Feeling sad tonight - our kitty got out and hasn't come back yet.

[woodsprite]

As he's gotten older, he's been worse and worse about getting out when someone comes in or goes out. I took the dog out yesterday morning around 8am and he was hiding behind the door when I came back in. He bolted out between the shepherd's legs. He's just about 13yo and is a rescue.

Before we adopted him 11 yrs ago, he had been an outdoor cat, but he's never been gone this long. Usually when he gets out, he hangs around the porch or deck, then is ready to come back inside in an hour or two. If it has been at night, he is right there the next morning waiting to come in. I feel awful, especially since it happened on my watch. The kids just want to know what happened to him.

I sent an email and pic to our civic assoc. They'll share it with the civic assoc. of the neighboring developments. We've checked our property several times, gone out every few hours calling him with a plate/food in our hand. We'll do that again before we go to bed tonight. Nothing so far

[Angry Dragon]

1. I have had all my cats leave for at least 4 days each.

All have come back

[Joe Shlabotnik]

2. Odds are good that he'll come home with some big-adventure stories to tell.

I've had a few cats disappear for a few days before too. Keep positive.

[woodsprite]

4. My worry is that there are a good number of raccoons

that I know live in our neighborhood. I have heard that a fox was spotted in our neighborhood a few weeks back. Max is not a big cat - 11 lbs at most. He still has his claws (figured he needed to be able to defend himself from our shepherd), so that's in his favor and he can climb a tree if need be. Because of the abundance of woodland critters, we're not going to leave food out for him.

[TexasTowelie]

3. I hope that he shows up. It is troublesome to be missing a pet.

THINK POSITIVE!!!

[haele]

5. Is he showing signs of kitty senility?

My Moggy would start doing that - sneaking out - occasionally when he turned 13/14 and started going senile. He was an indoor kitty who we would let outside on the patio on a leash to warm his bones and watch the birdies. But as he got older, his world got smaller and he would even get lost in the house - when before, he would usually ignore an outside door that was left ajar by the kidlet because he knew there was no easy food out there, he would begin to wander out, like he was trying to figure out where he was.

The problem was that he if he snuck out, he would get lost; he was used to the immediate backyard/patio area but if he became attracted to the neighbor's yard, or decided that a certain scent or shape near the fence was interesting, he would get out of easy view of the doors and not know where he was supposed to be going. He once went missing five days, and ended up a block away under the porch of a local animal lover who had recently died (because there was still food and water there). According to that person's neighbor, he had heard a cat crying there for three days. When I went and called him, Moggy came running up, telling me how horrible he had it. He'd still wander out, but we were watching the back door even more carefully after that, and he never was able to get very far. That last day, I getting that horrible feeling that the coyotes had gotten him and was going to start mourning him.

Your kitty might be a bit further afield than he is used to going, especially if you weren't able to see which way he had gone. Hopefully, he's found a place to hang out safely, and if you can make the rounds, he'll come running, or someone will have taken him in. Post fliers, if you can - they do work occasionally. Good luck.

Haele

[TorchTheWitch]

6. Any news?

Has he come back yet, or have you heard anything?

[Curmudgeoness]

7. I am sure he will show up sooner or later.

I know what you mean, they usually do not go far and will be sitting by the door, and when they aren't, it is devastating.

Have you found him yet?

[woodsprite]

8. No, we haven't found him yet.

We've gone walkabout around the neighborhood and sent his pic out to our civic association (so it went to all the houses) plus some neighboring associations. We're all outside with the dog several times a day and Max is not afraid of the dog, so that wouldn't stop him from coming up to us. My daughter and I have also gone out again every few hours and before bed, with food (clinking his dish) since that has always caused him to come running. We were even looking up into the trees, because he's not the smartest cat when it comes to getting back down again.

My daughter has been home because she's had the stomach bug. I heard her go out on the porch when I was fixing dinner last night. She said she went out because she heard something running down our deck. We still have some hope since nobody has found any evidence otherwise. Maybe he'll miss us enough to come back. Hopefully nothing has happened to him.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. Oh, that breaks my heart!

I have never had a cat gone that long. But I suppose I don't know how long it would have been for one of my babies years ago. My cats are house cats who occasionally will be allowed to go outside to the porch and yard. One of my little boys was missing all one day, and at night still wasn't home. I was out calling and calling. I did the food thing too. The next day after work I was out again, walking the neighborhood calling him----nothing. Then one of my neighbors told me that they heard a cat crying in their garage (that is always open). There was a wood board floor in the garage, and when I went into the garage and called him, he was hiding under the floor. From what the neighbor said, one of the roaming cats had been fighting with him and he must have run and hid...and didn't come out until he actually saw me. Terrifying.

