(Image: kitkatseattle via Instagram)
KitKat, Capitol Hill’s resident Instagram cat, has been missing for three weeks.
Edward, KitKat’s owner and a resident of Capitol Hill, first reported her missing via the Instagram account he created to follow her escapades around Seattle.
“She loves to be outside with a ferocity and a passion,” Edward tells CHS. “She’s just an extraordinarily friendly cat.”
In the post, he said that KitKat had not returned home for a few days and asked that anyone with information about KitKat’s whereabouts let him know. Edward got some responses: one person reported seeing her at the intersection of 12th Ave and E Olive St, and another said they had seen her roaming without her collar. However, those reports were two and a half weeks ago and Edward says he has not heard anything since.
KitKat is a three-year-old tabby/Bengal mix and has been an outdoor cat for her entire life. Edwards says often he would get several concerned calls from people who thought KitKat was lost when they found her roaming in the city.
“On a weekend night I would get three to four calls from people who were concerned about her,” said Edward. That’s when he decided to install a GPS tracker in her collar and create the Instagram account to record her adventures using the tag #kitkattravels.
Edward says that KitKat has roamed everywhere, including the insides of other people’s apartments through windows the unsuspecting homeowners left open. In her travels, KitKat collects notes on her collar from the people who’ve encountered her, many of which Edward then posts on his Instagram.
While KitKat has been gone overnight before, this is by far the longest time she has been away from home.
Edward says that although he’s been doing the standard things like checking the pound and the deceased animal reports and putting up fliers, he suspects that her collar fell off and someone took the extraordinarily friendly cat home, thinking she was a stray.
Anyone who has seen KitKat roaming Capitol Hill without her collar should let her owners know by contacting the @kitkatseattle Instagram account.
Lost (and found!) pets
While CHS free classifieds are getting re-tooled, you can still put the site to use spreading the word about a lost pet or found critter with a CHS Community Post. Here are some recent notices — this kitty was found, this doggie is lost. Spread the word. Check out Lost and Found community posts here.
I am trying so very hard not to be a jerk (and failing), but this is why cat rescue groups generally advocate for indoor-only homes. No matter how wonderful and street-savvy your kitty is, they’re at much greater risk for being lost or facing an early demise. It sounds like KitKat was determined to be an outdoor cat, but if you happen to adopt a kitty, please try for indoors first!
I feel for the owner but agree with you, Meg.
Also, cats decimate the bird population, so indoors only is good for cats and our feathered friends.
I agree with you Meg. I hope nothing bad happened to this cat. It would be great if cats could be outdoors but it really is not safe for them in the city.
Not trying too hard, I see. A person’s pet is missing; I’m sure the last thing they want to hear is armchair cat activism from a stranger.
I think I saw this cat in the front yard of an old Victorian on 13th right before Pine (across the street from the fire station) this morning! Incredibly friendly little lady, seems similar to the pic here. Meowed and let me pet her. I wish I’d seen this post sooner. I will get in contact if I see her again!
This is sad to hear hopefully someone finds KitKat.
She visited me at my old apartment at 14th & Howell a couple times about 9 months ago.
I think I also saw this adorable feline Wednesday evening near 11th E between Republican and Harrison. About 6-7pm. I was on my balcony looking on the street and she was wandering around a mewing at people.
I came downstairs and outside and she came up to me and I noticed she had no tags. Put out some dry food and water, but she didn’t seem interested. Stuck around for five minutes then went on her way.