need advice/help about a missing kitty please!!!

This may get long, I am frazzled and stressed and so very upset.
Today my husband and I left the house around 920am to run a few errands. We got home around 11-1130ish. We left all our windows open as the morning was nice and the kitties love windows.
We get back and my cat Joey is sitting on the very top of our cabinet where he likes to hide sometimes. I got on a stepladder and reached up to pet him and he ducked away from me-3 times. VERY weird, as he loves me so much and never runs from me. I walked into our living room and heard a meow but could not find a meowing cat inside. I looked out the window and our cat Henry (who my husband raised/bottle fed as a kitten and is terrified of people, including me!!) was sitting outside the window in the grass crying. I screamed for my husband and he ran out to get the cat while I ran around the house to check on our other cats....and to see how they got out. We were missing our cats Billy (blind cat), Baby, and Stray ( a stray we rescued 2 years ago and ended up keeping).
We cannot find how they got out. We have searched and searched and searched!!! There are NO holes in screens, no way to push the screens up to get out, the dryer vent is on the ceiling, and the doors were all locked. I am so super careful about not letting a cat get out behind me. My husband is worried someone broke in and took a cat but I don't see how that happened~there are people who have master keys, we just moved in 3 weeks ago to a new build house and the cntractors and such have keys. We actually had the head contractor in the house last week and he saw Baby (who is a bright orange fluffy cat) and commented on how pretty he is and how his wife would love that cat. And Now that is the one cat we cannot find anywyere.
I went and canvassed the neighborhood with fliers and talking to people. While talking to people and freaking out about Billy because he is blind, after about 1.5 hours of looking, someone noticed Billy walking down the street. I ran and got him..Stray had already been found so Baby is the only one still missing.

My questions/advice needed~where could these cats have gotten out??? I cannot find a screen or door or anything they got out by. Is it possible someone broke in JUST to steal a cat??? That seeems odd to me, I just don't think someone would steal just a cat and nothing is missing. DOes anyone have advice on more things we can do? We currently have a live trap set w/ tuna and sardines, have talked to the neighbors, searched the entire neighborhood and took fliers to all houses. We are also putting a poster on my car. (We searched most of the neighborhood...but our backyard backs into a thick wooded tree area for about 4 ft deep, and then it is a huge cornfield. We got permission fromt he farmer to search the field and have been doing so but haven't found him in the field either. Also a super nice neighbor said he will look for him on his walks in the morning and call me or try to catch him if he sees him....they seemed very concerned about us finding him also bc they love cats too.
Any advice would be soooo much appreciated! I want to find our cat!

I have no advice for you. Just want to send lots of to you that Baby is found soon.

It is odd that the contractor made that comment, and then the cat goes missing. And he has a key?

How they got out needs to be figured out. I think I would hire a pest control company to come do a detail search of your house. They do this to keep out unwanted animals, and they should be able to find the hole, unless someone let them out, accidentally, or otherwise.

And I'd get my locks changed, ASAP.

I'd be tempted to call the police since there are others who have the key to your house, and you don't know if someone was in there. I'd at least call the contractor and find out if he knows if anyone was in there. I have had tradesmen leave doors open and not consider cats getting out.

Good luck!

Robin

Just many prayers that you find your missing baby - I wonder if you should put some unwashed tee-shirts, etc., out near your house so he can smell them, along with everything else you've done.

Along with the suggestion you already got, well, cats can certainly get out the smallest spots. My boy once pushed the screen of the patio door off the track and slipped out and my girl followed him. I swear I was in the bathroom for maybe 10 minutes after I hoped the patio door. Anyway, Dharma was sitting crying on the patio and couldn't wait to come back in once she saw me but Dante was running around the condo happy as a clam.

I would certainly call the head contractor - just to tell him your concerns that just possibly something was left ajar. I wonder if someone was in the house and accidentally left something open. My AC guy was here Friday and told me how a cat got by him and it took him over 30 minutes to catch him. And, yes, I'd change my locks - I know it's really unlikely that one of the workers isn't honest, but I'd still go ahead and change.

Many prayers that Baby comes back really soon.

