home at the new place. And hid she did, she found a small opening by the kitchen kabinets and hid, and I swear to god I almost started crying. But she did not stay hidden when I woke up this morning, she was sleeping by my feet as she usually does. She is laying by my side right now and getting all the cuddles I I got a huge vet bill from the whole ordeal, but it doesn't matter because I'm so happy to have my girl back again, safe and sound. So next time somebody calls her fat, I'll just tell them that that saved her life, so let her be her cute chunky self.
Edit: this post exploded so I feel obligated to clarify some points of my post:
• she was hiding under a cupboard, not visible without removing a piece of wood, which is how she was found when the new owners removed it when renovating. English is not my first or even second language so I did not know the right word to describe it.
• the new owners did not move in as they are renovating the apartment first, so there was no food or anyone there, except for a few hours a day when renovating.
• she is going on a diet plan made by the vet after she has fully recovered. I'm also going to have her checked for thyroid as some have mentioned in the comments. She has always been big, almost twice the size of her siblings since a kitten. I do not overfeed her, she usually gets one small portions of food a day. She is not fond of exercise though. I do not think an obese cat is wither cute or healthy, I want her to live a long and happy life. I was obviously not succeeding in getting her weight down, but i promise I'll be more diligent this time and follow the vets advice.
• I did have a plan of taking her to the new apartment before the movers came, got up two hours before they got there and had everything ready to go but she had already gone in to hiding by then. I know better now, thanks to a lot of helpful advice from a lot of you guys, and I will plan and execute it much better next time if I ever move again. I did not abandon her, I genuinely thought she had gotten out and was desperately looking for her in the weeks she was missing. If I had even an inkling of suspicion she was still there, I would have looked harder and informed the new owners. There are a lot of things I could have done better in this situation, and trust me, I'm beating myself every day about. I feel horrible that she had to go through that.
• and last but not least, I do think she found at least some insects and/or rodents to feed on. I understand now that my title is misleading, but I can't do anything about it now. I do not think this was a good way for her to lose weight and I wish none of this had never happened.
She is doing good now. She is in the new apartment and has been exploring the new place. She is getting a lot of cuddles but no treats, at least not yet. I appreciate all the good wishes and have been laughing and crying reading your comments. There are lots of similar stories, so I hope this post at least helps in some way from keeping this from happening to someone else.
I know I'm not perfect and that I did not do everything right, but i do love her very much, and these three weeks have been hell, not knowing where she was or how she was doing. We are very happy to have her home and hope to cherish many years with her still. I'm probably forgetting something but I'm tired now so this will have to do. Thank you so much for all your well wishes.