I hope that your story has just as good an ending. Maybe someone has taken him in and hasn't seen the notice on him yet.

[hamsterjill]

10. Lost cats

This is going to sound very strange, but it's true.

Sometimes cats that wander away from their familiar territory become so frightened that they will not come out except during the night hours. And they will not come to their familiar family members either.

If you have a local rescue organization, please contact them for information and to possibly borrow a humane trap. You might wish to consider setting the trap for a few nights.

This has happened to me and it took about two weeks before my cat was (surprisingly) in the trap one evening. I thought I'd lost him for good.

Again, my suggestion is that you contact a local cat-knowledgeable group and have them better explain why this happens, etc.

[woodsprite]

11. We've had contacts from 3 different people in the development

saying that they thought they saw him. Apparently there are quite a few houses that feed outdoor cats in our neighborhood. One of the ladies who contacted me runs a cat shelter called Forever Friends. She offered a humane trap, but we have to find out where he is hanging out first I would think.

My daughter did say she heard something running down our deck last night but by the time she got out there she couldn't see what had been there. Whatever it was didn't trip our motion detector lights. Maybe I'll see if she has that trap and we can set it up on the deck.

We're going to do another walk around the neighborhood tonight after work with some smelly dehydrated salmon treats and try to coax him out. They're his favorite.

[Irishonly]

12. I hope you find him

Would he go to one of the people that have seen him? Maybe you could enlist their help. My cat, Charlie, would go up to anyone but Sammie only went to people she knew very well.

[hamsterjill]

14. He is most likely close by, and has most likely been watching YOU.

Check out this link:

http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/pdfs/allpets/lostcat.pdf


I wish you the best of luck. Please do not give up hope. And please DO consider setting the humane trap with something smelly inside for him.

[uppityperson]

15. I hope he returns to you, it is so difficult, trying to lure in a skittish cat. Good luck

[yellerpup]

13. My friend's kitty took off one night.

He was an inside cat and never went out, but zip in the middle of winter he slipped out the door as they were coming in and they didn't notice immediately. They put up signs, contacted everyone in the neighborhood, etc., searched early and late even into the wee hours for three weeks. I went over all bundled up against the weather and his kitty-mom and I sat on the patio quietly talking for a couple of hours. After almost two hours of not looking, he came up behind us and said "Meow." We cried while we watched him gobble his favorite canned food. They usually don't go far. Good luck!

[ginnyinWI]

16. please be sure all the local shelters know your kitty is lost

If someone turned him in they could give you a call. Send them a photo if you can, along with a description of the kitty and where and when lost.

[woodsprite]

17. I'm in the process of calling the local cat shelters today.

Our local SPCA doesn't take cats anymore AND they only serve within the city limits of Wilmington. I'm in Newark (DE), so I had to call another county's SPCA to check. They only have 1 cat there. I did put his pic and our info up on Craigslist Lost and Found (which is what the SPCA suggested). I may have seen him this morning running across the street and between some houses as I was taking our son to the bus stop. By the time I got back to the house, I called for him, but nothing. It may not have been him. At 6am I could just tell it was a smallish cat w/ a white and dark coat heading in the direction of our house.

We had an uninvited guest sleep over at our house last night. I came home from choir practice, and the fox was sleeping on our porch under our bay window on the mat we had out there for our dog. I know he was just trying to get out of the snow and rain, but it really did startle me. I told my hubby and daughter not to take Noelle out the front door. He stayed there all evening and was still there when we went to bed.

[PotatoChip]

19. How about the Humane trap?

Have you gotten one yet? That way, you can set out some food that no unwanted critters can get at, unless it gets caught itself- Then you can just relocate the trapped critter, or have animal control do it (depending on how your area handles such situations).

The reason I suggest this is that maybe your cat has not wandered too far, but is afraid to come back if there are predator-type critters roaming around nearby?

Of course the best outcome regarding the trap, would be to somehow manage to catch your own cat in it. If he is hungry enough, and still in the area, chances are good that you can get him back that way. I have my own 'Have-A-Heart' trap and they are quite effective.

I'm so sorry that you are going through this. Here's hoping that you get your cat back safe and sound. Maybe some kindly person has taken him thinking he's a stray, and will call once he/she learns that you are looking for him? Or better yet, maybe you had or will have some luck w/the cat shelters.

[meti57b]

18. HI .... is there any new news on your kitty?

I keep watching your thread and hoping.

[uppityperson]

20. I keep checking in, hoping for good news. Still hoping