Missing cat!!!

My cat Bella has disappeared and I'm just so devastated! It's been a full 6 days now and this is the first time she's ever done this since i got her spayed.i did my best to keep calm the first few days so i can focus on finding her.but after exhausting everything to find her, I'm starting to feel hopeless.I've just been trying so hard not to cry but I'm so tired emotionally and physically! Im starting to feel like something bad hashappened to her. And i hate myself for that.
Bella is not just a cat
She was special. When i lost my ten-year old kitty the same time everything at home fell apart, i went into depression.it was really hard to just breathe. Then Bella came to my life and gave me hope. She was an abused kitten. I thought i saved her but the fact is,she saved me. And i don't wanna go through that dark phase again. I know I'm just ranting now, sorry. But this is my only outlet. Only people who love cats will probably understand me best. Please help me. I dunno what to do anymore.

Hang in there. I sure hope she returns. She might just be mad at you about the operation. I took my girl Xena to be fixed shortly after she showed up. They opened her up and found that she had already had the procedure. When she felt better, she disappeared for almost 2 weeks and then came back. I sure understand the anxiety and feelings of guilt. Those are products of love. You have done nothing wrong. Keep looking, have faith and please keep us informed.

Don't give up yet! Cats are harder to find than dogs when they get lost, but there are some tricks that will substantially increase your chances of finding her!

I'm assuming she's normally an indoor cat that got out and is now lost. But even if she knows her way around outside these tips could still help.

• Cats who are lost and scared will usually find a place to hide and stay there as much as they can, and it's usually very close to home, so focus your search nearby.
• Dusk is the best time to look for cats because the sun is going down and they feel more confident coming out of their hiding place. You can also use a flashlight when it gets dark enough and aim it under bushes and porches and if a cat is there, you'll see the glowing eyes reflecting the light making them easy to spot.
• When you're walking around looking for her, call her name or make some sort of noise that she usually comes running for, like shaking a bag of treats or whatever she's familiar with. Continuously call out/make the noise as you're moving, because if she hears you and starts making her way towards you but then you've moved on by the time she gets there, she won't be able to find you again unless you keep calling and that way she can follow your voice.
• If you live in an area with close neighbors, go door to door with flyers or put them in mailboxes rather than just hanging a flyer on a lamppost to get more people on the lookout.

Boney Girl Dad said:

Hang in there. I sure hope she returns. She might just be mad at you about the operation. I took my girl Xena to be fixed shortly after she showed up. They opened her up and found that she had already had the procedure. When she felt better, she disappeared for almost 2 weeks and then came back. I sure understand the anxiety and feelings of guilt. Those are products of love. You have done nothing wrong. Keep looking, have faith and please keep us informed.

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Thanks so much. I dunno but reading your experience made me feel a lot better.maybe because I've cried my eyes out that i feel a lil bit more positive too. I know my kitty is a smart one although very spoiled. What makes me uneasy is I live in an area where there are a lot of dogs about. I lost my previous ten year old cat to stray dog attack and I've become paranoid eversince. So you'd understand how my imagination runs wild every time i lose sight of my present cat.
I've tried everything i could possibly do for now. Handed out posters which are most often ignored by the neighbors. I did a thorough search in the whole neighborhood. Put out some food, her favorite beddings which only attracted some stray male cats.what hurts the most is that my family has not been so supportive. To them, she's just my annoying cat. I actually had a fight with my mom today because she was scolding me about how silly it was to be depressed about this "nonsense". I flipped out! This has been so hard on me and she just made it worse. I'll probably regret telling her off later. It'sjust the stress I'm going through. I'm complaining again, aren't i? I'm sorry. I just couldnt find anyone to have a decent talk with about this issue. But really thank you! You dunno how much you're saving me. I will update and hopefully with some positive news.

Thank

Molly92 said:

Don't give up yet! Cats are harder to find than dogs when they get lost, but there are some tricks that will substantially increase your chances of finding her!

I'm assuming she's normally an indoor cat that got out and is now lost. But even if she knows her way around outside these tips could still help.

• Cats who are lost and scared will usually find a place to hide and stay there as much as they can, and it's usually very close to home, so focus your search nearby.
• Dusk is the best time to look for cats because the sun is going down and they feel more confident coming out of their hiding place. You can also use a flashlight when it gets dark enough and aim it under bushes and porches and if a cat is there, you'll see the glowing eyes reflecting the light making them easy to spot.
• When you're walking around looking for her, call her name or make some sort of noise that she usually comes running for, like shaking a bag of treats or whatever she's familiar with. Continuously call out/make the noise as you're moving, because if she hears you and starts making her way towards you but then you've moved on by the time she gets there, she won't be able to find you again unless you keep calling and that way she can follow your voice.
• If you live in an area with close neighbors, go door to door with flyers or put them in mailboxes rather than just hanging a flyer on a lamppost to get more people on the lookout.

