How Long Could A Cat Stay Away?

I have a cat in my backyard. She came two years ago and was pretty young. She was clearly a feral cat due to her behaviour. It took me a long time to be able to touch her, etc. Now she let me scratch her, ahd brush and pick her up and carry her around, but only in the garden. She didn't want to come inside.

Well, since all went so well, I decided it's finally time to take her to the veterinarian for vaccinations and a microchip and all. The vet shaved her belly and found out that she is already spayed which must have happened when she was very young. She didn't have a chip either, like I said she was clearly a wild cat when she appeared.

Well this was Monday morning. When we came back she was quite disturbed. I took her inside the house first and put her in a small room, stayed with her, but she was only seeking for a place to hide, didn't touch the food and all, so I thought it's best that I take her back to the garden. She didn't panic, stood there and checked the place, clearly recognizing it I would say. Then she marched away alongside the bushes toward the rear fence and I haven's seen her ever since

I went to the neighbors with some flyers today, nobody has seen her, there are other cats around here though in neighboring gardens.

Now I wonder, what are the chances that she ever comes back? Did I traumatize her with that visit and she just went off? Is that normal after such a situation? Or is there a chance that she comes back? But I'm worried about food and water, she did hunt from time to time, but I live in California and there isn't a lot of water around.

I have food i the backyard of course, last night it was gone, but I dont know if it was her, could also have been an opposum I guess.

Hi   So sorry to hear this.

She definitely might still come back.  In terms of the water issue, actually, if cats successfully hunt, they can get most or even all of their fluid from their prey and that won't hurt them... they don't neccessarily need frequent access to a 'fresh' water source though of course it's nice if they can have one.

I  am sorry again that you are going through this.  Hopefully more experienced people will chime in soon!

Please do not give up hope.  When I had one of our feral rescues (Patience) spayed she went missing for 4 days before she returned. The surgery for a cat  already spayed is just as traumatic as actually doing the surgery as it means being opened up and all the associated intrusiveness.  I would suggest keep putting out food and watching for her, she may well return and likely come to eat when no one is watching.

I have done TNR on 5 males in my backyard.  They all seem to react differently when released.  I have had 3 come back within 2 days while the other 2 never returned.  The two that didn't return were the ones I had a difficult time trapping and took me months to catch them.  I believe the experience of being in a trap and inside my house overnight to recover was just too much for them to handle.  It breaks my heart.  Yet I know that I did the right thing by getting them neutered.  I have just come to realize that each cat will react differently.  I was positive each cat would return as I was their only food source.  But fear is a powerful thing for a feral. 

Keep leaving out food during waking hours.  I will send good thoughts your way.

Thanks,

I realized now that the food I had out was eaten by an opossum, I saw it

The cat hasn't returned yet and I think she wont. She has been living exclusively in my garden for the past year, before that, in and out probably hiding elseehere during the day, I dont know. But recently she had nowhere else to go.

She wasn't even operated at the vet, just had the belly shaved and the vet found the scar. He said though that she was "unhappy" there in the back where his assistants handled her. I have the feeling they may have handled her harschly. When we were at the vet she was kind of ok but when she came back she was scared ion the back of the box.

Well either way, I guess I screwed up by taking her there. She wasn't really in contact with other cats so vaccination wasn't of that importance and she didn't get pregnant the last two years so I could have guessed that she was already spayed, but what the hell, no point in contemplating past mistakes.

Thanks everybody for the kind words. I see I'm not alone with this experience so I guess that's just the way it is sometimes.

Please don't feel you did anything wrong. It was very kind of you to take this cat to the vet! She may very well return to you, so don't give up hope yet. You did the responsible and loving thing.

Cats are very fragile creatures. 90 percent of the time, TNR is the right thing to do. There are certain cases when TNR is just not going to work out, and the TNR is going to traumatize the cat so the cat doesn't return.  All we can do is all we can do.

I am not willing to deprive my un-trappable, loving feral cat of food to coerce him into a trap, nor am I going to throw a trout net over him. If he remains un-neutered and I have to TNR his offspring for the next decade, so be it. He is the exception, not the rule--I've neutered and spayed so many other cats.  It's so hard to know what to do in each given situation! We should do the best we can do with each cat and each situation, and trust God, and not beat ourselves over it when thing don't work out the way we want them to .  

Thanks.

