Cat Vanished Out of Thin Air!

Apollo vanished yesterday and hasn't been seen since. He has no collar but he does have a chip but I don't know whether he will come back because Rocky never did.

Actually, the last time we saw Apollo was inside in the nightime. Unlike Rocky, Apollo was a full time indoor cat so I fear he may have walked outside while we were not looking. The problem is Apollo has gone outside before and even if we didn't notice he would wait by the door and wait for someone and sometimes meow loudly. No one opened the door so he should be inside the problem is I don't know where. I havn't seen him in 24 hours. Please Help!

Moving this to Cats SOS where others who have been in the situation can help.

This site has excellent tips for finding your cat, based on your cat's personality.

www.catsinthebag.org

I hope you find Apollo soon!

How old is he? Does he usually come when you call? I would have another check inside as well as looking outdoors. I once lost a kitten for two days who climbed up a chimney and managed to close the trap behind him. His meows were so faint we could hardly hear him. Could Apollo get under the floor or behind a wall anywhere? Into bedsprings or a closet that has shut? Go into each room and shut the door and sit on the floor quietly, thinking yourself into being him. Call him and listen, and think where you might go if you were a cat. And do the same outside in the garden. Whatever, I hope you find him soon.

I'M SO CONFUSED! The cat went missing on Sunday night right before we all went to bed. Everyone in the household claims to have not gone outside ever since that point when we started to suspect the cat was missing yesterday so it makes no sense! How could he be outside and even when he is outside he waits by the door and sometimes meows. BTW, how can he be inside either because even if he was stuck in some hole he would meow loudly. All this makes no sense. Where could that cat have gone? Again, I AM SO CONFUSED! He is about 9 months old right now and answers to his name 50% of the time. Even if he is hiding why wouldn't he meow loudly? He must be hungry wherever he is. WHERE IS COULD HE BE?!

Okay, firstly, thoroughly check the inside of the house.

Every nook and cranny of every single room, including the inside of cupboards.

And was any furniture moved in the hours before Apollo went missing?

As dreadful as this may sound, he may not be able to meow. Some cats after a sudden scare also do not meow. They simply stay in the same spot watching and only come out when they feel safe enough, (usually under the cover of darkness with no one around).

The site that tuxedokitties reccommended is especially good. I was going to reccommend it myself. It has plenty of useful tips.

And this is hard, but stay calm.

Mags and jennyranson gave some great suggestions. The site tuxedokitties mentioned made all the difference for a woman in my town whose indoor-only kitty somehow got out of the house. Using the tips on that site, she was able to trap her kitty after the cat had been gone for 5 weeks! She didn't even see any sign of the cat for the first 2 weeks. The sooner you start using the site, the better.

Were there any visitors to the house that may have mistakenly left a door to the outside open? I know a woman whose cat jumped into the truck of a delivery person -she spotted her cat in the truck just as it was starting down the driveway.

Years ago my husband and I came home to find that all 3 cats (indoor only) were "missing". Our house is not large and my husband and I looked everywhere we could imagine them to be- we called everyone's name repeatedly - not a peep. I thought I was losing my mind! I even considered the possibility that someone broke into the house and catnapped them! Finally, we looked where we were sure they could never be - a closet that led to storage space in the eaves of an upstairs bedroom. The little rascals had somehow managed to open the door (they had never done this before - we still don't know how they managed it) and were hiding in there like naughty kids. Not one of them meowed or made a sound. So look in places that you're positive he could never be in - it's amazing what they can get into.

Best of luck - please keep us posted.

I have had the same thing happen several times. With 4 indoor cats, I'm always doing a head check to make sure nobody has somehow gotten outside. "Jazz" must have some really good hiding spot because I have searched my whole house and not finding him, I go outside and start to look. I go back inside and most of the time he has magically appeared. Like the others said, make sure you search your whole house! Hope you find him!

I just found Apollo. I was about to sleep in my room then out of nowhere a noise hit my window. Normally I would ignore such a miniscule sound but this time I was on full alert. I went to the window and opened and a heard meows so I ran outside and there Apolla was. The cat seemed hungry when he came in and started gulp the food down varaciously, though I'm sure he had a bird or something while outside because he was quite big, maybe even bigger than before.

I was actually about the give up hope. May 2004 I lost my other beloved cat named Rocky and havn't seemed him since, so I thought that was his fate too. I guess I was wrong and who knows, Rocky just might come back one day, I hope soon.

I just caught this thread and am so pleased to hear that there is a happy ending

I am so sorry however to hear about Rocky how heartbreaking that must be for you

Well, what a naughty boy! He went out afterall. Glad he is back.
I hope your Rocky comes back too.

Hey I dont know if you mentioned but is he neutered? Maybe that is why he escaped? Males will do anything to get out if they are mature and unneutered.

Yay, I'm glad he's back!

Cobra, so glad Apollo's back!!! What a relief - I guess everyone in the house will be super-vigilant from now on to make sure there's no repeat of his "vanishing act"!

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your other kitty, Rocky. Did you ever look at the catsinthebag site? There are some amazing stories on there about cats who returned after being gone quite awhile. I hope one day you'll post that Rocky has returned, too.

Jen had a good question about whether or not Apollo was neutered. Unneutered males are quite the escape artists when they hear "the call of the wild". If Apollo's unneutered, make neutering a priority, the sooner the better.

Congratulations on getting your baby back!

Hurray, Apollo is home safe and sound!

Apollo was neutered when I got him at 5 months. He is now around 10 months old so even if he was neutered I don't know whether he would that crazy. The thing is he actually doesn't like the outdoors. Everytime he goes outside, he will either eat grss or ran back in so it is strange on how he ran away like that.

As for Rocky, I not sure whether he will ever come back. He has been gone for over 9 months so I seriously doubt it. He must be dead by now, how could he live out there? I mean, there arn't that many birds for him to catch unless they flock in herds. In any case, I ma moving in a week or two so if Rocky wants to comes back, he better come back now. I doubt it though, I remember whule driving back to my house I saw a dead orange cat on the side of the road. I did not want to see who it was because I was afraid that it might be Rocky . I rather not know his fate than know that he might still be there.

I am not going to claim he has crossed over the rainbow bridge yet. I am still hoping he will come back before I move.

Not Again! Yes, Apollo disappeared AGAIN. I am assuming the same thing happen. Someone in the house carelessly let him out by accidently by leaving the door open (despite of more warnings).

I really don't want this to become a habit. The problem is that none of us are perfect and I can't make sure everyone in the family doesn't leave any doors wide open. So what is a way I can prevent my cat from going outside all the time when given the chance? Is there someway I can make him afraid of the outdoors or something?

You said Apollo has no collar - so he's moving about silently and not being noticed when he slips out the door. You could start by getting him a "noisy" collar.

Ex.: All 3 of our cats are indoor cats and all three wear collars. Each collar has a tiny bell and a name tag (with name and phone#) and their rabies tab. The bells are pretty much useless but the tags - they jiggle and jaggle as they they roam around. We can tell where each cat is and who it is by the sounds the tags make.

good luck with Apollo

Is he back again?

His naughty feline self came back last night. He seems to to leave every Monday and return every Friday. I really hope he isn't sleeping around . I don't think he would since he is fixed but you never know.

I really hope he doesn't try to go out again. I don't want it to get into a habit. I wish my household members would take it more seriously.