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Ruth Hendrick wanted to see whether Tigger had found a good home when she stopped by PetsMart's Luv a Pet Adoption Center at Valley View on Monday.

It was noon, and she was on her lunch break between work meetings. She had dropped off the soft, gray, tiger-striped kitten Wednesday.

When she arrived at Tigger's cage, his water bowl, scratching post, toys and other equipment were piled inside.

Tigger, though, was nowhere to be seen.

"He's a little bit of an escape artist as he's proven [it]," said her husband, Gary. He described the 5-month-old kitten as one of the most intelligent he's ever seen.

On Friday, Tigger apparently got out of his cage and jumped about 3 feet from the top of another cage into the suspended ceiling.

On Saturday, 1st Lt. Dave Bocock and the crew of Engine 10 of the Roanoke Fire Department used thermal imaging to try to locate the cat. The attempt was unsuccessful; the equipment couldn't penetrate all of the steel and aluminum.

PetsMart employees set a baited Havahart trap over the weekend to try to capture Tigger unharmed.

On Monday, Ruth Hendrick tried to coax Tigger out as PetsMart employees went up into the ceiling to search for him. She said she thought she heard some meowing.

The trap was empty. Employees could not find the feline fugitive. Ruth Hendrick fears he is stuck up in the rafters.

She wants to search for Tigger when it is quiet at PetsMart and no customers are around, but she says the store is not agreeable to her plans.

Jennifer Pflugselder, a spokeswoman for PetsMart, said the store would be willing to allow Hendrick to be there before or after store hours, but only if an employee is present. She said Hendrick wouldn't be allowed to spend the night there.

"They've been doing everything possible to rescue the cat as quickly and safely as possible," said Pflugselder. "It's a very rare, unfortunate event."

Taking care of needy cats has been Hendrick's pet project for years.

She takes them in, has them neutered or spayed, restores them to good health and then tries to find them good pet parents.

In the past, she spent $700 on care for a 1-pound cat she named Lucky, who was thrown out of a car window.

Hendrick has had a special way with animals ever since she was a kid growing up on a dairy farm in Hamilton, N.Y., her husband said. "She attracts animals. They flock to her."

"She's been crying all day," he said. "She takes this pretty personal."

Tigger's escape act reminded Hendrick of Little Guy, her favorite cat, who died of kidney disease during the summer.

Little Guy once got stuck in Hendrick's roof. He was only there a few hours before she had someone tear out part of the ceiling to get him out, she said.

Talking about Tigger, Hendrick said, "I just want him to come home -- because if he comes down, he's coming back here."

The adoption center at PetsMart is run by the Feline Education, Rescue and Adoption League Inc., which was not available for comment Monday.