I live in a double wide, mobile home. My cat made her way down into our air vents either Thursday (we weren't home) or Friday. As soon as we noticed she went down the vent we turned our unit off as well as the breakers, to avoid her electrocuting herself. There was still food in her bowl when she went down so I know she most likely was not hungry when she went down into the air ducts. Friday night, I spent the night trying to lure her out by shaking treats, putting some canned chicken (all we had at the time) down and calling her. She seemed to react to my voice and I could hear shuffling like she was trying to get to me. Each time it would stop for a bit, then start again. It went like this until the earlier hours, when she just stopped making noise. Saturday came and we heard her again. We called out the HVCA guy to come see if he could open the part in our wall where we seemed to hear her, but he wasn't able to without pulling the whole unit. He did say it sounded like she was moving though, toward the living room. We tried to call her by the living room vents, but she didn't come out there either. We didn't hear her at all there, actually. So we went back to trying to lure her out in the bathroom vent (where she had went down from.)
I haven't heard her since about 3 in the morning steadily. This is partially because I haven't slept since this all went down and I did sleep for a few hours, so those hours I can't account for if there was movement. I am unsure if I heard her meow or move in the utility room again (unsure because there is a chance it could have been my other cat meowing under his breath -- he's been antsy since she's been gone) My other two cats did seem interested in the spot in the utility room, so I'm wondering if they picked up on her being in there. I think I heard some rustling too so I moved back into the bathroom (since there is no vent for her to come out of in the utility room) to try and lure her out again, but had no luck in hearing her moving.
I have tuna set out, two cans of wet food, catnip sprinkles along the inside of the vent and a light on with a flash light hovering over the opening.
She is a cat who has a tendency to hide because of how skittish and afraid she has always been.
I have a few questions I'm hoping people can answer now that you know the situation.
1- How long is it common for cats to hide in places like this? She isn't screeching or anything, and has hardly meowed (if at all, assuming that was her meowing earlier.)
2 - Should I sit by the vent and try to call her or is leaving everything alone the best option? She's a skittish cat and has been since we adopted her.
3 - Does anyone know who we might be able to contact for help? We have called the HVCA guy, but he told us that it would be 1k just to pull the unit out and if that didn't work, cut holes in the air duct from under the house and that would most likely not do anything since the cat would probably freak out and run. We called animal control, the fire department, the police and a local cat rescue, but none of them are able to assist us with getting her out.
4 - What is the likelyhood of her being able to make her way out on her own?
5 -Since it's cold, is it possible that the reason she's not being enticed by the food at the moment is because of how cold it is? (it's 37 outside)
I appreciate any advice or help here. I'm so stressed out and I have no idea what to do anymore. I haven't even eaten since I found out she went into the vents and my sleeping has been sporadic.
I haven't heard her since about 3 in the morning steadily. This is partially because I haven't slept since this all went down and I did sleep for a few hours, so those hours I can't account for if there was movement. I am unsure if I heard her meow or move in the utility room again (unsure because there is a chance it could have been my other cat meowing under his breath -- he's been antsy since she's been gone) My other two cats did seem interested in the spot in the utility room, so I'm wondering if they picked up on her being in there. I think I heard some rustling too so I moved back into the bathroom (since there is no vent for her to come out of in the utility room) to try and lure her out again, but had no luck in hearing her moving.
I have tuna set out, two cans of wet food, catnip sprinkles along the inside of the vent and a light on with a flash light hovering over the opening.
She is a cat who has a tendency to hide because of how skittish and afraid she has always been.
I have a few questions I'm hoping people can answer now that you know the situation.
1- How long is it common for cats to hide in places like this? She isn't screeching or anything, and has hardly meowed (if at all, assuming that was her meowing earlier.)
2 - Should I sit by the vent and try to call her or is leaving everything alone the best option? She's a skittish cat and has been since we adopted her.
3 - Does anyone know who we might be able to contact for help? We have called the HVCA guy, but he told us that it would be 1k just to pull the unit out and if that didn't work, cut holes in the air duct from under the house and that would most likely not do anything since the cat would probably freak out and run. We called animal control, the fire department, the police and a local cat rescue, but none of them are able to assist us with getting her out.
4 - What is the likelyhood of her being able to make her way out on her own?
5 -Since it's cold, is it possible that the reason she's not being enticed by the food at the moment is because of how cold it is? (it's 37 outside)
I appreciate any advice or help here. I'm so stressed out and I have no idea what to do anymore. I haven't even eaten since I found out she went into the vents and my sleeping has been sporadic.
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