And no one could be happier about that than Apex resident Jeannette Barringer — except, of course, Piper.

Piper, a blind and deaf 16-year-old Maine Coon cat, slipped away April 5.

Until then, Barringer said, Piper had “never laid her paws outdoors.”

Barringer suspected that Piper may have headed to nearby woods.

While the woods may have been Piper’s haunt, Barringer cut no corners and canvassed her own Buckingham neighborhood, nearby buildings on Gregson Drive and the Waterford Green neighborhood.

“There are foxes and raccoons and the road out there,” Barringer said.

What really touched Barringer was the community’s response to her door knocking and the 60 posters she put up over the week she took off work.

“The neighbors were just marvelous,” Barringer said. “It was a community event. … I had people lighting candles in front of St. Anthony and everything,” Barringer said.

“It was a very joint effort of communities that haven’t even known each other.”

More hands-on approaches were also used, including scouring the area in both light and dark, Barringer said.

Area veterinarians provided encouraging stories of animals that had returned after straying as well as a “humane” Havahart trap.

Barringer also strategically placed tuna in areas where she thought Piper might be.

Though none of those efforts appeared to have a direct effect, Piper came “lunking across the street … two million ticks later” on April 12, Barringer said.

Piper spent that night and the next one at an after-hours vet clinic. Then she went to the “spa” for a day, where she was groomed and deticked, Barringer said.

“She had nothing to eat or drink for a week is what they told me,” Barringer said.

Despite the time away, Piper appears thinner but healthy. Normally a 10 pounder, she lost a pound and a half.

“She looks so tiny,” Barringer said. “She’s just a delicate little thing.”