Anyone have a cat who goes on seasonal "vacations"?

My 11 year old, spayed, black cat named Abby, has been missing since May 24th, 2012. That night she went missing, she'd had a knock-down-drag-out fight with my other cat, who is younger and bigger than her. They've hated each other since the moment the younger one came to live with us. We also have a new baby in the house. (Baby number two for us.) This year is the first time we started letting Abby out during the day, as she seemed to only stay in our yard on our 2.5 acre treed property, and she was SO good at hunting and climbing trees. She emptied our entire yard of moles within a 2 week time period, which was very nice! And she'd bring us good sized bunnies (although this made me sad to see), so I know she's an awesome hunter and could fend for herself. She also climbs up trees when the neighbor dog gets a little too friendly. (We're surrounded by forest, so lots of trees to climb.)

One night, she was out for the entire night, which terrified me! I'd always think the worst, but she'd come sauntering inside in the morning. So when she didn't turn up in the morning after the 24th, I thought it'd been one of her all-nighters, that she'd be back that night around dusk... Nope. Nothing. Disappeared into thin air! I did EVERYTHING you can possibly imagine in trying to find her these past 3 months... posters, fliers, mailers, vets, Humane Society, walking the neighborhood, following every single lead I'd get from my posters all to no avail. I even went so far as to track down a UPS van driver to get all the routes he went after he'd come to my house (the day after she went missing) and I plastered those streets with posters too. Anyway, it's early September now... It's been 3 whole months since she went missing. I've actually gone through the mourning process just to get over the pain and anguish I feel over losing her. I'm literally not sleeping for days at a time.. it's been rough, to say the very least.

To add a whole new dimension of guilt and anguish to my misery of losing her, we have to MOVE this fall!!! We are renting from my father-in-law who has to sell this house we're living in and I'm so afraid that she'll come back in the winter, expecting to be let into her warm house, only to find it empty and us gone. :'( I'm so distraught. Please pray for my cat, if she's still out there, that she'll come home before we have to leave this fall. :'( I'm beyond heartbroken just thinking about it. I keep hearing from people that cats who don't like their living situation will sometimes just get tired of it and go on "vacations" to get away. Does anyone out there have a cat who disappears for months or seasons at a time? 

Sending lots of  for Abby's return. I hope Abby will sense the change in temperature and the decrease in prey that she will come back to you before you move out. 

So sorry to hear about Abby. If she doesn't return before you move, could you tell the new people moving in about Abby? Leave your number so you could come back to get her if they see her. I know feral cats will disappear from time to time for weeks or even months at a time and then return. Not sure about indoor/outdoor house cats though. I do hope she returns to you before you move. :cross:

Here are some links on tips for finding lost kittes.
General Pet Search Tips
Finding a lost cat
Recovery Tips - Lost Cat Behavior

I'm not sure if this counts, but Abby was born to a feral mother, so she's always had a wild streak, but was raised (from a kitten) as an indoor kitty. She only recently became indoor/outdoor this year when she grew to be so restless indoors as the temps started to warm up. ...Now I regret ever having let her out with us during the day. I think she got a taste of freedom a little too soon.    That is an awesome idea - to leave my number with the people who are buying the house. I will definitely do that, and also leave them one of my flyers so they can have a picture too. 

I actually found an article that describes similar circumstances on how Abby disappeared... and how I'm hoping she will return!!! http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120212/GJNEWS_01/702129898/0/FOSNEWS0405   I just hope she returns before October... and I'm hoping I'm not being delusional.   I hope there is someone else out there who has had a cat who went missing for longer than 3 months and saw their cat again! Any stories or links to stories would be greatly appreciated! 

I'm so sorry she hasn't come home yet, I'll say a prayer for her to return safe and sound. I think it's a great idea to leave her picture and your contact info with the buyers of the house if she hasn't shown up before you are forced to move. 

DragonflySparro said:

I'm not sure if this counts, but Abby was born to a feral mother, so she's always had a wild streak, but was raised (from a kitten) as an indoor kitty. She only recently became indoor/outdoor this year when she grew to be so restless indoors as the temps started to warm up. ...Now I regret ever having let her out with us during the day. I think she got a taste of freedom a little too soon.    That is an awesome idea - to leave my number with the people who are buying the house. I will definitely do that, and also leave them one of my flyers so they can have a picture too. 

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That does explain a bit more! :nod: She was a feral cat at one time. So that means she does have the instinct and survival tactics to maintain herself safely. I bet your Abby is doing fine but could have lost her way. I do hope that she does return before you have to move. How upsetting for you. All I can say is that I have heard of many, many stories where cats have returned even months later. I do have a feral cat, Dixie, who will disappear for months and then show back up looking perfectly healthy. Where she goes, I have not a clue.

one of our cats left for like a month long bit before coming back to us.  Had never done it before and then never did it afterward.  It was weird.  Also another cat when I was younger actually got adopted by our neighbors. My parents decided they wanted a dog even though the cat had been in charge for 5 years.  The day the dog came home the cat never returned.

