Last month, Teagan Maddux received the phone call every pet owner dreads. While she was away on a trip to Colorado, her cat Moose — left in the care of her parents in San Diego — had slipped out into the night.
“It was a total freak accident,” Maddux explained in a TikTok. “The dog somehow opened the door, and Moose got out.”
Without hesitation, Maddux flew back to San Diego the next day, terrified she might never see Moose again.
“It might sound dramatic, but it was easily one of the worst weeks of my life,” she said. “Anyone who’s lost a pet knows that feeling.”
Moose wasn’t just any cat. When Maddux first met her at a Santa Cruz shelter, she was the most frightened cat there — overlooked by everyone else.
“She was terrified, just curled up in the back of her cage,” Maddux recalled. But something about her clicked. And as soon as Moose was brought home, her timid demeanor gave way to a bold, adventurous spirit.
Maddux and her partner, Casey, live life on the road in a truck camper, and Moose quickly adapted to the lifestyle. Whether hiking trails or lounging under the stars, she became their fearless “adventure cat.”
So when Moose vanished, everything stopped. For 45 days, Maddux and Casey searched tirelessly. They set up humane traps, scattered dirty laundry around their yard, and kept her litter box outside in hopes she’d catch the scent.
They also monitored trail cameras placed near the traps — and though Moose occasionally appeared on screen, she never came close enough to be caught.
Then the sightings stopped. Twelve long days passed with no signs of Moose. Just as Maddux began to lose hope, something extraordinary happened — on the night of Moose’s second birthday, one of the traps finally worked.
Maddux raced to the trap and found Moose, disoriented but alive. Once inside, the little cat hesitated, unsure — until something clicked.
“She just melted. After a moment, she snapped out of feral mode and realized it was us,” Maddux said. “Now she won’t stop purring.”
Though Moose is underweight and has fleas, her spirit is intact — and Maddux is certain she’ll recover soon. The nightmare is over, and her family is whole again.
“Everything makes sense again,” Maddux said. “She’s home.”
