Our house cat got out and is now gone for 4 nights (we are in PA) HELP PLEASE! -- HE'S HOME!

Hi.  Our indoor only house cat Soda who is Siamese got out on Sunday afternoon after some friends visited our house and didn't close the door.  We immediately started our search.

I saw him walking along the side of our house early that evening and then he ran into the forest that runs along our house.  We went out into the woods in the rain calling his name, but no luck.  Around 11pm we saw him again come out of the trees (we were inside looking out) but he got scared and ran back into the trees.

On Monday I had some laminated posters made up for telegraph poles and some flyers to post in letter boxes within a few blocks.

He is microchipped twice and I made sure I was paid up and registered with those 2 companies. But he isn't wearing a collar.

On Tuesday night, one of our neighbors called me to say he saw Soda on the corner or the street and tried to grab him.  This was in the opposite side of the house to the woods that I had spent most of my days searching for him.  We immediately went out, saw something dart back into more trees.  So we now have another forest to search.  That night we set up 2 traps near the areas he had been last seen.

Morning of day 3 (Wed) we caught a cat, but not Soda alas.  However around 5.30am at sunset, I saw him on our deck (which didn't have a trap or food) from where I was standing at the edge of our garden.  He saw me and ran again.  We searched for him again, but no luck.

I went to Lowes and bought 3 more humane traps for that night.  I use canned mackerel, KFC chicken and his Science Diet indoor cat food.  And we put one out on the deck with his litter box.

This morning (Day 4) we caught another cat, again not Soda.  The other traps hadn't been touched.

It's now 4 nights since he's been gone, and just over 24 hours since I saw him.  I've seen him 3 times since he left.  There are foxes out there and I'm thinking he's getting weaker.

Any help or advice appreciated.  He's a friendly cat and loves to play.  We are moving overseas in a month, which makes things terrible for us to think we'll leave the country if he's not found.  I think he must have sensed our move which must have unsettled him.  We have another American Shorthair around the same age, by the way.

We got him as a kitten from a no kill shelter just over 2 years ago.  My wife thinks he might have been trapped before and therefore wary of traps - is that possible from 2 and a half years ago?

Questions - should we move the traps around?  Should we cover it in a dark cloth?  We are using brown or cream sheets which is what we have right now.  One cat was caught in the brown and one was caught in the cream

Please help!

Try putting some of soda's used cat litter out. Try putting out some smelly food. I had a cat that was missing for 11 days and I found her the following day after I put the cat litter out.

Hi crittergril.   I spread cat litter around the house on day 2.  Including some of his "soiled" litter that he shared with our other cat.  I also now have his litter box on our deck (where he was last seen).

Is this fresh litter or "soiled" litter?

Use some from his litter box.

You might also want to put a trap on your deck, and put under it some clothing from the person he is most bonded to.  Dirty clothing, not clean, so he can smell his person on it.
 

sont get discouraged! my friends cat recently did the same thing. she was gone about a week. they were out all the time searching but couldnt put yp signs because where they live they would get kicked out because theyre not supposed to have cats. she would spot sash every once in awhile. she woukd leave the big door open and the screen door shut and junior (the other cat) would meow and sometimes sash would come on the porch at night to see him. one night she just decided she hadenugh and came home. she was really under weight and had ticks and fleas but she was alive. and now she back to her healtht evil self. so just pray and keep looking!! dont give up.

Since he has come up on your porch, sleep out there. Indoor cats outside are usually very frightened and cannot recognize safety or their humans.

Sleep on the porch, and he is likely to join you when you are quiet. I thought of this because it worked for someone else in a similar situation.

At other times just sit out there, talking to him softly, or even reading aloud in a soft voice, especially at down and dusk which is when cats are instinctively most active. When he approaches, resist the urge to jump and grab. Wait for him to come to you.

Praying for your boy to come home soon

Soda :heart3:

Thank you.  I am really encouraged by your posts.  Woke up this morning at 5am after his 5th night away.  No sign.  Then late this morning he was spotted by my wife in the woods running alongside our house.  We both went out and both saw him!  He tiptoed back into the trees and we haven't seen him again.  He seems healthy from this distance.  It's the first time we've spotted him during the "daytime".

It rained last and the sheets covering some of our traps got wet which slows down the mechanism.  It is OK to use traps without a blanket on them?

Here's an update.  No great news yet.  On day 6 we got a call from someone a mile away who had a Siamese in his backyard. (Some people are so nice! He saw the cat, drove to my poster and then called me over!)  I quickly drove over.  I saw the Siamese from a distance, approached him and he then walked off calmly into the woods.  It could have been Soda, but he was a little darker.  But then I thought how many Siamese are walking around woods?  Really heartbreaking to see him (possibly) 2 days running.

