Woman Desperately Searching For Missing Cat Before Snowstorm

MATTITUCK, NY — Buddy, a black cat from Mattituck who's won hearts around the neighborhood, went missing Monday — and his owner is desperate to get him home before the coming snowstorm and brutally cold temperatures.

According to a Neighbor Post on Patch by Patricia Wright, Buddy is a male; he went missing from Wavecrest Lane at the crossroad of Reeve Road in the Saltaire Estates community in Mattituck.

Buddy, she said, "never misses a meal and was not fond of the cold. We are desperately looking for him with this bitter cold and snow coming."

Buddy is wearing a camouflage collar with an ID tag and is microchipped. He has a white patch under his neck and faint white markings on one side. Anyone with any information or sightings is asked to call 631-278-7253.

"If you live nearby please check sheds and garages," Wright said, adding that there is a reward for anyone that finds him.

Wright said Buddy was originally from a feral colony. She got him as a kitten and has had him for four years. For the first two years, he was an indoor cat but as time passed, "he got more and more antsy to get outside."

Wright, who brought Buddy to Florida in recent years, where she cared for her mother before she passed away, said her four-legged friend kept getting out the door, but stayed mainly in the yard.

They moved back to Mattituck in August and again, Buddy kept making his great escape, but stayed mostly outside near the house.

Wright, a nurse in Southampton, worked an extra shift Monday and realized soon after that Buddy hadn't come home that night.

"And with this cold, it's really upsetting," she said. "He's just such a sweetheart. He comes when you call him; he's like a little dog."

Wright said she and her husband were out searching for hours, clanking his food bowls and calling his name; their property is sited adjacent to farmland and she is afraid Buddy may have wandered too far.

"He's never missed a meal and since it's been getting so cold, he'd go out for five minutes and then be back at the door," she said. "This time, he stayed out and didn't come to the door. I don't understand what happened."

Wright implored neighbors to check garages and sheds and if Buddy is spotted, to call her so she can come immediately.

Members of the Saltaire Estates community are also worried about their little friend. Neighbors who saw the message about Buddy being missing called from Florida. Buddy, she said, often hangs out in their yard, chasing mice and moles and staring intently at birds. "He entertains them," she laughed. "Buddy is well-known here."

Another woman and her son, who Wright doesn't even know, came to help search door-to-door for hours. "People are so genuinely good," she said.

In addition to her husband and son, Buddy is also greatly missed by their other cat Annabelle and their chocolate Lab Riley, Wright said.

Her heart aches for her little Buddy, Wright said. "I just want him to come home," she said. "I would do anything to get him back."