How a bowl of water & a pair of scissors can help your lost cat to come home.


Backstory:

About 4 months ago, Leon & I brought an orange tabby kitten home.
Usually we don't pick up kittens from the roadside but when we found it, it was all by itself.
It didn't wanna let us go and kept following Leon.
Quite a heart wrenching moment because it was so tiny and helpless.
In the end, we decided to bring it back to foster and hope to find a home for it.

Fast forward to today, he became a failed foster and now our home is his furever home.
One day, he was playing (more like messing up) with my sister's honey packaging sticker.
One small strip of sticker with the word "Unrefined, 100% Natural" was stuck on him.
Thanks to his golden fur, my sister gave him a very sweet name -- Honey.

Jolly (Left) & Honey (Right) - now they are best buddies.
Few weeks ago, Honey went missing.
Nobody has seen him for the entire day and usually he is always seen with his big brother Jolly.
We've searched the entire house inside out and checked every single corner.
No sign of him.
I spent some time to go through our house CCTV recordings and spotted something.

In the middle of the night, Jolly & him went to my neighbour's house and chilled at the gate pillar.
Hours later, only Jolly came back.
Honey was left there.
Probably went around to explore but cannot find his way back.

We started going around that area to call for him.
We even go into that house to check if he is in there.
No sign of him.
I got worried.
Really worried.

November is a wet month in Kuantan.
We get rain every day and night so it made the search harder.

If he is few years old then I won't be so concern about his whereabouts but he is just a kitten.
A few months old, not experience enough to protect himself.
He does not even know how to search for food because, well, we spoiled him.
All he need to do is sit down like a good dog during meal times and food will be served in his bowl.

I am out of ideas and the rain doesn't show signs of slowing down.
Instinctively, I picked up my phone, opened up a web browser and typed this question (in Mandarin) into a Chinese based cat lover group on Facebook
"My cat is missing. Anyone knows some tips or hacks to find a cat?"

30 minutes later, a few group members commented (in Mandarin) and most of their replies were
"Try scissors method."
"Scissors method worked for me. Try it."


SCISSORS METHOD???
Wtf is this?
I googled the keyword in Mandarin and wow, there are many blogs and forums talked about it.
All results were in Mandarin.
This method is really simple so I was abit skeptical.
But, no harm trying right?
We need him to find his way back as soon as possible.

Within 30 minutes, I got everything set up and the waiting game starts.

It was still raining.
My expectation was low.

Suddenly, I had this instinct telling me to go to my car porch to check it out.
I walked out of my house and said "Meow meow, Honey where are you?"
Then, I heard some soft meows coming from the front gate.

Raindrops were hitting the roof and it was really noisy so I thought I heard it wrongly
The meows got louder and louder.
It caught my attention so I listened closely.

My my, that's Honey's meow!
It's him!
I grabbed an umbrella, opened the main gate and walked out to check where is he.
An orange little cat came out from the drain right in front of my house, meowing as loud as he could, running towards my direction.
To my surprise, he was dry.
It has been raining for more than an hour but his fur coat was barely wet.

Was he there the whole time?
How come he didn't respond to us?
Or did he just found his way back?
If he was moving around, how come he is still dry?
These questions will never be answered.

AMAZING.
HONEY IS BACK. 
HE FOUND HIS WAY HOME.
THE SCISSORS METHOD WORKED.

I don't know if this is an coincidence or it really worked.
But I did spent the entire day going around to find him and the result was disappointing.
He came back shortly after I did the scissors method.
MAGIC OR WHAT?!

OK NOW IT'S TIME TO SHARE ABOUT THIS MAGICAL SCISSORS METHOD.

First of all, I cannot trace the source of this method.
Google result showed nothing about the history or who invented it.
All I can get from these sources in Mandarin is this is an ancient Chinese method.
This knowledge were passed down from generations ago.
When I googled "Scissors method to find cat" in English, the results are about how to trim your cat's fur with a scissors.
NONE of the result is related to a missing cat.

WHAT YOU NEED:
+ Bowl

+ Water
+ Scissors
+ Stove top

HOW TO SET UP:

1. Find the stove top in your house - the one that you are using it to cook frequently.

2. Fill up a bowl with water.

3. Place a bowl of water in between the stove top.
If you only have one cook top, place it in the middle of it.

4. Open the scissors and put it on top of the bowl. Can be inside the bowl too if your bowl is bigger than the scissors.

5. Point the opening of the scissors to your gate/main entrance/window that your cat always use to go out. Ignore the walls or anything that blocked the sight of the entrance. As long as the opening is pointing to the direction.

6. Say out your cat's name out loud for 3 times (some say can think about it)

7. WAIT PATIENTLY.
The longer your cat is missing, the longer you'll have to wait.
A guy said he left the formation there for a week for his cat that was missing for 6 weeks.
Another guy said his cat was missing for few months and came back after he set this up for 2 weeks.

8. Don't move the formation until your cat comes home.
If you accidentally move it, reset the steps and set it up again.

9. When your cat is back, carry it up, circle around the stove top for 3 rounds and say THANK YOU.


EASY PEASY! Nothing complicated.

Now, let me explain the theory.

Chinese believe in the Five Elements Philosophy and it signifies the interaction and relationship between things.

In this case, this is how these items fit into this five elements.

Metal - Scissors (acts as a compass to show your cat the direction to your house.)
Wood - Cat
Water - a bowl of water
Fire - Stove top
Earth - Where you are and also the guardian of the land

Using this method, we prepare 4 out of the 5 elements and the only thing missing from it is the CAT.
Theoretically, the cat will find it's way back to complete this five elements.

It's not complicated at all.
Again, I don't know who invented this method.
I cannot find any results from my Google digs.

Some of you must be wondering, CAN I USE THIS METHOD TO FIND MY DOG TOO?
I haven't try so I don't know.
The results and comments online are all about cats.
Nobody mention if their missing dog came back with this method.
You can try.
Remember to let me know whether it works.

Under the same Facebook post with my questions, some group member commented this is a pointless and superstitious method.
They said they tried and it didn't work.
Well, nobody said this is a 100% successful method.

As a cat owner, I'll do anything to get my love back as long as it doesn't break the law.
It is a very normal reaction because when something you love is missing, you will try any method to find it.
As long as there is something to hope.

Here are some extra tips to find your cat:
1. Leave the litter box outside the house so your cat can smell the scent and find it's way back.
2. Find cat after 10pm. Usually the roads are not busy after 10pm and cat feels safer to come out after that.
3. Talk to all your neighbours. Print out flyers or banners and distribute to each house.
4. Make a post on social media and share it to all local community groups.

Finding a cat can be a very tricky thing because sometimes they will hide in a dark corners or under the drain out of fear.
It will not show up regardless how loud you call it was too terrified of the new environment.
This method only works for cat that really wants to come home.
It won't work on cats that already found a new home or they just want to stay out there.

The quest on searching a missing pet is never easy.
It takes strong determination, patience and stamina.
This scissors method is not a guaranteed successful way but most people find it useful.
Just take it as a reference ok?

Last but not least, I don't get the point of leaving nasty comments (booooooo keyboard warrior!)
on articles that are intended to help people. 
What are you trying to prove? 
Are you trying to tell everyone that you are better and smarter than anyone else?
I bet you don't have a better solution.
Most of the time, keyboard warriors don't have any solutions.

They only know how to complain.

Bromance going strong! 

If you are reading this post because you are looking for your cat, I wish you the very best of luck!
Don't give up! 

Thanks for reading!

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