Laura Poveromo of Pacific Beach lost Miss Kitty, her precious white female cat, nearly six weeks ago and has been searching for her ever since via a variety of methods including Nextdoor and on social media.
To date, she’s come across nearly every stray white feline in PB – except Miss Kitty.
She even recently “met” Miss Kitty’s near-twin, Jewell.
Unfortunately, the “twins” turned out to be close, but not identical.
“The big difference is Jewell has one blue and one yellow eye,” said Poveromo in a Nextdoor post. “Miss Kitty has two yellow eyes. We are now aware there are like two to three other white cats roaming the same area as what we hope is also Miss Kitty.”
Miss Kitty is a stray Poveromo adopted in Las Vegas and brought with her when she moved to San Diego. Her cat was last seen on Poveromo’s first-floor balcony about 1 a.m. Wednesday, April 20. The kitty has medical issues so finding her quickly is paramount.
“She’s being treated for hypothyroid and taking meds, and without it she could get heart palpitations and will eat more,” Poveromo said. “That’s the scary part, someone who may have found her may not know about the meds situation.”
Poveromo added she hadn’t had Miss Kitty microchipped and had removed her collar right before she left. She added she’s learned these two lessons from the experience thus far: “Always chip your animals, and always have a collar for them with an I.D.”
Miss Kitty is 14 years old with white fur, yellow eyes, and has a sist/lump on her cheek.
The search for Miss Kitty has been both extensive and intensive.
Neighbors on NextDoor, at various times in recent weeks, have sighted her at 3742 Jewell St./La Playa. On Sunday, May 8, someone thinks they spied Miss Kitty at Mooreland Drive and Crown Point Drive near the bushes close to the road at the entry of the park and bay.
“Unfortunately the person who saw her was not able to take or hold her for me,” lamented Poveromo. “This person was kind enough to post on the Pets section of Craigslist with a picture she took of her that day. This is tearing me up – so close, yet so far – looked for hours, nothing yet. Postered the area … praying for the best.”
The month-long search for her cat has been frustrating, admitted Poveromo.
“It’s like a needle in a haystack,” she posted. “She’s always three steps ahead of where I’m searching.”
But Poveromo is thankful for neighbors’ assistance and concern.
“People have been so kind and fast to alert every time they have a sighting,” she said. “Thank you Nextdoor community for keeping a watch out for Miss Kitty. I’m staying vigilant. Meanwhile, we are desperate to find our Miss Kitty.”?
Poveromo has pursued means other than social media to find her cat.
She emailed the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services.
“They replied with a suggestion to rent one of their humane traps to lure Miss Kitty with her favorite food,” Poveromo said. “My concern is I would likely get all the other strays (lots of Tom cats in that area) and varmints (raccoons, possums) before they have a chance to get (Miss) Kitty.”
Poveromo has even gone so far as to contact an animal-welfare group, the feral cat coalition which feeds strays, in the hope they’ll be able to help her with her search.
“I’m hoping to have another sighting so I can jump to it and get my furry girl,” added Poveromo, “people have been so gracious taking their time and energy to help out. People do care.”
Meanwhile, another Nextdoor search for at least one other missing PB cat is on. Mary Dauteuil, of PB North, reports “Rocky” was taken from her home at Agate and Cass streets last August and has been missing since.
“Just recently, I’ve gotten a few ‘sightings’ in both Northern PB and also Mission Beach,” posted Dauteuil, who urged anyone with information about Rocky to call her at 775-225-4189.
Anyone sighting Miss Kitty should contact Poveromo at 858-869-3927 or email [email protected].