Just lost my cat while walking him for the first time outside on a leash :(

catapocalypse · Jul 23, 2015

Sorry if I post in wrong place .. Confused where to post this.

So, a friend of mine got this idea that it would be fun to take my cat out for a walk. He had leash and all that.

I was so stupid not even to test it indoor, and just as we got him outside he got out of the leash :S

After reading a lot on the internet I realized that I made a huge mistake chasing after him, so he is really scared

He ran into a forest area right outside my building. I searched the whole place, and found him a couple times, but he was to scared and ran away from me.

I kept searching the area but found no trace of him, so decided to expand my search. About 6 hours later I went back and searched and found him again. He was laying totally still looking very frightened in a bush area just behind a very busy road. I was scared that he might had ran out on the road, so I tried to get up to the road, and approach him from the other angle. But yeah, I stepped on something that made noise, and then he was gone :S

I kept searching at night since I couldn't sleep knowing he was out there. And because I read that flashlights reflects cats eyes when it's night.

But with no luck. Later I saw a cat away from that area running beneath a car, about same size. It was about the place where I lost him.

But honestly I hope it wasn't him, because I'm hoping he is still in that forest area, so I know where I have him.

Today I rented a humane cat trap, and have just set it up in that forest area. And now i'm just praying he will walk in it.

I've scattered some of his soiled cat litter, some of my dirty clothes ant other stuff with my apartment smell and placed it around/in the trap.

I have ofcourse put flyers up.

I'm so worried. I just got him about 2 months ago, and he is no more than 7-8 months old. I feel like a complete jackass for not making sure his leash was attached tight enough, so yeah .. Stupid me

But done is done, now I just want him back home.

Is there any tips you guys can give me, would be really appreciated, I'm willing to try everything.

And do you guys still think he is in the same area?

catapocalypse · Jul 23, 2015

I have also reported him missing

hersheys mom · Jul 23, 2015

The first question I have is this: Is he micro-chipped? If so, did you update the company with your new address and phone number? If he is chipped, and you have not updated the info, call them and update over the phone and ask if there have been any inquires on him. If you adopted him from a shelter, he is probably chipped and they would have the info on where to call. If you had him chipped and can't remember the company who made the chip, call the vet who inserted it.

If he is not chipped, anyone finding him would probably either keep him and feed him, take care of him until they saw an ad or a flyer, or return him to a shelter. Most cats don't like loud noise so hopefully he will stay out of the street. If he is in a forested area and is scared, he might climb a tree. In that case your searching for him would not do any good unless he starts to cry in which case you and your neighbors should be able to hear him. The good news is that he has been inside the new house. My newly adopted cat dashed out the door the morning after I brought her home and just took off. I live in a large mobile home park with over 200 large mobile homes. There are apartment complexes all around us and I large school across the street. I searched for her for 3 hours to no avail. Just about dinner time I heard this meow outside my front door. I opened it and in she strutted, looking for dinner, like nothing happened. Cats have this incredible sense as to where they live and they have been known to cross states to find their owners when left behind during a move. He should return on his own. I would leave the windows open, especially at night, because if he is up in a tree you should be able to hear him better at night when the neighborhood is quiet. If you spot him in a tree, don't disturb him. Call for help. Usually the fire department is pretty nice about getting kitties out of trees. There are also companies like Canopy Cat Rescue (WA) that will come and get him down. If you try to get him he may climb higher. If he is just wandering around, he should return when his tummy starts demanding food. I wish you the best of luck. I have been in your situation more than once (Tuesday my terror took off again but showed up at exactly 12 noon at the front door looking for lunch). The longest one of our cats was gone was overnight. He was on the front stoop when my mother got up the next day at 5 a.m. At that time he was just a kitten and had been with her about 5 days. I am not as experienced with this as a lot of others on this site, but in my experience unless they are taken in by someone and cannot get out, they always come home. Flyers are a great idea, and an ad in the paper would help also. Hoping he comes home to you.

catapocalypse · Jul 23, 2015

Hersheys Mom said:
The first question I have is this: Is he micro-chipped? If so, did you update the company with your new address and phone number? If he is chipped, and you have not updated the info, call them and update over the phone and ask if there have been any inquires on him. If you adopted him from a shelter, he is probably chipped and they would have the info on where to call. If you had him chipped and can't remember the company who made the chip, call the vet who inserted it.

