The last time we saw Poppy was Friday 12.9.08 at 9.15pm she and her sister Pixie waited on the steps for me as I came home from work. They walked in with me,and my husband Paul mentioned that Poppy had wolfed down a very big dinner when he came home. After 5 minutes of strokes and saying hello they both went out again.

Going out includes wandering around the gardens which are small enough so that we can see all of it from our patio and front door. There are 5 other ctas who live here and who have all met our girls, Pixie and Poppy. Sometimes they spat at the other ctas, sometimes they played and chased each other across the lawns or into bushes and up small trees. There is one particular bush where Poppy loves to hide and play. In fact, when Paul and I use to call her Poppy would almost always appear from the very same spot - like she has her own little opening in this bush.

Poppy never used to stay out for long, maybe 20-30 minutes at a time, and regularly pops back in for a stroke and to say hello. Sometimes she might go back out for another stint, but mostly she would rather climb up on Paul's chest and fall asleep. There has been once or twice, on very hot summer evenings, where either both Pixie and Poppy, or just Pixie stayed out until the morning. That's why we kept fresh water and a blankie by the front door.

Poppy loves sitting on Paul's chest in fron of the telly, and at nigt she sleeps on his head!

Pixie is always the one who stays out for entended periods, who needs repeated calling to come in and bribes offered to lure her back. Since being a kitten she was always the more independent one. Poppy is more timid, house bound and insecure.

At around 10.30pm Pixie came in on her own accord and went straight to sleep on a chair. Paul and I both remarked immediately that this was odd, firstly that Pixie was in and sleeping before Poppy and secondly that Poppy had not been in to check in with us at all like she does throughout the evening.

We had the front door ajar all evening. I then went out and called Poppy.
There was no sign. As it was quite cold I was feeling uneasy and worried, but still certain she would appear. We waited up and called again and again and eventually went to bed, sure she would be by the door in the morning. I got up at 4am to check, but there was no sign and at 6am when it was light I got up and started the search as I knew then someting had happened.

Poppy is a healthy and lively cat. Although she is timid and nervous, she taught herself to open doors by jumping and hanging from door handles! She also used to climb our open stairs upside down by hooking her claws on the carpeted bits underneath! She has a good apetite and no ailments. She is very petite - at her last vet's visit she weighed in at 1,5kg (3.3lbs).

Pixie changed overnight. Literally. Since Poppy girl went missing she hardly goes out at all anymore, she is always with Paul and I and sleeps between us every night. She has become exceptionally vocal, she never really meowed - now she does the cute little squeak - she has been sqeauking non-stop!

We had around 10 phonecalls at the beginning but these were aways false alarms.