Originally Posted by bastetservant

I have no advice for you. Just want to send lots of to you that Baby is found soon.

It is odd that the contractor made that comment, and then the cat goes missing. And he has a key?

How they got out needs to be figured out. I think I would hire a pest control company to come do a detail search of your house. They do this to keep out unwanted animals, and they should be able to find the hole, unless someone let them out, accidentally, or otherwise.

And I'd get my locks changed, ASAP.

I'd be tempted to call the police since there are others who have the key to your house, and you don't know if someone was in there. I'd at least call the contractor and find out if he knows if anyone was in there. I have had tradesmen leave doors open and not consider cats getting out.

Good luck!

Robin

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Yes, agree with Robin...... I am just very sad to hear this and I am thankful you found Henry, Billy and Stray. This is very odd, and I might call the authorities as well. The fact that Joey was completely freaked out sitting on top of that cabinet tells me that something was wrong INSIDE of the house. And why would your blind cat wander out of the house on its own . I would call the police. I have the same question as Robin, Did that contractor have a key or know where you hid a key????????? I am so sorry and pray you find Baby tonight.

As far as we know, the guy who was here has a key. He is the head contractor for the company that built the house and I don't think they change the locks once we buy the house, which we did three weeks ago. We are going to call around on pricing to change the locks.

I do worry about the contractor somehow coming in to take the cat, but he is the head contractor for a big home company, would he risk his job to steal a cat for his wife?? Baby is a gorgeous cat but he isn't a special breed or anything... just a kitty that I adore. He loves water and sits on the sink when I brush my teeth to play with the water. He loves sitting by me when I wash dishes too. I love him and don't want him to not come home, so this is really really hard. I am mad too because we woke up, gave wet food and left, so now he is somewhere without us and didn't even get any extra loving today.

I was thinking of calling the police to see if they would fingerprint but I don't know if they would consider it because nothing, except a cat, is missing. We don't have a basement, no screens are broken, we were unable to get them open so I have NO clue how they got out. That is the weird part. IDK if Joey would be so weird because of the cats being gone (he is VERY close to baby) or because he saw soemthing weird. AND Henry runs from people....everyone!!! So I don't know how someone would have caught him to get him outside. Billy loves the outside and we let him our on the porch with us sometimes because he never goes far, so I can see him going outside but not from a second floor. He won't jump unless he knows he can feel the ground or can climb down easily, he would have never made it from the second floor. So we are concentrating on looking on the first floor....and two of our cats who have gotten out through an accidentally open window before, were still in the house so we don't know why those cats didnt get out when others did??
I don't want to think someone stole my cat because that means I won't get him back. But at the same time, I don't know how else they got out. I don't want to call the head contractor because he was the one in the house. We had no one set to come today, so he would have no reason to be here.

Another question...where is the best pkace for a live trap? We have a small concrete patio near the back door, we can't decide if we should put it on that, or in the back of the yard near the brush area (where Stray was hiding). We haven't seen Baby at all. No one else has. With Billy within an hour of us finding out he was missing, a neighbor mentioned seeing him but with Baby no one remembers seeing him at alll...which means he is either stolen, in the brush lining the backyards of everyone on my street or in the cornfield.
Thanks for the vibes. So far no luck but as soon as the rain passes we are hanging our poster outside in hopes of catching attention.

Well, I would call the police, have them come out, and tell them the whole story. It's all sounds so suspicious. Baby is your property, he is missing and may have been stolen. Figuring out if he was stolen is the kind of thing police do.

I don't know where to put the trap. I have no experience. My guess would be by the house with things that smell like you, and him - like the litter pan.

Has Baby ever been out before by accident? Is so, then he knows your back yard? I would put the trap right outside the back door on that patio with some things from inside that smell like you and the other cats. Bait with his favorite canned food, tuna, or sardines. I am very sorry for you going through this and I still am suspicious that there is "foul play" in this situation. Highly unusual that you find no obvious way that all the cats escaped from the house. I will say prayers for Baby and hope he comes back

How far are you from your old house? If you haven't already put posters around there, and told those neighbors, I would...I've read that some cats will return to their old homes after a move.

