My semi feral cat has disappeared

Alex134,

kittychick is so right. These intact males can roam a long way for love (and fight their way around).  What you have done is great. He can now settle into a colony.

I had 2 males that were the meanest, nastiest males ever. They would fight to no end, fur off, blood etc. I got the 1 trapped but not the other and they wouldn't fight anymore the 1 neutered just fled (up trees usually). Then I finally got the other. They now are best buddies, sleep together, eat together, inseparable. They almost killed each other and now they love each other. Neutering does a lot. I hope you can get the brown cat but he sure seems trap savvy and he sounds like he isn't too bad if Redford accepted him.

Really well done. The interloper might stick around but my guess is he will be a much better guy now (eevntually until his testosterone dissipates).

Thank you for NextDoor, I never knew about that either. Very cool.

Let us know what the interloper does when you release him and when Redford returns.

Thanks again for all you are doing, you are doing a great job!!

Thank you @CalicosRSpecial,

I have hope that things will level off. That is wonderful, that your two guys get along so well. I wish for that to happen here.

I did release the interloper last evening, around 8:30. That is the time he was used to coming around. He had a tasty meal at 8, then I brought him to the place he was trapped, pulled back the trap cover and let him look around for a bit. He knew where he was. I lifted the trap door and in a few seconds he was free. He ran toward the hole in the fence, but before going through, he turned and looked at me for a few seconds. I waved goodbye, and he disappeared through the fence. So it has not yet been 24 hours. We will see if and when he returns. He does no seem worse for wear from his ordeal at the vet. He is a strong cat.

I will still try to trap the brown cat, even though he is wary. I know a woman on an adjoining street who feeds him. I can coordinate with her not to feed him for 36 hours. If he is hungry enough, he may take the bait. What I fear, though, that another unneutered male will come and fill in the gap once the brown guy is fixed and start this cycle all over again?

I miss my Redford so very much.

You are welcome.

You did the exact right thing with the interloper. It is funny that he stopped and turned. Usually they really take off so you must have treated him very well. I have a feeling he will be back and maybe he and Redford will be good friends. One never knows.

It is possible that intact males will show up looking for food (and love). But when all the females are fixed they end up coming for the food and typically they then move on. I wouldn't worry too much but they do come around once in a while. If they stick around then you can try to catch them. 

I totally understand how much you miss him. I have been there more times than I want to admit. They are so easy to fall in love with. 

I also have a semi feral male calico that has been around for a few years. I bought him a heated cat condo, which he used for a while, but every December he disappears for a month or so, only to pop up like nothing happened. He is friendly to me, but not anyone else and is a true feral. His playmate from a few years back still enjoys playing with him, even though he has been inside (mostly) since we brought him inside. The feral cat, Callie, is pretty skittish, but if Binks is around (his old playmate) he is much more at ease....kind of like Binks is a "goodwill ambassador" .

    I'm glad to see that your kitty returned...I haven't seen Callie for a few weeks and he was outside this morning waiting on a meal...some things they don't seem to forget!

Jim 

I tried to show him compassion, knowing he was scared and unsure what was happening to him. It is good to know he appreciated it.

@JMarkitell,

I love your collection of cats, one prettier than the next.
Do you have ANY idea where your calico goes when he disappears? It is driving me crazy that Redford has been gone for almost six weeks.

I really don't know where he goes, as he is around 24/7 most of the year. He is still intact (thats next on the bucket list), so maybe he goes looking for love, although he isn't scarred up from fighting or even agressive with other cats. I try to fatten him up during the summer as he always comes back on the thin side. But he keeps coming back. He might leave for 3-4 months, but he returns about the same time of year. During the last few months, I think I saw him twice and he was too skitish to come and eat anything...now he seems more at ease and is back to enjoying the food bowl.

Jim

I wish I could develop a greater sense of ease about this entire situation. This is my first experience dealing with cat disappearance and I am freaking out over it. I got a trail camera and will set that up tomorrow, just in case he comes around in the wee hours of the morning, I'd like to know.

