Cat brothers Draco Malfoy and Sirius Black are good boys who bring magic to their pawrents’ lives. They go everywhere together, including hiking in Jasper National Park. But when Draco slipped his harness on one of these Canadian Rockies adventures, the family was devastated.
There on vacation, Draco’s family searched nonstop for him after a scare made him shuck his harness and run. But after a few days, they had to head home with part of the family missing. Knowing Draco still wandered the forest, it was painful to go, but the search continued via social media, return trips, and Good Samaritans. For seven weeks, the search went on, and Draco remained missing, but then came the best news the Lizaire family could ever hope to hear. Draco had been found!
Family Vacay Turns to Looking for the Lost
In late August, Alix Jena and Jean-François Lizaire and their cats enjoyed the sights on Draco’s favorite trail during a family vacation to the national park in Alberta, Canada. Draco padded along on his leash as he liked to do while brother Sirius hung out in his backpack. This was usual as Draco preferred walking, with mom Alix telling Daily Paws, “The only time he lets us carry him on the trail is over the two bridges, he’s scared of water.”
As the family traversed a narrow part of the trail between an incline and the lake valley, Draco spied hikers in front of them, carrying a canoe over their heads.
Alix explained, “Draco had never seen that before, and I think to him it looked like a big, scary monster.”
“We’ve trained him to jump on our shoulders or in his backpack when he’s scared.”
But sometimes, fear takes the ability for rational thought away from us. Before his parents knew it, Draco had shucked his harness and taken off into the trees. Alix and Jean-Francois were stunned by the disappearing act.
“We spent ten hours that first day scouring the forest,” Alix said. “It was raining and we were soaked by the time we finally accepted defeat and left.”
Searching From Afar
They searched for the remaining days of their vacation but found no cat. Sadly, they had to leave the Alberta park and head home to Edmonton, Canada. The search continued via social media, with the couple asking for help in spotting their missing cat. When days became weeks, hope remained, but fears set in too.
“When you go days and days without a sighting, we thought for sure a coyote got him or he fell and hurt himself. We tried not to think about it too much and every time there was a new sighting it reignited our hope.”
During one of his searches, Jean-Francois spotted Draco at a distance. But Draco didn’t realize it was his dad and dashed away before Jean-Francois could get close enough. With these sightings, Daily Paws reported Draco also left a nice trail of “half-mice along the way.” Though a housecat, Draco seemed to be finding sustenance to keep him going.
Parks Canada and a group of cat-loving volunteers followed the reported sightings, coaxing the tabby boy with food. Finally, after seven long weeks missing, Draco was caught with a humane trap in early October, ending his adventure in the wilds.
“He was clearly thriving as a wild cat,” related Alix, laughing. “I was worried he was going to be feral, unapproachable. But as soon as they got in him the trap he basically remembered, ‘oh yeah, I’m a house cat.'”
And that’s just what happened! As soon as he saw his mom, Draco ran straight into her waiting arms. For nearly two months of forest living, this resourceful cat had only dropped a couple of pounds but was otherwise just fine and happy to be on his way to reuniting with brother Sirius.
Grateful For All the Help
For all their help in finding Draco, Alix and Jean-Francois offer their gratitude to Parks Canada and all the volunteers who stepped in, sharing, “To everyone who helped search, spread the word, and kept the faith to get Draco home… THANK YOU!!”
“Thank you just doesn’t seem strong enough of a sentiment.”
Welcome home, Draco! Keep up with these magical cats on Facebook or Instagram.
H/T: www.dailypaws.com
Feature Image: @sirius_and_draco/Instagram