It's now a week since he's gone and it seems like a month.  I'm not sure if we'll see him again now. So sad.  To make it worse, we leave the US for a new life in another country in 3 weeks.

Are you sitting outside at dawn, and dusk or (weather permitting) sleeping out on the porch? He is obviously just too spooked to come closer when there is too much activity. Sitting, talking quietly and staying very still may be the best way to get him to come to you.

Praying he comes home soon.

Soda :heart3:

UNBELIEVABLE!!!! FOUND HIM!!!! MORE TO COME LATER!!! OFF TO THE 24 VETS FOR A CHECK UP.

Oh thank heavens. (Thank you for prayers answered. ) You are so smart to take him right to the vet. Oh, I am so happy for you (and him!)

I'll be watching for the update, and thank you for letting us know.

Oh I love happy endings!!!!! Glad that your beautiful boy has been found. Hope he checked out perfectly well at the vet.

aw yay! hope everything checks out ok!

I was just coming in to tell you the happy ending I had to a similar situation, but this is a much better update!! I'm so glad he's home and hope his visit to the vet was uneventful!

Love your cat things.... so cute & admire the tnr  : )

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Oh my gosh, sooooo happy you got him back!!

i bet he's really happy to be home.

You can write a mini children's book on his week.

i laughed about you catching other cats by accident, that was cute : )

That is wonderful news! 

I'm wondering if he picked up on the 'leaving' vibe, since you're moving.

Wishing you all a wonderful 'resettle'

Hi, it's been crazy (catching up with family and going back to work!) but I wanted to end the story.   

After my previous post we were losing hope of seeing him again.  He wouldn't come to us when spotted and last time I saw him (or was it him), he was a mile away.

Then I got a call right after hitting send on this website.  Unfamiliar number.  It was the local township.  Oh no! I thought I was in trouble for stapling posters to telegraph poles and posting flyers into letter boxes, which my wife told me was not allowed. But it was a guy who spotted Soda near the police station.

I quickly drove over.  The "old guy" (I'll call him that if you don't mind!) showed me where Soda was.  I couldn't see his small face initially it was quite far away. But there he was at the front of a shed that held a mountain of rock salt for the local roads.  I knew by now to approach him quietly. But I also knew as soon as he saw me he would run off. But this time he didn't have a forest behind him.  It was a shed. I asked the "old guy" what was behind. He said he thought it was blocked off. Therefore I knew I had Soda cornered. I got help from the old man and a Policeman who came out to see what we were doing (it was also outside the local township police station).  I live in a fairly small, leafy town to set the scene...

I approached Soda.  He ran off.  I ran up the rock salt mountain. Soda came out the other side of the shed by the old man. The old man dived to the floor with "cat like" reflexes and got him.  I remember my wife told me to grab Soda by the fleshy bit behind his head, but I grabbed him anywhere.  Soda was struggling to get away and he ripped my shirt with this struggling. I saw his green nail caps which we had attached to his claws to stop him scratching the furniture.  It was definitely him!  I wasn't going to let him get away this time.  I asked the old guy to open the car door and he did.  I got in and me and Soda were locked in!  Finally after 7 nights he was back!

I drove home and my family were overjoyed - crying, dancing and smiling!!! Soda was really smelly, but otherwise in good health and a little thinner. Bubbles (the other cat) and Soda exchanged hisses at each other.  The first time either of them had hissed since they first met 3 years ago.

I took Soda straight to the 24 hour animal hospital for a check up. He had fleas and took some tablets for parasites he might have picked up. He needs to be quarantines from Bubbles for 48 hours. Otherwise he looked great and had to go to the back of the queue for the sick dogs and the poor dog that arrived after being attached by a pitbull (he's stable now).

The vet told me that that Bubbles thinks it is a completely different cat because he smells so different!  They need to be gently introduced to each other again.

The old guy happened to work for the local parks authority. I can't believe the actions that brought that "old guy" to call me.

1) he was working 7pm on Sunday
2) he saw a small cat from a distance
3) he probably went back to my poster to get my number and then drove back to Soda and then call me
4) I was at home, not at work or elsewhere
5) my blackberry wasn't missing somewhere in the house like it normally is!  I almost missed his call...
6) he was willing and able to drop down to his knees and catcha fleeing stray cat with his bear hands

I had a reward out there and he requested it be giving to the local Parks Authority of which he was the chairman. I'll also give him a personal gift card.

The "old guy" (Mr Starr) was a real star that day and hero to us all!

On the edge of my seat reading this, even though I already knew Soda was safe.

Your vet is very smart, about the hissing and reintroductions. I am so happy for this outcome I've got tears in my eyes.

I am so happy to hear that you found your beloved kitty!