@Feralvr, Oh hooray! That's good news!  Maybe there is still hope for my kitty!   How long does your kitty disappear for and when does she reappear? Does it seem to be a seasonal pattern or is it pretty random? Even though we live in the Pacific Northwest, the weather has been (still) pretty warm lately, this week it's suppose to be almost 80ºF all week.. so it still feels like summer out there. The nights are getting cooler, and the days seem to be getting shorter, so hopefully she's getting the clue! Anyone else out there have a seasonal cat? I guess I'm still hoping that she'll return to me soon. I miss her so much!       

@sbjforumman, I'm thinking this is what could have happened with my cat... what with all the new baby, her mean kitty co-habitant, and the neighbor's crazy dog (whom they recently got rid of)... I can only pray for the best. I hope my prayers are answered soon!!! 

We have an old 17-18 year old tom cat named Yellow that we got when he was five years old. He had an old poorly healed broken leg but was still quite feisty when we got him.. When he was younger, he would take off and be gone sometimes 6 weeks at a time. Most of the time it was about two weeks that he would be gone. He always came back, but it worried me to death. We tried to keep him indoors, but he would sneak out and take off. His last "vacation" was probably 6 years ago or so if I'm remembering right. Now he is blind in one eye but still creeps around outside but he stays home now.. I t hink some cats just do that.

I hope your cat comes back soon. I KNOW how this can worry you and drive you crazy with fear for them.... I really do think it's in their nature however. It's the humans that have trouble with it. One other thing, Yellow always came back healthy looking and fat. He never suffered weight loss problems on his trips. He always found plenty of food to eat.

And when he got home, he was always extremely happy to see us... The last time he left was his 6 week vacation. I remember when he came home. I heard something at the door and all of a sudden, he just dashed in.
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Another cat I have that does this is Dovey. She stays gone NOW 3-4 days at a time. She is about 10 years old. I have a feeling she is not far from home though when she leaves. She just stays in the woods and hunts. I call her nightly to touch base with her. If she comes out of the woods, I bring her indoors to pet her and reaffirm her home status. She is a very dominate cat. If she doesn't come when I call her, I call her the next day. Sometimes, she'll stay indoors for several days and then take off. It is just her way of living her life and sharing it with me. Dovey was born on my porch but it is in her nature to hunt. She is a true predator.
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Cow is similar to Dovey. I don't see "Cow" for days, but she came in last night. She is never far away and I see her, but she prefers outdoor hunting over cat food. She lives at the creek and chases rabbits for food. She eats catfood too, but she likes rabbits and lizards. So she lounges at the creek and hunts most of the time. She lived outdoors on her own "hunting" from birth until she was six when we started feeding her. Cow is also a predator and I think is in her mid-teens. I'm not completely sure of her age but she is over 10 years old. We've had her around 8 years I think???? Since around 2006. We bought a house in Missouri and that's where she was at when we started feeding her. I have seen her stalk, hunt, kill a lizard and devour it in less than one minute. She is like a machine. When I shake the cat food pan, she comes running most of the time, but she just kind of stands around and watches the other eat because she is not hungry.

Some of my cats just do this. Most of mine stay home in the yard, but some are hunters. Real serious hunters.

I live in the country, so for mine, living out their nature is easy. I also want to say your kitty might just be on the 2.5 acres hiding.... I would call her nightly and keep food outdoors for her and that is whether she responds to your call or not. it's hard when they're gone. I compare your situation to my Yellow. He was the long term vacationer. He used to worry us to death. The thing that would give me hope and confident that your cat would show back up is the manner in which she left. It sounds like it was a territorial dispute. She might just be out of sight in the woods, licking her emotional wounds so to speak. I'm sending vibes your way. It's hard. I know.
I don't think being feral has anything to do with the hunting instinct. I think all cats have this instinct. Even sweet little house cats. It is in their nature. Some act on it whether they have cat food or not. A feral cat that lives with us is named Jimmy. When I first let him out, I was SURE he would be a cat that would take off and be gone and then come back and I was willing to accept that so he could be free and have a good quality of life. But the only time he has ever left the yard is following me. He is a pack cat. If they all do it, he join in, but he does not do solo trips and he does not wander off unless we all go together. He will follow me a mile up the road but when I come back, he is 10 paces behind me. He is totally engrossed in the security of the pack/colony and what they do together. My other true feral, Star, she also stays home, but she hunts. She only eats dry cat food or rabbits. Every cat is different.

I find dead field mice and rats on the edge of my yard that they have killed and brought in from the woods as a family offering. Some of the cats will actually eat them but most don't because they are not hungry. They eat cat food. But the kill instinct is still there. Only a few of mine hunt to eat. One thing I have noticed, they only eat their own kill. If another cat make some random kill and doesn't eat it, like a mice or something, even the ones that like to hunt only smell it and pass it by. The real hunters only eat their own kill.

My point is -- your cat knows how to hunt. You said she does, so hang on to that. She knows how to feed herself. You are in the country with game out there, so she will eat. That's what I was trying to say before I started rambling. I don't have a lot of experience with city cats, so I can't comment on how they might eat or find food, but I imagine it would be very different for them and quite difficult to find food. I am feeding a little city girl right now that's in this very situation -- no game and skinny..

As far as seasonal, I can't comment on that either. I enclose mine in the winter due to food being scare. When food is scarce, I feel that makes them game in their own yard, so I protect them and enclose them for about 3 months out of the year. Usually from the first snowfall through the beginning of spring when everything comes back out.

Also would your father n law sell you the house? Is that viable for you guys??