My pregnant cat is missing :(

I have a pregnant female that usually stays outside but we brought her in so she could have the kittens and we can get her fixed. Last night as I was coming in she bolted out the door unexpectedly. It was raining outside which was blowing my mind as to why she would run out. It was dark and I couldn't see where she went. I left the garage door cracked for her with food and her box so she would come in when she was ready. I woke up today and she hadn't been in the garage, or at least not touched the food. I have been looking for her all day. I can't find her. She is about to give birth anyday now and I fear that she has ran off and went into labor or has gotten hurt. I did notice a few minutes ago that the food in the garage has been eaten on in the last hour. I went searching again the best I could (cause it is dark) and still no luck. She is such a great cat and usually comes when you call her, no matter where she is. I feel that she didn't like being confined lately and she bolted out fearing we would confine her in the house again. I also had noticed other cats hanging out in our yard, and some even coming into our garage lately. She may have been smelling them and it spooked her. So I don't know if it was her that ate the food or another cat. Do you think if she did go into labor and found shelter that she will bring her litter to us and return home? She is all the time catching rats or birds and bringing them to the door. She is so affecinate that she even goes up to strangers and lets them rub her belly and plays with them. She is not a shy cat at all. I am so sad...I miss her so much......

I'm so sorry she ran away

When my cat went missing I used to go look for her about 2am when its all quiet and dark. (i saw her quite a few times but she only came back when she was good and ready!)

Have you got any of her used litter that you could leave out in the hope the smell will bring her back?

I haven't cleaned her litterbox yet, I can set it out in front of the garage. Thanks for the tip.

where does she normally live/sleep?

she might have gone there to have her kittens if she feels safer there.

She might show up later though as she will need lots of food to keep the babies fed.

Are you feeding her kitten food?

Try putting out really smelly food like tuna to entice her back, alongside some good quality kitten food so she gets enough nutrients.

oh no, try and find her. I rang my vet when holly got outside and they told me to keep her inside..is this first litter? If so they can get confused,I know a cat that dug a hole and had them in it, thought it was a pooh. hope you find her and she is still fat....

Originally Posted by Catguy75

I have a pregnant female that usually stays outside but we brought her in so she could have the kittens and we can get her fixed. Last night as I was coming in she bolted out the door unexpectedly. It was raining outside which was blowing my mind as to why she would run out. It was dark and I couldn't see where she went. I left the garage door cracked for her with food and her box so she would come in when she was ready. I woke up today and she hadn't been in the garage, or at least not touched the food. I have been looking for her all day. I can't find her. She is about to give birth anyday now and I fear that she has ran off and went into labor or has gotten hurt. I did notice a few minutes ago that the food in the garage has been eaten on in the last hour. I went searching again the best I could (cause it is dark) and still no luck. She is such a great cat and usually comes when you call her, no matter where she is. I feel that she didn't like being confined lately and she bolted out fearing we would confine her in the house again. I also had noticed other cats hanging out in our yard, and some even coming into our garage lately. She may have been smelling them and it spooked her. So I don't know if it was her that ate the food or another cat. Do you think if she did go into labor and found shelter that she will bring her litter to us and return home? She is all the time catching rats or birds and bringing them to the door. She is so affecinate that she even goes up to strangers and lets them rub her belly and plays with them. She is not a shy cat at all.

I am so sad...I miss her so much......

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This is not good...I would suggest you borrow a humane trap and set it up with the food you have in the garage. Unfortunately time is of the essense...if she has her kittens outdoors....chances are she will not show you where they are and given that there are other (probably intact) cats around...she can get pregnant again as early as a week after giving birth. If you do manage to trap her...she needs to be confined within your house to one room so that she cannot accidentally dart outdoors again.


Here is advice on finding a lost cat:

Most people don’t differentiate between searching for a dog and searching for a cat, which is a huge mistake, because they are like apples and oranges. Cats are territorial, so when an indoor cat escapes outside, they feel displaced into unfamiliar territory. A displaced cat (and also an injured or sick cat) will hide and they will be silent. So walking around and calling the cat’s name doesn’t work.

What that cat does is to look for the first place where she can hide, and she will stay there. We’ve had people who have recovered their cats six weeks later, and the cat was two houses down, living under the neighbor’s house or under their deck.

We’ve actually recovered lots of cats by treating them like ferals and setting a humane trap. These cats will sit there and watch and even listen to their person calling, but they will usually not respond.

Eventually, some of them will reach a threshold point between the seventh and tenth day where they finally do meow or they go into the humane trap, but many of them, especially the ones with skittish temperaments, just continue to hide.

As for a cat who is used to going outside, we really do advocate making your cats indoor-only. However, if an indoor/outdoor cat does go missing, it may be that they’ve been chased by a dog or beat up by another cat. They may run into an unfamiliar area, and they may hide in fear as well, or than can be transported out of the area by crawling into a car or the back of a truck.

Outdoor cats are still territorial. They don’t generally travel great distances by themselves, so they’re going to be found within their territory or just beyond it. You’ll want to get into your neighbor’s yard to search under their porch, under their house, and in potential areas where the cat is trapped, because, again, the behavior of an injured or sick cat is that they will crawl in or under something that’s familiar to them and they will hide. And again, they won’t answer your call.

SHE'S BACK! But she has had her litter and I don't know where. She was starving, I fed her and gave her some water and now she is just laying there relaxing. I have been following her around outside for the past hour. She should return to her nest soon right? It looks like two of her nipples have been sucked on so I am hoping the kittens are still alive. Two nipples look really long compared to the others which look more fat. Not sure what to do. She is being VERY vocal. As she walks around the yard she keeps meowing and looking at me. If I leave her along will she bring them here?