Don't lose hope, but try to be calm, it's a hard thing that when one of your fur friends disappear..
I found a beautiful cat on my window one day, she was a semi feral or maybe a stray, she doesn't fear from humans at all, but she is so much strong and some sort of a cat bully(all other cats fear from her, she goes and attacks any cat that doesn't run away from her, she isn't spayed), she looked so much beautiful long hair, white and brown/orange with a nice pattern , and golden eye's and a puffy tail. So i fed her, and within a week she turned to be my best non human friend, so i made a home for her outside and she used to stay most of the day there, until once my cousin saw her and liked her so much that he stole her, he wanted to pet her and took her to his house, so the first day passed and i was a bit of calm, but the second day i wasn't, i went out looking for her around the neighbour hood and i didn't find her at all, about a week later, i heard her voice at the door, so i opened the door and let her in, and since that day she is an inside cat. She ran out of my cousin's house after she attacked him, and she walked for about 2 miles back to my house! I felt amazed and didn't believe that she knew her way back to home.
So what i want to tell you is to trust your cat's ability, my cat now leaves the home daily whenever i get out, and she always come in less than an hour, I've went on spying missions to see where she goes and what she does and i found that she is taking care when walking in the streets and crossing the roads, so now i no more feel tense whenever she gets one minute late, i just believe in her abilities...
Also another story that happened with my cousin (the same one who stole my cat), after my cat left him, he found a poor young stray cat that he took in and raised, he liked her so much and she also loved him so much that she follows him everywhere, that cat used to fear so much from other cats as she was noticeably smaller in size, one day she got lost, i told him to stay calm at the first days(depending on my experience with my cat), but things didn't go as expected, a week passed and she didn't come at all, so i and my cousin went searching and to try to find her, but no luck at all, three months passed and she didn't come, we lost hope about that she will come(especially that we are living in a non cat friendly area, and kids usually abuses cats, and a lot of cats passes away because of cars), he felt so much bad, so i even wanted to give him one of my kittens, to make him feel better... untill one day (13 days ago) he woke up at night at the sound of a cat meowing at his door so he just opened the door and he found that it's his cat, she came back again after more than 3 months, she was kind of in a bad state (dirty, and had some scratches all over her body), but now she is just like before she left, clean and happy.
So never loose hope, redford will probably come back, and if not he is somewhere safe, getting care from someone else (as you said you have a cat friendly area)..
I want to thank you for caring about those cute creatures, and you done a really good job with the interloper.
wishing you the best of luck with the brown one, and hoping that your guy will come back safely and happily..

Thank you so much for sharing the two stories @Moayad Albluwe. Your kindness is appreciated. And thank you as well for caring for your lovely cats.

Well, the trail camera has been set up. I will get my first test images tonight. I also want to tell everyone about a wonderful BLOG I have discovered (I have been combing the Internet looking for information). It is Feralcattails.wordpress.com. There are monthly posts, and filled with good information. In scrolling through the posts, I came across some descriptions of scenarios so much like what happened with Redford and the interloper - I have decided to call the interloper Radar because of the way he zeroed in on my boy's territory and food.

In their case, there was conflict between two males, and the one who had been neutered took off and was believed to have been gone for good - but he returned after 8 months!

These stories give me hope. Thanks for reading this. Hope you enjoy the Blog if you check it out.

Trail camera worked like a charm! I got over 128 photos. A number of cats appeared, and I only had a bowl of dry food out. Three were my neighbors Indoor outdoor cats. There were three "ferals" and among them - guess who? THE INTERLOPER, aka Radar.

Radar came between 1 and 3 am. Food was gone by then but he came around twice or three times.

Question: Should I try putting out a bigger variety of food tonight and more aromatic selections? Any advice is welcome!

Alex, one thing that I found attracts loads of cats is Asian fish sauce diluted with a bit of water in a spray bottle. It absolutely stinks but it brings every cat within miles running to check it out. I used to spray the bushes and trees near to where I had my camera then have a bowl of food a few meters in front of where the camera was placed.

You can get it in Asian supermarkets. I think it's called Nam Pla.

@Norachan,

Thanks for that suggestion. I will,see,fmI can find it.

I want to update everyone on what has been happening the last couple of days. On Thursday of this week, a young girl posted a picture of some cats on a Facebook lost and found pets page in my community. There were two cats in the photo, and one of them looked like Redford. Well, I went to the location yesterday, and sure enough, it is Redford! This location is 6 MILES from our home! I went in the afternoon and then again in the evening yesterday. He recognized me after a little bit, and he responded to a special sound I make for him in the evening. He ran across the grass to me. But he does not let me touch him. I was shocked, this is truly a miracle. How he got there is anyone's guess. I spoke to a man who lives behind the property who said he has been around at least a couple of months. That is how long Redford has been missing.

