Here's an incredible ending to what could otherwise have been a horrible tale...Saturday night, I was taking the new cat to a friend's house for the night to give the ferrets some well-needed alone time, and apparently, Buttons decided to sneak out into the hall. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal because the hall is inside our apartment building and there are 3 separate doors between my door and the exits. But, since I was gone overnight, apparently someone at some point someone either opened the door for her or she managed to sneak out. I came home and saw a huge hole dug in the carpet in front of my door, a couple of ferret poopies in the corner, and a cup of water that someone had set out for her. My heart just sunk. I immediately knew what had happened - I could almost see her laying in front of my door - and alternated roaming the building with walking around the outside, calling her, about once an hour for most of the night. This morning I called the Humane Society, the APA, and the city pounds, without any success. My last call - a call I really didn't want to make - was to Kurt and Sara Peterson at FURRY. I say that I didn't want to call because I knew it was the last chance for me to find her, and for them to have her would mean that she would have gotten outside and roamed around - a prospect I didn't even want to think about. But I called, and they had gotten a call from some people who found a little girl, pretty much across the street from me, and gave me the number. When I went to pick her up, they said that she had gone into their apartment building and was insistently scratching at the upstairs neighbor's door. The guy upstairs thought she was a rat, and brought her down to his friends to show them. By the grace of God, they had seen FURRY at a nearby PetsMart a week or two ago, called PetsMart, got the number, and contacted FURRY. Hence, I have Buttons back - dirty, scaped up and exhausted, but home. I cannot thank the Petersons enough for their help! Their dedication to education days - they regularly go to 7 area pet stores - is directly responsible for reuniting me with Buttons. If they hadn't gone to Petsmart, the people who found Buttons wouldn't have known what to do with her, or maybe even what kind of animal she was. I would have put up neighborhood signs today, but who knows what would have happened then -- the point is that community education really does make all the difference. BIG HUGS to everyone at FURRY!!!!!!!!!!! Melissa Mishka & a tired, but happy, Buttons. [Posted in FML issue 3039]