I don't think you have to call the contractor just to accuse him - you could ask him, as another pair of eyes, if he thought there was anyway the cats could have gotten out that you, as an owner, simply aren't seeing, or if he or one of his men were in the house and may have accidentally left something open for a few minutes.

I don't think it would hurt to contact the police - if nothing else, you could ask for a safety check and what they think about rekeying the house....and don't delay in rekeying. I rekeyed my condo the first day I was in, on the recommendation of my realtor.

The last time Baby was out was when he was 10 weeks old and we found him in our chicken coop, starving and scrounging for chicken food. Since then he has been a completely indoor kitty. We tried to take him out on a harness once, because he waits by the door sometimes like he wants to go out so I tried with a harness to let him explore a little (at the old house) and he was not having it! He hated it, and hated being outside. I tried to hold him and take him out and got all scratched up from him trying to get back in. So he has never been outside again and with the backyard backing up to a 4ft deep little wooded area (that goes around the entire perimeter of the siubdivision) and leading to a large cornfield (that also goes around most of the subdivision) we are worried he started exploring and then got lost.

We have put clothes out with our scent, and a live trap w/ tuna and sardines. We put dry food and a water bowl in the garage and are leaving it open a crack big enough for an animal...and about half the dry food was gone this morning, so something is eating it. We are thhinkin about moving the live trap to the front to catch whatever is eating the food 2 see if it is him.
What scares me most, that in our backyard there is a sewer drain type thing. It is a large coincrete thing (maybe about 4ft by 4 ft conctrete square) and it has a small low to the ground opening, like maybe 1 ft around 2 sides of it. I am super worried he got down in it and cant get back up. Reason I am worried is I saw a neighborhood stray go down it and also our own Stray that had gotten out yesterday too went down it...but they both came up. I don't know if Baby would go down it because he hates to jump. He is a short but very heavy/large cat, and even when I am holding him he doesn't jump to be put down he likes to be placed on the ground. So I don't know if he would jump down it, but it is about 3 ft down...but also has a drainage pipe in it htat goes to who knows where, and if he is down there I worry he will never come home. We spread tuna and canned food around the ground near the opening of it so try and get the scent up here in case he is down there.

We are honestly stumped. No cats have gotten out since and yes we have had windows closed but it is just an all around odd situation. We certainly won't be forgetting to set our alarm anymore. I think if he doesnt turn up in a few days I will think about contacting the police. I don't want to think that someone came in just to steal one cat because that sounds so odd to report, and I also dont think that anyone would have ben able to get Henry outside...My huabdns thinks someone might have left a door open and henrey was so scared he ran out, but we have 3 other cats that if a door is left open they WILL run out and they were all still in the house, so i just cant explain it.
Oh and we are definitely having our house re keyed asap!!!
Thanks for all the vibes....I woke up crying because I had 2 dreams about us finding him and of course the trap was empty. I want him home. I miss him sleeping on my feet, playing in the water when I brush my teeth, nudgding his head against my hand to get petted, stretching himself out non the counter while I try to divvy up wet food because he wants to be the first to get it....I just want him home!!

I am seriously concerned for you and feel bad about this whole bizarre situation. I just want you to know I am thinking of you and sending more caring vibes and pray you get Baby very soon.

