Mu Finds Blaze, the Fluffy Orange Cat in the Woods
On Thursday, May 24, 2018, Mu searched for a lost cat named Blaze. The previous day, this cat had escaped from a faulty pet carrier in front of a veterinary office in Bothell. His family had brought him there to have a lump on his abdomen checked. Blaze, a fluffy orange cat, eight years old and sixteen pounds, ran into the woods near the vet's office. These woods were about five acres, and very dense with thick underbrush. Many people searched for him and called his name for hours, but they couldn't find him. I advised his family to set a humane trap overnight, but after his traumatic experience with the pet carrier, I wasn't sure if he would go into a trap. Often, in a case where a cat is lost in an area with lots of hiding places, I would normally recommend using the trap and not using the cat-detection dog right away. In thick woods, there is the risk of scaring a cat away with the noise of stepping on twigs and brush. Because Blaze didn't go into the trap overnight, and he might have an aversion to the trap, I agreed to bring the search dog.
Mu and I started searching about noon. It was cloudy, and the weather app on my phone said it was 59 degrees, but it felt warmer to me. When the temperature rises above 63 degrees, Mu becomes less efficient as a search dog because if he starts panting too much, the incoming air mostly bypasses his olfactory membrane. I wanted to find Blaze quickly, before Mu got too warm. About 30 minutes into our search, Mu found coyote scat, and pointed it out to me. You can almost always tell what a coyote has been eating because they consume the fur and bones of their prey. This coyote had eaten a white cat some time in the last couple of weeks, it appeared, judging by the fur. Coyotes don't normally prey on domestic pets, but once one of them starts doing it, he usually continues, creating a surge in lost cat posters in an area. Normally, I wouldn't say it was particularly urgent to find a lost cat within the first 24 hours, but in the case of Blaze, with his unknown illness and coyotes in the area, I felt like we really needed to find him fast.
We continued the search, into the dense woods. I tried to start working on the far side of where I thought Blaze would likely be, so that if we flushed him out of hiding, he would move closer to his owner, who was waiting near where the trap was set, close to the vet's office. It is never our goal to flush a cat out of a hiding place, but I try to work the dog so that if it does happen, the cat moves closer to safety. About an hour into the search, Mu found more coyote scat. In this case, the coyote had eaten a grey cat, some time within the last two weeks. It appeared the woods were home to one or more coyotes in the habit of killing cats.
Because it was cloudy and I couldn't use the sun for direction, I used my phone to track our movements and try to search the woods in a methodical way. We looped through the woods once and came out in a nearby apartment complex. Blaze didn't appear to be in the apartment complex, and we found no signs that he had been taken by a coyote. We entered the woods in a new location, and carefully searched a new area. I was trying to move slow and quiet, so as not to displace Blaze, but the dense brush made it hard to be quiet. About 90 minutes into the search, as the temperature was climbing closer to the 63 degree mark, Mu hit on the fresh scent of a cat. I held him back, so he didn't advance too quickly, but up ahead of him I saw Blaze pop out of a fern and jump over a log. It was great that we found him, but unfortunate that he bolted.
I called his owner, and asked her to go the apartments because it seemed Blaze was headed that way. Mu and I continued to track Blaze, trying not to make him feel more panic, but Mu was very excited, and not very stealthy. Ahead of us, I saw Blaze run up a tree. This was good, in a way, because at least he wouldn't be running farther away. Mu and I went to the base of the tree, hoping to keep him there until his owner came, but Blaze jumped down. I was worried we might lose him, but Blaze just froze, about twelve feet ahead of us. He didn't like the dog following him, and he somehow knew that it's best not to run from a dog and make him chase. Blaze was going to stand his ground and give Mu hell if he got too close. Blaze was stressed, and obviously not in a good mood.
I guided his owner into the woods, but it took her a long time to get to us because the brush was so dense. In places, she had to crawl to get to us. I tied Mu to a tree, and I was able to get within about four feet of where Blaze was crouched. I didn't want to grab at him because he looked like he might bolt. As his owner approached, Blaze would get up as if getting ready to bolt, so would instruct her to stop approaching until he relaxed again. In this way, moving about five feet at a time, she gradually got closer to Blaze. When she was about three feet away, Blaze started to move slowly away, but she was able to gently scoop him up. Once in her arms, he didn't struggle, and he seemed ready to go home. I kept Mu away, and tried to keep him quiet, as the owner carried Blaze out of the woods. A friend met her in a neighboring yard and they climbed into the car, not trying to get Blaze in a carrier. They lived five minutes away, and I was very relieved to get the text message that Blaze was safely in the house without further incident.
