Maureen Cianci was serving as a relief worker for survivors of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina when Hurricane Ike struck in 2008. In its aftermath, she found a kitten in a Bogalusa, Louisiana swamp. It fit in her hand, had beautiful green eyes and instantly took a place in the social worker’s heart.

There was no question the kitten was going home with Cianci to Connecticut.

“We have been inseparable ever since,” Cianci said.

The cat, now 6, goes by Shay, short for Sashay because she sashays when she walks.

“She’s my baby, and I’m her mother,” Cianci said Thursday night, Sept. 11, 30 hours after the white and calico cat went missing in Wiscasset.

Cianci, Shay and Cianci’s husband of 33 years, Larry Burridge, were traveling south on Route 1 on Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 10, when police say a Pennsylvania car coming out of the Sea Basket hit the couple’s Subaru. Cianci got a cut to the head and she believes she went unconscious. 

“I remember someone pulling me out of the car and (emergency workers) put a neck brace on me.”

Shay had been riding in a box because the door on her carrier was broken. Cianci believes Shay fled from the car and into the woods behind the restaurant. The night that followed was the first time Cianci could recall that she didn’t have Shay sleeping nearby.

Now the cat’s owners and a Waldoboro woman are asking for the public’s help in finding Shay.

The couple didn’t immediately have photographs of Shay to share. Those are in Connecticut. Cianci and Burridge, who are staying with a friend in Falmouth, hope to stay in Maine until Shay is found.

They described her as medium-sized, white with calico trim, a brown, gray and tan butterfly shape on her back, and a gentle personality.

“This is a nightmare,” Cianci said about the cat becoming lost. “I am worried sick. I’ve got to find her alive.”

Cianci and Burridge are getting help from a neighbor in Waldoboro, where they have property. Shekara Davis put a message about the missing cat on the Wiscasset Newspaper’s Facebook page; and has been in touch with the Lincoln County Animal Shelter and Maine Lost Cat Recovery.

“They’re really nice people,” Davis said about why she wanted to help. “And if it was my cat that was missing, I would definitely want people to be helping me look.”

Cianci said she and her husband are grateful for Davis’ help.

Anyone who thinks they have seen Shay may contact Cianci at 601-569-4555; Burridge, at 860-304-4679; or Davis, at 207-406-0826.