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Thank you so much for the great tips. I did most of those today and I'm waiting for some positive outcome. My family is actually pressuring me to give up and just get a new pet but i won't give up easily. (Thanks for that encouragement) it's soemthing I've been wanting to hear from someone.ive basically cried my eyes out, feeling much better and ready to give it another shot. Please know how much you're effort to reach out has helped me a lot...thank you. I hope next time i post an update, it would be a positve one.

concern for our cats is not nonsense. do not expect anything from those who do not understand. quality tips from Molly92. 

" I'm complaining again, aren't i? I'm sorry."

I don't think there is a single person on TCS that you need to be sorry to. I think most, if not all, of us would feel the same as you. A few years back one of my cats got out and after searching the neighborhood we went to humane society to search for him. I had tears in my eyes the entire time, it was heart wrenching. And I kid you not, we found him around the corner from our house on the way home from the humane society. Talk about a mood swing, I went from being devastated to completely overwhelmed with joy.

I would think you can rant and complain all you want, people like you are here for you. It is better you get your feelings out than bottle them up.

Have you taken a photo to local humane society? The humane society where I live let us leave a photo and contact information in case our cat turned up there. Could try leaving photos at local vets as well. You should also look up local cat rescue people and get them a photo.

I pray you get your kitty back, you are a great person for not wanting to abandon looking for the cat. I think your family is wrong, it would be far worse if you gave up on something you love so dearly.

Th

Shane Kent said:

" I'm complaining again, aren't i? I'm sorry."

I don't think there is a single person on TCS that you need to be sorry to. I think most, if not all, of us would feel the same as you. A few years back one of my cats got out and after searching the neighborhood we went to humane society to search for him. I had tears in my eyes the entire time, it was heart wrenching. And I kid you not, we found him around the corner from our house on the way home from the humane society. Talk about a mood swing, I went from being devastated to completely overwhelmed with joy.

I would think you can rant and complain all you want, people like you are here for you. It is better you get your feelings out than bottle them up.

Have you taken a photo to local humane society? The humane society where I live let us leave a photo and contact information in case our cat turned up there. Could try leaving photos at local vets as well. You should also look up local cat rescue people and get them a photo.

I pray you get your kitty back, you are a great person for not wanting to abandon looking for the cat. I think your family is wrong, it would be far worse if you gave up on something you love so dearly.

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Thank you so much. That was very reassuring to hear. And thanks for the tips as well. I'm actually from the Philippines and institutions like the Humane Society are very rare in our country. How I wish there was though. we're desperately in need of those. There are local pounds but most of them have a bad reputation of killing animals and selling meat to animal meat traders. It is a tragic part of our culture (one I'm definitely not proud of) to eat animals especially domesticated dogs and even cats!!. Although there is a law forbidding this, certain people still manage to do these evil deeds. It breaks my heart and greatly adds to my anxiety. There are just so many horrible possibilities. I'm even getting nightmares about them since day one. The best I could really do was to hand out posters and pray that a good person with a conscience contacts me with some info about my cat. While it is a cruel world out here, I truly still have faith in the goodness of people. I've also searched all the yards in my neighborhood but still, now almost ten days, I haven't seen any sign of my little girl. What I do is to read encouragements from kind people such as yourself to keep going. I also get a lot of comfort from reading stories about people happily reuniting with their cats on this site hoping that I get my happy ending as well.
My mood swings are getting harder to manage at this point. One minute, I'm so sure I'm going to have her back and the next, I'm dreading the fact that I might never see her again. It really hard. Today is one of the more negative phases of my search. It's been raining all day and I'm getting more worried. I do love my cat. I found that I can get along more with animals more than people. I'm not antisocial though. I have a great circle of friends but I find animal company more satisfying. And the closest one to my heart is that missing cat. I wonder how much time I should give before I try to forget and move on. It's not like I ever want to do that but the pain is just becoming unbearable. I know it's still to early for that. Thanks to your kind words, I now have some strength to pick myself up and keep thinking positive thoughts. Thank you all the way from the Philippines.

