You know the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’? While for Kathleen Cifu and her neighbors, the same is true of their cat Stormy.
Up until Thanksgiving Day, Stormy has lived in an apartment building between 13th and 14th Avenues W, near W Barrett, as the communal pet of the building. According to Kathleen, a family that moved out of a house across the street three years ago left Stormy behind, and since then “he hasn’t been interested in being anyone’s personal pet.”
“He will saunter into our apartments, but refuses to be stuck indoors, so a small group of us came up with a plan. He lives in a rather elaborate set-up under an eave off the back of my apartment building, which includes a box with a blanket that gets changed once a week, heat lamp, and a waterproof cover in the winter months and a shade screen for the summer. Even though he wishes to remain outdoors, he still loves affection and greets me in the same spot just about every day when I come home,” Kathleen wrote.
On Thursday morning one of Kathleen’s neighbors informed her that Stormy has been taken during the night, most likely by someone who didn’t realize that he was being cared for.
“We are very worried about his safety as he is not an inside cat and refuses to be. We all take care of him and make sure he is safe and warm,” Kathleen wrote. “We provide, food, water, shelter, and heat. We let him into the walk way leading to our doors for a time to warm him up as well. Again, he refuses to be an indoor cat and prefers to live outside.”
“At some point last night someone must have thought he was not taken care of and he was alone because my neighbor woke this morning to find his box, his food/water bowls, his blankets, and the cat himself were all gone. I assure you the cat has been very well cared for and he means the world to all of us. We would like to put out the word for his safe and speedy return. I can provide proof that he lived here as he was featured in the faculty/staff newsletter at SPU.”
Kathleen and her neighbors hope that whoever took Stormy will contact them immediately. Kathleen can be reached at kgcifu@gmail.com.
“We are very worried about Stormy and hold no grudges against who took him as we believe they were just acting out of compassion,” she wrote. “We simply would like them to know he was cared for and we hope he returns.”