I think though that this should be pointed out. Maybe somebody else has a similar situation one day and is looking for advice and finds this. My cat was nearly exclusively living in my garden which is enclosed with a wall. There were no other cats she had contact with and for two years I've had her around now and she didnt get pregnant all this time. The doc said this was very unusual for a cat and suspected that she was already sterilized, which turned out to be true.

Well the risk for any infection was minimal and she had a good and secure place here. Now she's gone, probably reverting to a stray live, perhaps getting killed.

I must say that I consider my actions a mistake. I should not have attempted to take her to the doc without need. I agree that with real feral cats, trapping and neutering is the right thing to do, but when you have the cat already domesticated at 75% or so like this one and there are no contacts with other cats and no signs of pregnancy over time, it's perhaps not the best idea.

Well, I hope if anybody reads this in search of advice, my story may help.

The hardest part of caring for strays/ferals is that we have very little control over them.  You did what you thought was best.  I did the same with the two I neutered and never returned.  I wonder about them each and every day.  I was their only food source and for one of them, he lived here on my deck for almost 2 years.  It was heartbreaking. 

Continue to have hope that she will return as it is possible. 

Have you thought of getting a trail camera that takes pictures at night to see if she possibly comes around at night or dusk?  They are usually about $50-70 and work very well.  Hunters use them to track deer or other game at night.  You just strap one to a post or tree and put a micro SD card inside and it takes pictures or video upon movement.  The next morning you bring in the micro SD card and view it on your computer (as long as you have a viewer). 

You are in my thoughts.

If it helps any....
I am in Mesa, AZ. One of my indoor cats (only indoor) got out (someone broke in our home while having my second son... the Police had the door open, going in and out) for 18 days. The temperature was rarely under 120 for most of the 18 days.

We have no idea where she had been. She was so thin and dehydrated but when she finally came home, we were so excited to see her.

We adopted (from a feral mom in a feral community) her and 2 siblings, she was the last to pass away.

Best of luck!

Thanks everybody.

I thought I should update you that the cat showed up outside the backdoor tonight. I was just about to close up here and go to bed when I heard her screaming outside, my other cat heard her too.

She seems to be shy and wont let me touch her, but she was also hungry and also drank immediately, she seems very thirsty. I can't really say that she looks starved, maybe a bit thinner than she used to be, it's hard to say. I put her rug back out and put some catnip on it and she is now sitting on her old rug again. I hope she will stick around. I will have to start working on her trust again and work on better handling in the future.

I will not take her for the booster injection next week, instead I will try and handle her better and more consequently, get her to sit on the lap and such. There's s doctor in this area who does housecalls. Mostly for euthanasia I understand but perhaps he also comes out for vaccinations, then I can have her vaccinated here in a few months I hope.

Well lets see how it goes, I hope she sticks around again. Thanks to everybody who answered again.

I am so happy she has returned.  Just keep feeding her and offer her shelter too.  I bet she will begin coming around for food again and gradually you can win her trust again. 

Thanks for the update.

Echo that , how happy she returned. 

As to feeling guilty taking her in to be spayed, don't go there - you did the right thing.  There is no way to know that a cat has already been spayed/neutered if they are not tattooed (which most cats are now) or if the surgery was done many years ago and the tattoo faded.  I went through this with Ellie, finally after months of winning her trust took her in, only to find (after she had been opened up) that she was already spayed.  It happens and it's gut wrenching that you put a cat through that without need.   I think the thing to think of is what if she had NOT been spayed, and then there would have been another round of kittens and so on. And getting shots is good too.  Perhaps someone with vet experience might weigh in here if there are good behavioral indicators if a cat might have been spayed previously, that would help avoid this situation,but I doubt it would be 100% reliable.  Oh and the booster (assuming that's the FLV one?) - the recommended is 3 weeks but there is a wider window - I had one done nearly 5 weeks after and it was still ok, so don't give up on that.

So yes now you have a "regain trust" situation and yes it will take time, but you've been there before right? and you can do it again.  You know this lovely cat is still safe and willing to give life with you another chance, and that's got to be a big weight off your mind, so focus on moving forward.  Cats are forgiving, they don't bear grudges like (some) people, they just have to get into that comfort zone of  "I'm ok here".   So go slow, keep on with the food and water and the tentative approaches, have faith all will be well in the end.