I am so sorry that your search is not going well. Thanks for the additional information. It has given me more understanding. Could not imagine having such a horrid possibility weighing on one's mind. There are many cultural differences over the world that many of us are unfamiliar with. I continue to hope and pray for you and your kitty.

   Sending prayers from around the world that you find your precious baby! It is so awful, the not knowing...... I am having the same problem with my little Polly-Paws, who was not only a runt, but didn't grow or age normally, so she remains the size of a 12-14 wk. old kitten. She went missing during a time that my kitties were missing, one a week. For awhile, I was sneaking her & a couple of other former ferals that I snatched from their mom and bottle-fed & socialized, inside the house to spend the night, but my mom started getting high blood pressure from the stress (she doesn't approve of cats inside and once mine were grown, out to the yard they go) so I had to discontinue. I am allergic to black widow bites, so cant risk being bitten by sleeping outside with the cats, although I go out late night and play with them using a realistic stuffed moused tied to a fishing pole, and then give them a canned food snack, to encourage them to stay in our yard (they have an acre of land to hang out in). Unlike you, I have all my other kitties that I have to be strong for, plus my disabled daughter and my elderly mom, otherwise I would cry and cry. I am praying that you get your kitty back very, very soon - I will be so happy for you when that happens!

      And maybe getting a cat-in-need would help you pass through these long, stressful hours. It doesn't mean that you don't want your kitty back, nor does it mean that you have given up looking. It just means that you have chosen to spend those empty hours making another cat's situation better by offering comfort, safety, and love. And don't feel guilty when you love and enjoy the new cat - cats are born in litters, so it is just like your parents loving all their children, not just the newest baby. ...I hope what I wrote makes sense....Susan

catsknowme said:

  Sending prayers from around the world that you find your precious baby! It is so awful, the not knowing...... I am having the same problem with my little Polly-Paws, who was not only a runt, but didn't grow or age normally, so she remains the size of a 12-14 wk. old kitten. She went missing during a time that my kitties were missing, one a week. For awhile, I was sneaking her & a couple of other former ferals that I snatched from their mom and bottle-fed & socialized, inside the house to spend the night, but my mom started getting high blood pressure from the stress (she doesn't approve of cats inside and once mine were grown, out to the yard they go) so I had to discontinue. I am allergic to black widow bites, so cant risk being bitten by sleeping outside with the cats, although I go out late night and play with them using a realistic stuffed moused tied to a fishing pole, and then give them a canned food snack, to encourage them to stay in our yard (they have an acre of land to hang out in). Unlike you, I have all my other kitties that I have to be strong for, plus my disabled daughter and my elderly mom, otherwise I would cry and cry. I am praying that you get your kitty back very, very soon - I will be so happy for you when that happens!
      And maybe getting a cat-in-need would help you pass through these long, stressful hours. It doesn't mean that you don't want your kitty back, nor does it mean that you have given up looking. It just means that you have chosen to spend those empty hours making another cat's situation better by offering comfort, safety, and love. And don't feel guilty when you love and enjoy the new cat - cats are born in litters, so it is just like your parents loving all their children, not just the newest baby. ...I hope what I wrote makes sense....Susan

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Hi Susan! Thank you so much for the encouraging story. I'm very much in need of things like that right now that I'm in my lowest of lows. I've been crying and crying today. I was a bit surprised myself because one minute i thought I've got it all under control and then the next minute, I'm heading for an emotional meltdown. It's scary how much this affects me. I know it's too early but my mind forces me to go into the grieving process. as you know, my family doesn't really care what happens to my cat. My friends who are not cat lovers to begin with react awkwardly whenever i try to open up to them and my boyfriend is well...indifferent. so i run here. This site is my only outlet.
I want to be truly strong and wait with a positive heart for my cat while doing everything i can to bring her back safely. It's just that sometimes, i feel so helpless.
I could really use those prayers right now. Just a single one might make a difference. Boy, I'm feeling so worn out today!

I have ate my fair share of meat and it would be extremely hypocritical of me to judge others. I am a big fan of the saying "before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes” and for that reason I will not judge people from other parts of the world. We Canadians and Americans have it pretty good and it makes me feel a little guilty compared to someone like yourself. It makes me feel that much more for you, the most I have to worry about is some wild animals and that seems somewhat trivial to your worries.

Please do not be too judgmental of your friends and family and alienate yourself from them. The TCS is your only outlet and I am sure everyone on here is more than willing to support you, I know I am.

You care a lot for Bella and that is all that really matters. I am sure Bella knows you love her and being loved is the most precious gift you could give her. Never ever change, you are a beautiful person.