Last night I got a disturbing call (posted about it in the cat lounge under title about something very disturbing happening) and after which I signed my phone up to google voice. The horrible call I got was from a google voice number, which lets people essentially have an anonymous phone number so they can prank people and no one will be able to trace it (unless the google voice folks can). Anyway I was told that if I signed up for google voice, I would be able to block calls from google voice~which is not true. I couldn't deactivate it last night so I planned to today. Well halfway through the day I realized I was missing phone calls and texts so I signed onto google voice to find they are intercepting all my texts and calls. I deactivated it after realizing I missed a call about my cat.
The fliers I hung paid off!!! I took them to every mailbox in my neighborhood and hung them under the flag (not in the box, that is illegal). Well the people two house lots down from me (empty lots) called me to tell me they think my cat is in their high tree. As I was getting the message and ready to call them back, they came and rang our bell to tell us the same thing. We RAN over and sure enough, Baby was high up in the tree terrified and panting in the 95 degree weather. His poor long hair was probably making him so hot & the wind was making the tree shake and scaring him. We tried to talk him down but he wouldn't come. We used a ladder but he crept away from us as we got higher. Finally my husband went to get some tuna to try and lure him down and a neighborhood girl-probably about HS age, was walking by and asked if we needed help. I told her what was going on and she mentioned having seen our sign so she ran over and climbed the ladder, climbed onto the tree and was able to talk him to her where she grabbed him and brought him down. We fed him, got him lots of fresh water and checked for ticks but right now he is just trying to relax with Billy and Joey, and is washing himself a lot. I am SOOOO happy he is home!!!
Oh and we sent a maintenance request to our home builder to ask them to come look at our foundation for holes & such and we asked who if anyone has master keys because we still have NO clue how they got out. Thanks for all the vibes!!
I cant believe we didn't hear him yesterday. They said they thought they heard meowing yesterday but never saw it and today heard it again and went looking because it sounded tragic and like the cat was getting weaker and weaker and finally saw him in the tree. We walked around this area so so so so so much, I am just so happy e is safe.

That's fantastic good news! You must be so happy and relieved. Everyone in your house will be sleeping so much better tonight.

I'm so glad Baby is back home!

I'm so very, very glad!

Can we see a picture of this gorgous cat?

Robin

1st picture is of Baby within days of us finding him outside in our chicken coop, estimated age around 10 weeks old.



Baby a few months old, he loves sleeping in things!



Baby in the sink, his favorite place


Baby (with Billy) loved the boxes during the move.



Baby loves boxes!! This was our picture on all fliers.

Fantastic!!!!! Love the he is a real beauty. You must be so relieved. I am so glad you posted all of those flyers around your neighborhood too. Poor Baby, being up in that tree. Now he is safely home and you will both sleep sooooooo well tonight.

Oh, I'm so glad for all of you - and what a wonderful bunch of new neighbors you have. I suspect each and every one of them is going to get a personal thank you over the next few days...and what a great teenager you met. Makes up for all the 'bad' people we all meet.

Wonderful news that your cats are all safe and sound

WHAT GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...I'm wondering if a contractor was in your home for some reason and left a door open? Or at this point they have no business being there? Is it worthing calling to ask - now that you know your cat wasn't stolen?

In the meantime, I would get the locks changed ASAP. I'd also Robin had a great idea - calling the pest specialist. You might want to at least find out how much it would cost for the 15 minutes to half hour it would take them to examine your home for potential kitty escape routes.

(Though I also agree with whoever it was - Feralvr? - that said given the way Joey was acting, it seems like there was a problem INSIDE. ).

We contacted our home builder, and asked them to come do an inspection for any holes. The house is a new build, and we have only lived her 3 weeks so everything is under warranty for a year but idk if checking for holes is something they would do. If not we will call a pest place. We have had the windows closed ever since Saturday, so IDK if they somehow pushed a screen out or what? None of the screens seemed loose, so I just don't know! No cats have gotten out since the windows have been closed so part of me thinks it is something to do with the windows.

I feel terrible for Joey and Baby because Joey is still being odd. He and Baby are SO close, so when Baby was missing he was sad and since Baby has come back he is acting more strange, due to Baby's strange scent. We got a new Feliway diffuser yesterday and some Natures Miracle No Stress phermone spray that we are spraying everywhere to try and calm them down. Baby keeps trying to nudge his head against Joey, like he has always done, and Joey just walks away from him. It is worrisome that Joey was so weird Saturday.

Oh and if a contractor was in our home on Saturday, we will be filing a police report. We asked our home builder company who/if anyone has a master key because once we closed on the house, no one was supposed to. If anyone does or we find out someone was in the house, we will be filing charges because it would be considered a break in. They have no right to be in here without permission & us being home. I am very glad that Baby wasn't stolen although I still wish we had answers as to how they got out. Oh if only cats could talk!!