I Cant Find My Cat What Do I Do!!!!!!!

i am so sorry you furbaby is missing.. can you post up notices or contact the local animal care and control or the local SPCA? (tel. directory can help?)

i can't emphasize enough the importance of microchipping. Also, i think any kitties who are exposed outdoors should always wear a collar with a tag with the owner's name, address and contact no. i hope you will consider such measures.

Take care and hope you find your kitty soon.... i can imagine how you feel right now...

To keep him home you could try:
1. Neuter him
2. Indoors only
3. A screened in outdoor pen
4. walk him outdoors on a harness and leash1

Good luck!

I second what DragonLady said!
No more free roam outdoor time!

I'm so sorry you have gone through this. It's a terrible worry when our pets are missing. More frightening yet is the expected life span of males who are not neutered-only two years! We strongly urge that our members who are not breeders spay and neuter. Please take a few minutes to read this. I hope we have been helpful!

Our motives are not to lecture, but to help our members make the best possible decisions for their cats. Although we have forums for socializing and fun, education is the main reason for this site. The information about the life span of the average intact Tomcat is from my veterinarian. I realize that some feral cats will not adjust to life inside. That is all the more reason to neuter the animals you are trying to help!

Millions of cats, in fact 8-10 million cats, are taken to shelters annually. That figure does not take into account the feral cats running loose, breeding two or three times a year. As a scientist and feral rescuer, I'm sure you understand the consequences of allowing intact ferals to run free. You are trying to help these cats, but if you do not get them spayed and neutered, you may be inadvertantly adding to the problem. There are organizations that will give the public reasonable prices for spaying and neutering. On occasion, the local vets will help the rescuer. I would advise you to contact the local shelters, vets, and this organization. I realize that your motives are good, but unless these cats are neutered, you may be adding to the problem you are trying to solve. Please read the article I recommended. I wish you the very best.

That is about the lifespan of a lucky tomcat that is allowed to wander loose outside. The not so lucky ones die within 3-5 years. Instead of hissing at people who are trying to help you with facts, why not go visit your local shelter and ask them about their feelings of an intact Tom wandering about? Your male will keep contributing to the kitten population every season. Chances are while he was gone, he was able to mate two or three times. He will be prone to certain types of cancer if you don't get him neutered, he will be a sprayer and he will wander every chance he gets during kitten season. It doesn't matter that he isn't a feral, he is outside, and he faces the same risks as other outside cats face. If you truly love him and are concerned for his well being, you will neuter him ASAP.

No one can give an exact period of time that your particular cat will live. However, that was the information given to me by my own vet. I urge you to read the article I referred you to previously and this one. Here is one paragraph from the article:
Reduced Injuries: The biggest medical advantage to neutering cats is really related to their behavior. Unneutered male cats fight to defend their territory. Such fights can be extremely serious, as abscesses often develop from the bite wounds. The veterinarians at the Drs. Foster and Smith Veterinary Medical Facility have seen many tomcats who are missing parts of their ears and tails, or have faces with multiple scars resulting from the fights they had with other toms. Indoor, neutered cats lead much healthier and longer lives.

Sorry to have misunderstood. But you should still neuter him because in those three months, it is kitten season and he will live longer, be less prone to wander and be a happier cat for it.

the people here give nothing but GOOD advice. They have all really been life savers to me as far as my ferals go. I also try to tame ferals and beleave me it very very important to get them fixed. Ashton and sherbert are already starting to wonder. Luckly ashton is trapped right now and I'm working on sherbert and lilly. It is, or at least should be, commen knowledge that in order to help ferals you need to fix them.
I have also heard that outdoor intact cats normally only live for 2 to 3 years. Lucky ones may live longer but that is not a chance I want to take.

On behalf of The Cat Site, we would like to remind everyone of the following site rule that applies to this situation. We appreciate your understanding. To view the complete Rules and Regulations that you agreed to when you registered, click on the red “Rules†button at the top of this page. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a Moderator of this Forum via Private Messaging. Thank you.

Rule 2.