I felt very proud of Mu, my partner. He is my best friend, my family, and he is smart and funny, a hard worker and a great companion. He does get a little too excited sometimes, when I wish he would be quieter around a cat, but that energy and enthusiasm is what keeps him working, in dense woods, for hours, when the temperatures start to climb. With my knowledge and experience, I am able to direct him so that his skilled nose has the best chance for success. We make a great team, and I feel a deep connection to him. He means the world to me, and I would do anything for him. I understand, when someone loses a cat, that they have lost a family member, and they would do anything they could to get their cat back. I can just imagine if my Mu was lost, how devastated I would be. My bond with Mu helps us honor the bond people feel with their cats. We don't always find the lost cat, but we do find them about 25% of the time, and for cats like Blaze, we are able to be the answer their families need.
Mu and I started searching about noon. It was cloudy, and the weather app on my phone said it was 59 degrees, but it felt warmer to me. When the temperature rises above 63 degrees, Mu becomes less efficient as a search dog because if he starts panting too much, the incoming air mostly bypasses his olfactory membrane. I wanted to find Blaze quickly, before Mu got too warm. About 30 minutes into our search, Mu found coyote scat, and pointed it out to me. You can almost always tell what a coyote has been eating because they consume the fur and bones of their prey. This coyote had eaten a white cat some time in the last couple of weeks, it appeared, judging by the fur. Coyotes don't normally prey on domestic pets, but once one of them starts doing it, he usually continues, creating a surge in lost cat posters in an area. Normally, I wouldn't say it was particularly urgent to find a lost cat within the first 24 hours, but in the case of Blaze, with his unknown illness and coyotes in the area, I felt like we really needed to find him fast.
We continued the search, into the dense woods. I tried to start working on the far side of where I thought Blaze would likely be, so that if we flushed him out of hiding, he would move closer to his owner, who was waiting near where the trap was set, close to the vet's office. It is never our goal to flush a cat out of a hiding place, but I try to work the dog so that if it does happen, the cat moves closer to safety. About an hour into the search, Mu found more coyote scat. In this case, the coyote had eaten a grey cat, some time within the last two weeks. It appeared the woods were home to one or more coyotes in the habit of killing cats.
Because it was cloudy and I couldn't use the sun for direction, I used my phone to track our movements and try to search the woods in a methodical way. We looped through the woods once and came out in a nearby apartment complex. Blaze didn't appear to be in the apartment complex, and we found no signs that he had been taken by a coyote. We entered the woods in a new location, and carefully searched a new area. I was trying to move slow and quiet, so as not to displace Blaze, but the dense brush made it hard to be quiet. About 90 minutes into the search, as the temperature was climbing closer to the 63 degree mark, Mu hit on the fresh scent of a cat. I held him back, so he didn't advance too quickly, but up ahead of him I saw Blaze pop out of a fern and jump over a log. It was great that we found him, but unfortunate that he bolted.
I called his owner, and asked her to go the apartments because it seemed Blaze was headed that way. Mu and I continued to track Blaze, trying not to make him feel more panic, but Mu was very excited, and not very stealthy. Ahead of us, I saw Blaze run up a tree. This was good, in a way, because at least he wouldn't be running farther away. Mu and I went to the base of the tree, hoping to keep him there until his owner came, but Blaze jumped down. I was worried we might lose him, but Blaze just froze, about twelve feet ahead of us. He didn't like the dog following him, and he somehow knew that it's best not to run from a dog and make him chase. Blaze was going to stand his ground and give Mu hell if he got too close. Blaze was stressed, and obviously not in a good mood.
I guided his owner into the woods, but it took her a long time to get to us because the brush was so dense. In places, she had to crawl to get to us. I tied Mu to a tree, and I was able to get within about four feet of where Blaze was crouched. I didn't want to grab at him because he looked like he might bolt. As his owner approached, Blaze would get up as if getting ready to bolt, so would instruct her to stop approaching until he relaxed again. In this way, moving about five feet at a time, she gradually got closer to Blaze. When she was about three feet away, Blaze started to move slowly away, but she was able to gently scoop him up. Once in her arms, he didn't struggle, and he seemed ready to go home. I kept Mu away, and tried to keep him quiet, as the owner carried Blaze out of the woods. A friend met her in a neighboring yard and they climbed into the car, not trying to get Blaze in a carrier. They lived five minutes away, and I was very relieved to get the text message that Blaze was safely in the house without further incident.
I felt very proud of Mu, my partner. He is my best friend, my family, and he is smart and funny, a hard worker and a great companion. He does get a little too excited sometimes, when I wish he would be quieter around a cat, but that energy and enthusiasm is what keeps him working, in dense woods, for hours, when the temperatures start to climb. With my knowledge and experience, I am able to direct him so that his skilled nose has the best chance for success. We make a great team, and I feel a deep connection to him. He means the world to me, and I would do anything for him. I understand, when someone loses a cat, that they have lost a family member, and they would do anything they could to get their cat back. I can just imagine if my Mu was lost, how devastated I would be. My bond with Mu helps us honor the bond people feel with their cats. We don't always find the lost cat, but we do find them about 25% of the time, and for cats like Blaze, we are able to be the answer their families need.