Looking For Riley

I've written a number of stories over the years during my time as reporter and editor about missing dogs and cats.

The frantic searches for much-loved animals sometimes had happy endings, sometimes sad.

Now I am writing my own story. And I am hoping for a happy ending.

The last time we saw our beautiful nine-year-old tabby Riley was in our house Friday night. By Saturday morning, he had disappeared.

My fiancee had left the house around 7 a.m. Saturday and is positive Riley did not slip out when he opened the door. I woke up a little later, called Riley and got no response.

Cats can be goofy. Sometimes they will be sleeping in a nearby chair or bed and not come when you call them. I figured that's what Riley was doing. But after four hours and no kitty, I got worried.

We ransacked the house, looked under beds, in closets, under the crawl space, the garage. We looked anywhere and everywhere over and over again.

Riley and our other two cats are indoor cats. They don't go out, period. So he had no collar on, although he is micro-chipped. And he was never one of these cats that lurks by a door, waiting for a chance to dash out. But somehow he must have gotten out.

He's a big, 18-pound lovable baby who heads under the bed at the first rumble of thunder. He's afraid of nine-pound Zooey, even though he's twice a big.

So how he got out or why he got out is a mystery. We sprung into action, made up posters with his picture, tacked them on phone poles in our Bayville neighborhood.

I posted on Facebook. I've gone door to door to neighbors, showing them his picture, handing out my phone number and asking them to check their sheds and any other spot he might be hiding in.

Riley is probably scared. He's a big tabby cat with brown fur and black stripes. He has green eyes. He also has no teeth. He contracted calicivirus as a younger cat and it attacked his gums and teeth, which had to be removed.

Chances are, he would not come up to people. But if anyone in the Toms River Shores section of Bayville near the Toms River has seen him, please let us know.

We live at 63 Shorewood Drive, off Chelsea Avenue in Bayville. My phone number is 732-284-6985. E-mail is Patricia.Miller@patch.com or Rib820@aol.com. Please don't hesitate to call, no matter what the hour.

This may not seem like much of a news story to some. It is not. It's a plea for help to locate this big boy who has been such a part of our lives. For anyone who says "it's just an animal," well, you don't get it. Anyone who has ever had a much-loved pet go missing will understand.

Thank you. Riley come home.