Originally Posted by Catguy75

SHE'S BACK! But she has had her litter and I don't know where. She was starving, I fed her and gave her some water and now she is just laying there relaxing. I have been following her around outside for the past hour. She should return to her nest soon right? It looks like two of her nipples have been sucked on so I am hoping the kittens are still alive. Two nipples look really long compared to the others which look more fat. Not sure what to do. She is being VERY vocal. As she walks around the yard she keeps meowing and looking at me. If I leave her along will she bring them here?

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She may want you to follow her....but then again...you may not see them until they are older and able to leave the nest. My concern is that she is now vunerable to become pregnant again. I would really suggest that if she does show you where they are..that you bring the entire family inside and have her spayed as soon as the kittens are weaned. Otherwise, I would still plan to have her spayed in about 6 to 8 weeks.

I also had noticed other cats hanging out in our yard, and some even coming into our garage lately.

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If these cats are not owned and are not fixed....it may be a good idea to borrow a trap from your local humane society and trap them so that they can be spayed/neutered. You can find a list of feral cat organizations here:

http://www.alleycat.org/orgs.html


Katie

FOUND THE KITTENS! She had them in my neighbors boat inside his garage across the street. If I hadn't of asked him to open it up and see if she would go find her kittens they would have starved to death since he would not have opened the garage until tomorrow. Three little kittens, one grey and white, one grey with white feet and an all grey. She is safe and sound in out garage now nursing. It seems that the kittens have been nursing for hours, is that normal? Also it seems that one or two seem to have trouble finding the nipples.

Originally Posted by Catguy75

FOUND THE KITTENS! She had them in my neighbors boat inside his garage across the street. If I hadn't of asked him to open it up and see if she would go find her kittens they would have starved to death since he would not have opened the garage until tomorrow. Three little kittens, one grey and white, one grey with white feet and an all grey.

She is safe and sound in out garage now nursing. It seems that the kittens have been nursing for hours, is that normal? Also it seems that one or two seem to have trouble finding the nipples.

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I'm so glad you found her kittens and that mom and kittens are inside (but I do recommend that you bring her inside your house instead of keeping the family in your garage..especially for when the kittens are older and learning to roam around their surroundings, garages are typically full of hazards).

Yes....kittens do spend a majority of their day nursing on mom. They also do struggle to find mom's nipples since their eyes will not open for a week or so. Best thing to do is to weigh them daily to make sure they are all gaining weight.

Katie

I can't tell you how relieved I am that these kittens were found!

They may fall asleep while they are nursing.

One seems so much more vocal than the others. I was looking them over to see if they look healthy and fat (which they all have big bellys) and the others were quite and happy but he actually made a nose that sounded like a little hiss. He kept doing it about 4 times then stopped. Do they know to hiss at 1 day old? I am going to take pictures soon to show them off.

Yeah LOL they do hiss that young. It tickles me every time I see it too! Those ferocious little lions, hissing at me to scare me off! LOL

As long as those little bellies stay good and fat with the skin stretched tightly over them, they are fine. It is when you see saggy, wrinkled skin across the belly I would worry.

They are plump and fat. Also they have all their fur. I had read some don't have all their fur when born. A question though, I noticed one of the kittens pooped and the mom didn't clean it off the kitten's backside yet. She has before, she must have missed it somehow. Should I try and wipe it with a baby wipe?

A damp papertowel will be fine. Baby wipes have conditioners and other stuff in them ... a damp papertowel or a little toilet tissue is good.

Oh, I am SO glad these babies have been found! I literally was holding my breath! The kitties need to be kept pretty warm, I'm not sure a garage is warm enough. We found a great place to keep our kitties was in the basement with at door closed. I visited several times a day. (Our basement's REALLY warm!)

Don't forget that antifreeze is EXTREMELY poisonous to animals. And you usually find that in a garage.

It is around 80 degrees here, they should be warm enough. The garage that they are in has only boxes in it. No cleaning supplies, anit freeze, etc. One started licking my hand. I guess it was looking for a nipple. Luckly my hands were washed and clean at the time.

Congrats on the new babies.

But I would also like to urge you to take them indoors. There are hazards out there. Someone could open the door and mom and/or a baby could get out.

Other cats could come around, spray, there are diseases out there. Fleas. At least indoors you have some control. At times other cats will actually kill kittens if they want to take over some territory. And even though you think the garage may be closed, cats can get into some very tight places. And the minute someone walks in there, mom could dash out.

If she gets hurt, and can't take care of them, what would you do then?

And kittens need a fairly constant temperature of about 85 degrees. Being next to Mom usually does it. But one chilly night, and it could cause problems.

Also, you don't want Mom getting out of the garage and getting pregnant again.

By the way, kittens don't go to the bathroom by themselves. Until they are about 4-5 weeks old and ready to use the litterbox, the mother has to lick them to get their bodies to excrete the waste. If you find Mom isn't doing that enough, you can rub them with a damp paper towel to get them to go.

She must have missed one. lol

I am so happy you found them!!

You seem like a really caring person being so concerned about her and the kits.

Good luck with them all!

I know it is 80 degress but they are babies. You might be better off taking them indoors tot he bathroom. Babies can lose heat. I am glad you have them and mom back now is the time to get her use to the indoors to see if she will stay in.