Couple's search for kitten lost in Olga

Of all the places my husband and I like to go boating in the San Juans, Olga is among our favorites. We knew there was something "special" about Olga the very first time we visited. As we walked down the main street, we were amazed at how plentiful all the fruit trees seemed to be. There is almost a surrealistic feeling as one walks through Olga. It is a very peaceful and beautiful little town. I got the feeling that it is also a very close-knit community.

Well, the weekend before last confirmed everything I've just said and more, so......

On the weekend of Aug. 12-14 my husband Eric and I, along with our our two 10- month-old kittens, went boating and ended up staying at the Olga dock. Both our cats have been boating with us since they were months of age, and they really enjoy the adventures. While sitting in our boat on the dock Saturday evening, we met a friendly couple, Tom and Gail Glasser, who live in Olga. They ended up by inviting us over to share some wine. Having strangers invite you to one's home nowadays is rather unusual -- so we were quite surprised by their kind gesture. We never took them up on it that evening. However, come Sunday morning, everything changed!

My husband got up very early Sunday morning (about 5 a.m.) in preparation to return to LaConner. He realized that one of our cats "Aslan" was missing. Somehow, the kitten managed to pull away the cushion that was blocking the zippered door which leads out to the stern of our boat. Aslan must have been determined to get out, because he had to squeeze through the narrow bottom of the door.

My husband began looking in the water, and up and down the long dock, for a dead floating cat. He also looked all around Olga, calling out his name, then woke me up and let me know the bad news.

We looked several more times, thinking the worst -- that he had fallen in the water and drowned. We saw his little foot prints of dew starting at the stern and ending at the very tip of the bow. It either looked like he jumped from there (which is quite a long way from the dock) or double backed to the stern and jumped from there. In any case, we hoped he made it to the dock and was somewhere in town.

We had to be back in La Conner at 9 a.m., and had the most terrible feeling as to what we had to do -- leave him stranded on Orcas Island, somewhere. We had one ray of hope left, and that was to go to the home of Harvey and Gail Glasser. We walked over and felt awful about waking them up so early on a Sunday morning. To our surprise, they were not in the least bit put off or troubled by us coming to their home for help. They promptly both comforted us and made "Lost Cat" signs to post around town. Harvey drove us around, posting the signs, at major attractions like Olga Café / Orcas Island Artworks and the Post Office. Soon the whole community as well as visitors would be aware of Aslan's misfortune.

We finally had to leave Olga, and we promised to keep in touch. Gail called me later that night to let me know she contacted another couple from Olga, Jess and Norene Nealy, who had recently lost their cat "Asia," and that the community had helped them find her just a couple of weeks ago. Norene and her husband took it upon themselves to set two humane traps starting Sunday night, and every night therafter, in hopes of capturing Aslan.

The traps were provided by Betty and Roy Williams. This is how Asia was captured, and it seems to work the best for cats that are extremely frightened and unfamiliar with their surroundings.

In the meantime, Gail's daughter was making calls and trips to Orcas' Animal Protection Society, where Marsha Waunch and Ann Ramsey assisted in keeping me posted with any recent findings of cats that might meet the description of Aslan.

Because of our work, Eric and I wouldn't be able to go back to Olga until the following Saturday, Aug. 20. We hopped on the 6:55 p.m. ferry from Anacortes and arrived at Norene's home at about 8:30 p.m. She was so gracious and humble and again helped us set the two traps that evening. Eric purchased a night scope, and I brought Aslan's favorite monkey toy that makes a real life monkey sound, as well as the "clicker" that I use to train him.

I started at the dock by the thick blackberry bushes calling his name, along with the familiar sounds of the clicker and monkey toy.

This went on for a good half hour. I then wanted to check the other side of the dock, but it was in a neighbor's backyard. I proceeded to knock on their door as they were having dinner. I was warmly greeted and they were more than happy to allow me to go into their back yard to hunt for Aslan. They had heard about Aslan and hoped I would find him. Eric continued to look further down from their home. After a futile attempt in their backyard I went back to the blackberry bushes. It was getting close to dusk and had only a few minutes of light left. I sat down about five feet from the bushes and continued to call for him, and click and squeeze his monkey toy. I was starting to feel like we would never see him again.

All of a sudden he appeared, about three feet from me. It was a miracle! He actually let me grab him, and I proceeded to get his walking jacket on and into our truck. He immediately inhaled the food I had brought for him. He was one happy kitty!!! I called Eric, and he couldn't believe it. Once we had him safely in the truck, we went to let Norene know, and I also stopped to tell the neighbor whom I had asked for permission to look in their backyard. It was such a happy ending for everyone!! We took the 10:55 p.m. ferry back to Ancacortes and got home about 1:30 a.m.

I just wanted to dedicate this story to the community of Olga and thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to find Aslan.

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