Please make sure to spay or neuter your cat. Unless you are a professional breeder and your cat is part of a professional breeding program, please spay/neuter your cats before they reach sexual maturity (at the age of 4-6 months). By spaying and neutering you enhance your cat's quality of life and improve his or her health. You are also proving your love for cats because in acting as a responsible pet owner you are minimizing the problem of cat overpopulation. Please read this article and don't hesitate to ask for more information in the forums.

Thanks Hissy...I'm glad u understood. Princess Purr: they have been for me too and look at my past entries I've never been mean or anything.
Oh and what was THAT for! What did I do to deserve getting a rule thing!! I've never been anything but nice and helpfull in this forum and I even have it promoted on my site!! I love it here and the people here...but it doesnt seem you're understand me (except hissy)...I know all about the spay/neuter programs and the importance. I'm trying to explain these ferals are given away as kittens...and my "runaway" will be inside in a few months....I was wanting to know if the 2-3 year thing was because of not being "fixed" or because of fights or "car murderings"....or just because it's a cat and they all die at that age???

The quote from the second article I recommended explains that unaltered toms wander, get injured in fights, and are more likely to get hit by cars. That's why they die young. As I told you before, our intent is to educate and to help, and we try to be as polite as possible. We are all animal lovers and want the best for our animals, as I'm sure you do!

You had mentioned that you wanted to breed your cat. We strongly recommend against this, because many kittens from such breedings make up the millions euthanized yearly. Unfortunately, some people do not value an animal which has been given to them, and don't hesitate to wander it or take it to a shelter when they get tired of it. Also, many of these kittens are used for scientific tests. People posing as families looking for pets sell them for research purposes. It's heartbreaking, but true. This can all be prevented by spaying and neutering-unless you are a professional breeder. I know you are an animal lover who wants the best for her pets. I hope that explains why we have such a policy.

Oh, by the way, it is not terribly unusual for a cat to live for fifteen or twenty years.

I just wanted to say that the reason everyone is saying that an un-neutered male living outside has the potential to have a shorter lifespan is because they are more likely to roam in search of females and to protect their territory. By roaming they can more easily get into fights, get hit by a vehicle, get lost, get stolen, or get killed by a larger animal! Believe me, I speak from experience. all my cats have always been indoor cats, but I used to have a neighbor who let her un-neutered male outside. She always brought him in at night, but he was free to roam during the day. He was a sweet and beautiful cat, but sad to say he lived just two years. He would leave for a day or two at a time and everyone would be worried, but like you kitty, he would always come back. But one day he did not. And no matter how hard everyone looked, no matter that I took it upon myself to pay for a lost add in the paper, he was never seen or heard from again. It had been more than two years now since he disappeared. We have no idea if a coyote got him, or if someone took him or what....
So, I just think everyone is recommending that if you have to keep your kitty outside that you neuter him to not only keep the cat population down but to also keep him from wandering away into a terrible fate!

Originally posted by Gothic_Amethyst

My aunt said her and my grandma had male cats on the farm that lived like 10 years without being fixed.

Click to expand...

Living out on a farm, these toms were probably exposed to less hazards than toms living in more populated areas which is why they lived longer. Also, they probably had unspayed females available to them on the farm, so they didn't need to wander off searching for a mate.

I wanted to mention some things I have personally experienced.

I agree with what the others here have said about intact toms allowed to roam usually living only a short time.

When I was growing up we have two intact toms as family pets. Both were indoor/outdoor cats. One of these was brought home by my dad as a two week old orphaned kitten and bottle fed by my mom while she was also bottle feeding my infant brother. When this kitten reached the age of about six months, he was run over. He lived for a while, but later died of his injuries. A year later, we had a different tom as a pet. When he got old enough, he started to wander looking for females to mate with. He would be gone for several days at a time, and eventually died of suffercation after being accidently locked in a neighbor's garage. Neither one of these intact toms ever reached their first birthday.

I also agree that allowing cats to breed freely causes over-population and results in unwanted litters of kittens.

Of the last two cats I have had, Midnight (now deceased) was rescued by a no-kill shelter after she was discovered wandering the streets alone at the age of two months. She was at this shelter for six months before I found and adopted her. My current cat, Snowball, is from a litter of kittens the owners couldn't find homes for. He was the only kitten to actually be adopted, the others were sent to a relative's farm to live as barn cats.

All the cats I have had as an adult have been spayed or neutered and all have been indoor only cats.