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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Loyal feline greeter Yodie absent from Libby Center

Yodie, the neighborhood cat, pictured in October at the Libby Center in Spokane, has been missing since late November. (Dan Pelle)

Libby Center’s loyal tabby has disappeared without a trace.

The black-striped golden-brown kitty that appeared each morning and afternoon to greet schoolchildren went missing following the Thanksgiving holiday.

The big guy just disappeared, said John Jensen, one of the cat’s owners.

“This is the third time we’ve lost a cat like this,” Jensen said.

All three regularly interacted with the gifted and talented students attending the school. The tabby lived across the street from the Libby Center.

Jensen considered the possibilities of what might have happened. The cat stood its own against critters, so he doesn’t think that’s it. Jensen doesn’t think his cat jumped in anyone’s car.

The cat, named Yodie, has a microchip. Jensen goes online twice per day to look at SCRAPS and   SpokAnimal’s websites. If the cat had been killed, the animal shelters will report the microchip numbers of those found dead, Jensen said.

Jensen’s wife, Shirley H. Woods, thinks someone took Yodie.

“He’s 9 years old. This will be hard for him. He’s an outside cat, and not used to being inside. He’s going to spray. They’ll put him out in unfamiliar territory and he’ll become a stray. They need to just bring him back and drop him off.”

When Yodie went missing, Jensen told school officials. So far, students have not mentioned the cat’s absence, Principal Debra DeWitt said.

“Gifted students are usually highly sensitive, so that’s something that we were worried about,” she said. “But no one has come to me expressing sadness.”

Unless Yodie returns, someone else will need to raise a cat that greets children and bus drivers at Libby, Jensen said.

“I don’t know why our cats were drawn to the school, but we’re done with cats.”

He added, “It’s a bah-humbug situation for us.”