My cat is missing

I am in desperate need of advice. One of my 2 indoor only cats got out of my house 2 and a half days ago because the screen door wasn't locked and got knocked open somehow.

He has since showed up (that we have seen) one time, howling to come inside but he is terrified and ran when we attempted to open the door for him to come in.

We live in a very busy neighborhood with both residential and businesses all around us. There are also MANY stray cats in the neighborhood that come up onto our deck at night to peek inside.

A little background on the missing kitty: His name is Basement and he is just under a year old. He was a stray cat we took in that was VERY skiddish at first. He had escaped and hid in our basement for close to a month before we were able to finally get him inside and it took about another month before he came around to let us touch him. Since then he has turned into the most lovable laid back cat I have ever met. He loves to be near me and follows me everywhere, loves to lay in my lap etc.

Any help I can get at this point will be very much appreciated. What is the best way to go about getting him back inside? We are pretty sure he is hiding under our shed in the backyard but at this point we really don't know...he could be anywhere The other cats in the neighborhood have eaten any food I have attempted to place out there for him, and I am worried sick since it has been almost 3 days now without fresh water and food. I keep going to the screen calling him and shaking the bag of food which he usually comes running for inside with no luck.

I just want my little boy back home, I am so stressed out I can't even sleep!

I'm so sorry. My cat has been missing for almost a week now, so I know your pain.

I would try leaving food out and taking to him/calling for him at night, when everything is very calm. Can you get a flashlight and look under the shed?

We did try to look under there but it is up against a fence and a big tree. My boyfriend said if we have no luck tonight he will dig up under the shed tomorrow and see if we can look under it. I am also going to print up fliers and put them on the doors of the people on our street and the street behind us.

Also, I was reading about K9 rescue teams. Has anyone ever done this before? What about small animal traps you can get from a hunting store? Please any help I can get will be great, I am worrying myself to death here.

I would try getting a trap from the humane society and put some food in there.

I called a pet detective with a scent hound for my missing guy, but decided against it because of the cost ($850 for the day, plus $150 an hour) and also there didn't seem to be enough testimonials on this person's site about success with the scent hound (most were "thanks so much for the tips you gave me").

I am so very sorry ......... here are some tips on finding a lost kitty

http://www.catsinthebag.org/

Could you take his favorite food and go sit by the shed in the evening for awhile? Maybe if he knew you were there with food and not stressed, he would come out. Sounds like he has a bond with you

Sending lots of vibes that he comes home healthy and soon!

with a skittish cat the easiest thing might be to get a humane trap from the humace society and trap him.

Holy smokes $850 for the day for search and rescue teams!?

Another thing that has me worried is our neighbors are doing construction on their house, lots of saws, hammering, and loud noises all weekend which I am sure isn't helping him at all. He could be under the shed or long gone by now.

I know he WANTS to come back its just that he is so frightened at this point I think even if I did go sit outside for a while he wouldn't even come to me I certainly am going to try it...the time we saw him on the porch was about 4am (we are night shifters and in this case I think it will help hehe).

The other problem with leaving food out is I don't want those other strays hanging around here. They are alley cats and I hear some pretty bad fights outside late at night so I don't want to make a habit of feeding them, or scaring him off if he is trying to come home.

Gosh I am so stressed, my mind is running a mile a minute with a million different scenarios...this is awful. Do most indoor cats come home usually?

I would check immediately with the construction crew to see if he could have gotten stuck somewhere. Years ago one of my cats went missing for a day or two, and I checked next door just in case (they were remodeling). Sure enough one of the workers said he had seen a cat under the floor (they were putting the bathtub in so there was a huge hole). I called him and my cat came immediately, and I climbed down into the hole and carried him out! Thank god I went over when I did because I think the construction guys didn't seem too concerned about a cat being under the floor. I think they would have just trapped him in there, hmph!

Could you go over there at night and call for him, in case he is afraid of the noise when the workers are there?

Yes, a day rate of $850. She explained it was because she would need to stay in a hotel. I can understand the $150 per hour because of the years she put into training the dogs, but that day rate seems exorbitant to me. She could drive here within three hours so gas plus hotel for one night would be $300-$400 at MOST.

I JUST GOT HIM BACK INSIDE!!!! I was going to the porch every 20 minutes or so shaking his food and calling him...and sure enough I heard crying after about 2 hours.

I went out slowly with the food again and one of the stray cats came and scared him away into the yard but he didn't run and hide thankfully. I finally chased the stray off and sat in the grass calling him and shaking the food til he came close enough to grab and he didn't put up much of a fight.

Gosh I was shaking and my heart was beating out of my chest lol. He is acting just fine now, like nothing happened. Ate a bunch of food and drank water, now he is laying in his little kitty bed right by my PC desk. Although he is favoring his left ear, I think I will take him to the vet tomorrow for a checkup.

I am SO happy, and now I can sleep tonight! Thank you all so so so so much for your vibes and suggestions, it really helped to have you guys here helping me though all of this.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

That's great news to hear.

I've just come to this thread and was ready to post some come home vibes for you and your kitty...........I was so happy to read your update - that is fantastic news...........give the little fella some special tummy rubs from us all

thats great news