We lost our cat... ):

Hello,
I would like to request comments and suggestions regarding our cat that ran away from home yesterday. We found this male cat on the street when he was about 2 months old and we adopted him then. He has been with us for about 6 months now, so he is about 8 months old. We had him neutered when he was about 6 months old. We have given him lots of love and we could tell that he was a very happy feline as he has always been very attached to us, cuddling beside us whenever we are home and even sleeping on our bed every night. He had never left our home until now that he somehow managed to climb the wall and hit the street. We looked for him last night and this morning around our neighborhood without any luck. We live in a suburb, residential area, with relatively low car traffic, although, about 5 blocks from our house there is a busy commercial area. He was wearing a collar with a name tag with our phone number on it, although the collar is the "safety" type that snaps off easily if tugged on. Unfortunately there are no animal shelters in our area and there are quite a few stray cats around the neighborhood.

We don't understand why he ran away as we feel that he was very happy living with us. Could it be that it is just his natural instinct to go out and explore? Given that he never left home before, will he be able to find his way back even if he walks far away? How does his sense of direction work? Is it based on visually recognizing the area and by smell?

Our idea is to continue looking for him over the next few days around the neighborhood. We are very concerned as he has always fed on the cat food that we gave him and even though we offered him other types of food (left overs) he never ate anything else but his own cat food. What will he feed on?

As you might imagine, we are very saddened about this and we will greatly appreciate any comments, suggestions or experiences that you can share that might help us understand what we can expect.

Thank you.

Does your cat have a microchip?

Talk to your neighbors, ask them to keep a look out for him. Put up posters with his picture, offer a reward as well.

I'm sorry your cat ran away . First of all, it is always a cat's natural instinct to go exploring, and the call from outside can be pretty hard to ignore. Also, he could have just been playingand accidentally got out, and is now scared.

For getting him back, put his litterbox (preferrably uncleaned if you haven't yet) and his food and water bowls outside by the door so he can smell them. He is outside in a foreign enviornment, and he is probably scared witless. He was probably scared when he came into your place, right? He's 10 times as scared outside. Cats do have a knack for coming back and staying close when they run away (since they are territorial), and I hope you find yours soon. Put up posters around the area, walk around calling your cat's name, and leave things that smell like him and you outside, because comforting smells have the highest chance of getting him back.

Originally Posted by rad65

I'm sorry your cat ran away

. First of all, it is always a cat's natural instinct to go exploring, and the call from outside can be pretty hard to ignore. Also, he could have just been playingand accidentally got out, and is now scared.

For getting him back, put his litterbox (preferrably uncleaned if you haven't yet) and his food and water bowls outside by the door so he can smell them. He is outside in a foreign enviornment, and he is probably scared witless. He was probably scared when he came into your place, right? He's 10 times as scared outside. Cats do have a knack for coming back and staying close when they run away (since they are territorial), and I hope you find yours soon. Put up posters around the area, walk around calling your cat's name, and leave things that smell like him and you outside, because comforting smells have the highest chance of getting him back.

Click to expand...

I agree. And if the cat is scared, it's possible he's somewhere close by hiding in scrubs or bushes. Also, you can contact the vet clinics in your area and give them a discription of your cat just in case someone finds him and brings him in.

I agree with Rad65 and Lorie D's suggestions.

In addition, if you have unwashed clothing (belonging to you and/or him) place it alongside his favorite food. Your scent will guide him home.

More likely than not, your cat is nearby. He is more likely to come out at night, so that's the best time for you to anticipate his return. Just sit there and call his name. Be patient.

I had a cat gone for 2 months once. She broke through a screen. She was afraid of everything. There was a space under a small porch off my house but no way for me to get under there. I had my suspicions that she was hiding out under there but it could have been a raccoon too. I propped the outside door to the porch open (inside door locked) and left food and water out there. It would be gone in the morning. Something was eating it. I'd sit quietly inside all hours of the night watching for her. I never was able to catch her in the act. Winter was approaching so I knew I had to do something to get her in. I finally left the inside door open, risking waking up to a raccoon in my house. Instead, I woke up to one grimy, loudly purring, very happy cat. I hope you find your cat. He might still be close to home. Put up signs at vet clinics and pet stores in the area.

I know how bad it feels to lose a cat. Just keep looking around! Vibes that your cat turns up soon.

Thank you very much for all your replies, suggestions and encouraging words. We will try some of your recommendations tonight. I keep you updated.
Thank you again.

I hope your cat is home by now, that he returned on his own or you were able to find him. The tips you've been given here are very good.

In case he's still missing, I want to give you a link to a web page with some more tips:

How To Find A Lost Cat Or Dog

Praying he's home soon...

Cindy

GOOD NEWS! - Our cat is back with us!

It turns out that on the same day that he disappeared from our home he climbed through a neighbor's window and stayed inside their home. They are not much of a pet people but fortunately they managed to take care of him until we found out that they had him.

We are very happy, of course, and now we are just worried as to what to do in order to avoid this from happening again in the future. We are now afraid to let our cat out in our yard and have kept him inside the house but we realize that we can't keep him inside forever and it would not be fair to the little guy. We read that if the cat knows the neighborhood well, if he does get out, he can always come back as he won't get lost. The question is, how do you get him to know the neighborhood? Do you "walk him with a leash"? Do you carry him and walk around? How do you manage this?

Once again, thank you all for your previous supportive comments.

It's great that your kitty is back! Here's an article that I wrote on how to introduce your cat to the outdoors succesfully: http://ecatbehaviors.blogspot.com/20...-outdoors.html

Hope this helps,
Eileen

I have 2 cats. The older one is a stray we adopted, so she was used to being outside, and she has been an in/out cat.

The other one we got over a year ago as a kitten. She had never been outside, and she is very happy being an inside only cat. Cats can adapt easily to being inside only.

Just out of curiosity, did you cat have her collar on when the neighbor found her? If so, I don't understand why she didn't call you right away?

Thanks for the article Eileen. Good information there and we will ceratinly try some of your suggestions.

Dusty's Mom - we also questioned why the neighbours did not call us with our number on the tag and they explained that they were so scared and disgusted by the cat (yes, some people are that way) that they could not get close enough to it in order to see the tag. Besides, they told us that the cat was also very freightened and stayed behind a bush and would not come out. Anyway, it was because of the collar and tag that they decided to hold him until the owner showed up, otherwise they would have released him on to the street right away.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by animateme

GOOD NEWS! - Our cat is back with us!

It turns out that on the same day that he disappeared from our home he climbed through a neighbor's window and stayed inside their home. They are not much of a pet people but fortunately they managed to take care of him until we found out that they had him.

We are very happy, of course, and now we are just worried as to what to do in order to avoid this from happening again in the future. We are now afraid to let our cat out in our yard and have kept him inside the house but we realize that we can't keep him inside forever and it would not be fair to the little guy. We read that if the cat knows the neighborhood well, if he does get out, he can always come back as he won't get lost. The question is, how do you get him to know the neighborhood? Do you "walk him with a leash"? Do you carry him and walk around? How do you manage this?

Once again, thank you all for your previous supportive comments.

Click to expand...

I'm glad to read that your cat is home safe

You don't have to let your cat back outside, lots of cats live great lives as indoor cats only. My cats are indoor only. Way to many dangers outside, starting with traffic.