If he is not chipped, anyone finding him would probably either keep him and feed him, take care of him until they saw an ad or a flyer, or return him to a shelter. Most cats don't like loud noise so hopefully he will stay out of the street. If he is in a forested area and is scared, he might climb a tree. In that case your searching for him would not do any good unless he starts to cry in which case you and your neighbors should be able to hear him. The good news is that he has been inside the new house. My newly adopted cat dashed out the door the morning after I brought her home and just took off. I live in a large mobile home park with over 200 large mobile homes. There are apartment complexes all around us and I large school across the street. I searched for her for 3 hours to no avail. Just about dinner time I heard this meow outside my front door. I opened it and in she strutted, looking for dinner, like nothing happened. Cats have this incredible sense as to where they live and they have been known to cross states to find their owners when left behind during a move. He should return on his own. I would leave the windows open, especially at night, because if he is up in a tree you should be able to hear him better at night when the neighborhood is quiet. If you spot him in a tree, don't disturb him. Call for help. Usually the fire department is pretty nice about getting kitties out of trees. There are also companies like Canopy Cat Rescue (WA) that will come and get him down. If you try to get him he may climb higher. If he is just wandering around, he should return when his tummy starts demanding food. I wish you the best of luck. I have been in your situation more than once (Tuesday my terror took off again but showed up at exactly 12 noon at the front door looking for lunch). The longest one of our cats was gone was overnight. He was on the front stoop when my mother got up the next day at 5 a.m. At that time he was just a kitten and had been with her about 5 days. I am not as experienced with this as a lot of others on this site, but in my experience unless they are taken in by someone and cannot get out, they always come home. Flyers are a great idea, and an ad in the paper would help also. Hoping he comes home to you.

He is not chipped sadly, allthough I got him at a shelter. He is earmarked though.

I live on 2nd floor in an apartment buidling, so sadly there is no way he will come home by himself

Yes, he had just gotten really comfortable in his new home, after beeing very timid. I could even pick him up lately, wich he wouldn't let me in the beginning.

I will def try and keep my window open though, since I have view right out to that forest area.

I hope all my searches in the forest area haven't scared him out of there. It's impossible to walk around quietly in there. There is no roads to walk on, just a lot of trees and bushes that makes a lot of noise when you pass through it. But it's the place I've seen him, so only place that made sense to me to place the trap.

I've checked the trap twice now, still no luck.

I hope he will go in it at night time when the road is not so noisy.

I keep thinking I blew my chance I had when I found him first time, I should had just sat down looked away and handed him treats, waiting for him to come to me, but I blew it. Hopefully he haven't left that area :S

Thank you for your tips and anwer

jennyr · Jul 23, 2015

Probably a silly question, but you did put some of his favourite food, preferably smelly, in the trap?

catapocalypse · Jul 23, 2015

I put some of the expensive wet food in there, also a bit of the dry food that he eats

I was down checking just now for the 3rd time, and there was flies all over the food, but it's kind of impossible to avoid, since it's summer and in a forest area.

The food will still be atractive to him right? .. I would love to change food every 2-3 hours so it doesn't get bad, but I don't want to risk scaring him away to much.

If there is any special kind of food I should put in there I would love to know

I think i'll go down to the store now and try with some tuna, allthough I do not want to attract other cats, there is a lot of cats running around where I live.

jennyr · Jul 23, 2015

Put the trap against a tree or half under a bush and cover it with leaves and brushwood. It will not be so scary for him to walk into and it will help keep the flies off.

catapocalypse · Jul 23, 2015

Yeah I covered it with towels and a lot of leaves/branch and stuff, and it's up against a tree.

catapocalypse · Jul 23, 2015

My brother just came out and we went to look again. Driving around just in case we would see him some place near the road, and walking for a couple hours in a 500 m radius, and we found a cat that looked exactly like mine from a distance.

After gently waiting with treats we got the cat to come to us, and was able to pick him up, but sadly it wasn't him

But at least we found out it wasn't him, if he had ran away before we could see him up close I would had spent all my time searching in a most likely wrong place.

It litteraly feels like looking for a needle in a haystack. So many places for a cat to hide where I live, alot of green areas.

I really hope he gets in the trap tonight. Feels like the only hope left

catapocalypse · Jul 27, 2015

It has now been over 5 days

I've had someone eat in the trap I set up in the last 2 days, but the trap didn't fall down. After first time I saw that there had been food eaten I tried hanging chicken in the top so he would step on the trap mechanism, but I found the piece of chicken outside of the trap, half eaten. So I figured that he is probably to light for the trap. I've tried call my shelter to see if they have traps for small cats, but no :/ .. I tried putting on some weight on it, but this last night when I went down to check, surely the trapdoor had went down .. But no cat inside, so I don't know what rly happened, but I guess I had put to much weight on it, combined with probably rain falling down on it, idk ..

I have barely slept or eaten since I lost him, not that my condition matter, all that matter is to get my cat home safe.

I'm trying to remain hopeful

catapocalypse · Jul 27, 2015

I've also tried to keep my apartment front door + my door open at night (whle I keep awake ofc). I've tossed some treats just outside and placed a box with used litter, and a bowl of wet food at my door. He would have to climb a stair to enter my apartment (that he have never entered/exited by himself)

Is this completely useless? Or is there actually hope that he might walk up the stairs into my apartment? I really wish I lived on ground level so I could keep my window open for him. It's awful to think that he might actually be trying to seek home, but just can't get inside, very frustrating ..

