I normally stay home during the holidays, but decided to visit a friend of mine who was taking care of her mom who has Alzheimer's. My friend had also volunteered to watch a neighbors house while they were on a cruise.

The neighbors told my friend that their cat had gotten out of the house about 10 days before and they thought she must have been killed by a coyote or racoon because she didn't come back. Their fear was because she is de-clawed, strictly an indoor cat, elderly and not as spry as she used to be that she had been caught.

My friend called me the day before I was to head out and asked if could bring my live trap. She thought she had seen the cat the night before. I am part of an animal rescue group that does Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) and always have a live trap on hand. As I was driving to her house my hope was it be the right cat and that we could catch it in the 24 hour window I had.

When setting up a trap it is good if you have some information on the animal you are trying to catch. I found out that the cat had run out the front door like it does on occasion, but that the owners had recently taken out all the bushes in the front of the house that she normally hid in. So I figured she was disoriented and then became frightened.

My friend thought she had seen her by a culvert and when she used a flashlight could see some eyes and a kitty meowed. Again, she had only seen the cat once before so she wasn't sure it was the right one.

So, I knew where the cat was last seen, that she was de-clawed and probably hadn't eaten consistantly for 10 days. My friend had put food out the night before and it was all gone the next morning. I set the trap in front of the culvert where the cat was last seen. We used the wet cat food that the kitty was used to eating, but only enough to intice her in to the trap.

We checked the trap several times during the day with no luck. Right before we went to bed we checked one more time and sure enough there she was. Of course we didn't know for sure if it was her but once we got her in the house, checked that she was de-clawed, and she beelined to hide under the bed where she normally slept we decided that we had our little girl.

When I went to bed that night (on the bed she was hiding under) about 2am I felt her rubbing her face on my face purring like there was no tomorrow. I think in her way she was thanking me for getting her home.

What a great homecoming the owners are going have when this little girl greets them at the door.

• Have it in area you have seen the cat.
• Put only enough food in the trap to attract the cat
• Have the trap catch as light as possible so the door comes down as soon as the cat steps on the plate.