My mom’s cat Fred gave us quite a scare a couple weeks ago. My stepfather has entered the wandering phase of Alzheimer’s, and apparently in the middle of the night he opened the front door and managed to shut both Fred and Cookie in between that and the screen door. (Yes, new locks have since been installed…)

As you might expect, Fred was not amused, said nuts to you fella, tore a hole in the screen door and left. Cookie did hop through the hole Fred made (this is a guess; we’re blaming him because he was apparently the most motivated!), but she hung out on the porch until Mom discovered the situation in the morning. Cookie is still a very petite kiddo, even though at two years old she’s theoretically full-grown; not being quite so squeezed, plus her easygoing nature, may account for her equanimity in the face of such an insult. But Fred has been known to make himself scarce inside the house for hours when, say, Kevin and I would come in the door with suitcases (this was early in Fred’s and our relationship; he’s completely cool with us now.) So this quite understandable disappearing act was not exactly out of character.

Mom didn’t let me know about this until Fred had been gone for a day and a half, and she was just at her wits’ end. She had gone all over the neighborhood talking to people and putting up flyers. The neighborhood children, trying to be helpful, had run around all over the place calling him (which was just about as likely to bring him out of hiding as, say, a 747 landing on their street.)

After we got off the phone, I tried to think of ways I could help. I wondered if any pet detectives worked in the area. A Google search turned up the website of Carl Washington, Pet Detective, plus a number of highly complimentary articles about him from other sources, including one that mentioned his successful search for a dog in Chattanooga.

I will admit, I was still a bit skeptical—then I saw that one of the recommendations was by none other than noted cat expert Carole Wilbourn. Ms. Wilbourn’s book Cats Prefer It This Way has been a favorite of mine for years.

So, at 10:30 at night, I called Mr. Washington. He was on his way to Miami for a search, but said if necessary he’d head to Chattanooga afterward.  Meantime, he suggested his very reasonably-priced service where he examines aerial photos, etc. and draws up a specific search plan for the owner to follow, based on his years of experience with the behavior of lost pets. Sounded good to me, so I sent the money via Western Union the next day, as requested, so he could pick it up where he was.

Immediately, even before he had a chance to prepare the custom map, he sent me the generic verbiage that goes along with it, telling what the various marks mean, and what to do at those locations. I immediately forwarded it to Mom, and the instructions were clear enough that she could implement some of the ideas even before she got the map itself. Lo and behold, Fred was enticed home that evening as a direct result of one of the suggestions. Mr. Washington, you have gained several more fans, and you have our heartfelt gratitude.