Here is my dilemma. There a lot of cats at this location that are being fed by someone. The girl who took the photo lives in one of the apartments in the place the woman feeds., I have not met the caretaker yet. The girl thought Redford may have been someone's cat and posted the images. I have been in touch with her regularly. Every time I try to get close to Redford to feed and interact, the other cats interfere. Last night he accepted food from me, but I had to fend off lots of other cats and feed them as well. The rescue groups here tell me to trap him, but that is near impossible.

I went over again this morning and he accepted some food from me again. I brought his favorite. But after a while, another cat startled him and after running around the property with the other cat in hot pursuit, Redford dove under the porch and did not come out. I stayed around for an hour, then left. The porch is on a concrete support and there is no way for anyone to get under there.

I need you advice, please, help! Any ideas on how I can bring him home? He has never been a cat that can be picked up or handled. I was working with him on that, and I think that today he got the closest to me he ever got while eating. I was so happy for that. But he is still not home. What to do?

You could try to feed him in a large cat carrier and then close the door once he is inside.  This may take a few days or many days for him to get used to it, but it might work.  You also could look into a drop trap and then transfer him to a carrier or humane trap.  You would need the help of another person, but they work very well. 

If you bring him home, the only way to make him stay is to keep him inside and socialize him.  Otherwise he will make the 6 mile journey back once again.

I am so happy you found him!!!  I hope that you can find a way to get him home.

Thanks for the advice. i do have a large carrier, and I will try that this evening. I will ask around about the drop trap. I wonder if catnip in the carrier might also help? He loves it.

I was planning on continuing to socialize, and now I have to speed up the process when I finally get him. Should I bring him inside right away, and should I confine him in a large cat cage? Some people have said to start the process by keeping him in a cat cage inside a large shed or garage. What are your thoughts?

At least now I know where he is, and while he has lost a little weight, seems okay. 

Alex134 said:

 
Thanks for the advice. i do have a large carrier, and I will try that this evening. I will ask around about the drop trap. I wonder if catnip in the carrier might also help? He loves it.

I was planning on continuing to socialize, and now I have to speed up the process when I finally get him. Should I bring him inside right away, and should I confine him in a large cat cage? Some people have said to start the process by keeping him in a cat cage inside a large shed or garage. What are your thoughts?

At least now I know where he is, and while he has lost a little weight, seems okay. 

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Catnip would work too.  I used a sturdy chair cushion to block the entrance once the cat is inside so that I can shut/zip it.  I use a nice large (medium size dog) carrier as it is less threatening.

I would bring him right inside into a cat proofed room.  You don't want him hiding under a bed so the bed needs to be flat on the floor or picked up.  Also all large furniture should be blocked off.  Be sure that he can have this room for awhile.  No other cats or pets.  You want him to adjust to inside living and you first. 

If you want to try the large cage, I would do it inside the house if your goal is to have him inside.  You can keep him in a large cage as long as there is room for him to eat, sleep and use a litter box.  It would need to be quite large. 

I have a 36 inch wire dog cage that I just placed into the car. I am going to try to set it up in the back yard of the property. That is large enough not to be threatening. This weekend is crucial, as I have a heavy work week starting Monday, and I know I wont be able to think about anything else! I guess I need to practice some patience now. Redford seemed to be happy to see me.

Getting the kitty into the cage is the biggest hurdle. If I were in your place, I would continue to try to feed your cat only...a task easier said than done. Once he gets used to you feeding him on a regular basis and accepts you, then it should be easier to get him into a crate. I had a stray that wouldn't go into a carrier and I ended up putting a towel over his head, put the carrier behind him, then tried to push him forward. My cat's reaction was to back up...which he did by going into the crate. When I removed the towel, he was already inside.

  Somehow you need to set him apart from the other cats, who are always chummy to someone who holds the treats. It might take a little time, but if you can get Redford to accept you, then you have a much better chance of getting him into a crate or trap. Its not gonna be easy and will take patience...good luck in your endeavors!

Jim