Norachan · Jul 27, 2015

I'm sorry to hear this, how awful for you.

The good news is that indoor only cats don't wander very far from home. They usually hunker down in a safe place and wait until they are really hungry before they move. You said there are a lot of cats in your area so it might not be him going into the trap to eat. Being able to get in and out of a trap without springing it sounds like a crafty old feral trick to me. He probably is still very close to the last place you saw him and after five days he'll be hungry enough to come out and look for food. Could you and your brother try going back to that spot tonight? Get a blanket to sit on and some of his favourite food and treats and just sit there really quietly, calling his name softly or shaking the treats tin.

I've heard that cats are attracted to flickering candle light. A torch is too bright and will scare them off, but a candle gets their attention. (Citronella candles will keep the bugs away from you too)

Another thing that you could try is leaving a trail of his used litter from the last place you saw him back to your house. Cats have an amazing sense of smell, just a few grains of litter will carry enough of his scent for him to recognise.

My cat Mia was gone for three and a half weeks in the woods this time last year, so please don't stop hoping.

Have you seen this article? There might be something in here which can help.

[article="32600"]Help My Cat Is Lost[/article]

Keep us posted, I hope you find him soon.

catapocalypse · Jul 27, 2015

Yes you are right that it could be a feral cat.

I haven't tried candles, maybe I should give that a shot.

I read that indoor cats who gets out has a treeshold before they let their guard down (when they get hungry/thirsty enough), so I hope that he will be willing to come soon when I call after him/shake his treats.

Problem is that he is such a careful cat. Last few weeks I've had him he became much more fan of beeing petted, but as soon as somebody just knocked on the door he was gone to the first and best hiding spot he could find in my apartment.

I'm really afraid that he will never come close enough to me to let me pick him up, and i'm so worried that I will grab out for him again only to have him escape when I finally find him again.

That already happened the day he escaped when I first found him.

IMAG0130.jpg

catapocalypse
Jul 27, 2015

This is the only picture I have left of him on my phone + some videos, since I lost my main SD card.

I really wish I have had some better picture for the fliers.

Sad thing is that there is really many look-a-like cats out here

Anyways, I will be sure to let you guys know if I should get him home.

Even if you don't believe in God I would appreciate your prayers ;P
Anything to get my baby back home :S

Norachan · Jul 27, 2015

Have you thought of using a trail camera? These are outdoor cameras that take a photo or shoot a few seconds of video if they are triggered by something moving in front of them. You could leave some food out near the spot you last saw him and set the camera up there, just in case he comes out to eat.

If you Goggle trail cameras you'll see what's available. There are lots of videos on YouTube about how to set them up and what kind of images you get.

Lots of vibes for you and your boy, I hope you find him soon.

catsknowme · Jul 27, 2015

Norachan said:
Have you thought of using a trail camera? These are outdoor cameras that take a photo or shoot a few seconds of video if they are triggered by something moving in front of them. You could leave some food out near the spot you last saw him and set the camera up there, just in case he comes out to eat.

If you Goggle trail cameras you'll see what's available. There are lots of videos on YouTube about how to set them up and what kind of images you get.

Lots of vibes for you and your boy, I hope you find him soon.

Adding my prayers and vibes

Norachan, I especially like your ideas about using his used cat litter to help him "recognize territory" and also the trail cam!

catapocalypse · Jul 28, 2015

I don't know if I can afford it, but thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into it .. Anyways, there haven't been any activity in the trap since last time

I'm worried he actually got in the trap when it closed and somebody have heard him meow and released him, but probably just my mind playing tricks on me.

Last 2 days I've been out all night with tuna and treats, and had like 5 cats following me lol (kind of annoying, since he 100% won't show himself when they are there)

I'm gonna keep searching but my hope is starting to fade. I feel like such a failure, I don't even care anymore that it wasn't my intention, I should had made sure he would not slip out of the leash .. I failed my cat

..

It's been 1 week tomorrow.

catapocalypse · Jul 28, 2015

OMG. I think I just spotted him.

About 300 meters from my home.

I went down there shaking some treats and suddenly saw a little cat running across the street. He was hiding under a car looking at me.

I called his name and waited for 30 min, but he didn't come over.

I just moved the trap over to that place, and now I went home waiting.

PLEASE let this be it :S

I'm so nervous right now

LotsOfFur · Jul 28, 2015

That's so great! Fingers crossed for you.

Norachan · Jul 28, 2015

I really hope it's him. All of our fingers and paws crossed here for you

jennyr · Jul 29, 2015

Never give up hope. All fingers crossed for you. It is often the case that cats react differently outside, and will not come to their names being called. But I pray the trap will work.

Just lost my cat while walking him for the first time outside on a leash :(

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What greater gift than the love of a cat.

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