Should I Still Be Hoping My Missing Cat Will Come Home?

[supermax1943]

Oh my gosh! I am so happy for you.

Good Lizzy, you must have heard the little prayer.

So glad if it helped you if even for just a moment.

It is just so scary when they do that. 

I am so happy she is home, for both of you!

 

[Norachan]

It is scary, isn't it?

I think I almost prefer the winter. At least when the weather is bad they all hang around the house or in the shelters we built for them. Now that it is warm and there are plenty of mice to eat they keep taking it in turns to go missing for a day or two.

They've all been TNR'd and they've had their jabs so they can't get up to too much trouble, but sometimes I can't help but fear the worst

Your prayers definitely seem to have worked, I know who to PM next time one of them goes on walkabout. 

 

[mrsfpmister]

I hope you found him (I jumped ahead after the first 2 pages).
I know that it must be very hard, and I panic every time my rescued kitty tries to get outdoors; I'm strangely more scared of him getting lost or saying hello to the wrong person. >.>
I rescued Mister from the front of my apartments... His original home was just 3 houses up from where I lived. I always wondered why he didn't go home (they said they hadn't seen him in 4 weeks, I had him for about 2). Now I didn't return him due to the fact he was sick from neglect/abuse.

But my BFF had given up on her cat returning after about 4 months. She had never been outside, and had escaped out a open window. She was only a year old. She did everything: left her old litter on the perimeter of her property (semi rural), left food out, posters/called rescues... Eventually she came to terms that many things could of happened, and she hoped someone mistook her for an abandoned cat and loved her.

Then one day 4 months later, she was sitting on her back porch drinking coffee and poof! Up walks a cat with 5 young kittens behind her, acting like she had never left (and where was her food bowl?!). After a vet visit, they were all declared clean (couple fleas but quickly cured). She never really wandered away ever again, but we still wonder to this day were she went!

 

[nekomaui]

Norachan

I just found this forum when desperately needing support for my weakening mental state. I too live in Japan in Saitama. I have been searching for my boy Daizu for over a month now. I did all, posting, newspaper inserts, putting fliers on lampposts, vets, shops, walking around at different hours, pet detective, animal communicator.... got a few calls for afew wrong cats. The pet detective didn't find anything, the animal communicator said he is not ready to come home.

I feel the sorrow and love of the wonderful people on this forum and feel everything all of you feel, and think about the same poscsibilities, hope the same way for all our missing cats coming home one day.

This Saturday, my newly ordered 1500 fliers are going to come in. And I plan on reposting again to refresh people's memeory. Other than that, I just hope the typhoon isn't going to hit around here.

I would appreciate any advice, encouragement or anything that would keep me going for another week.


Thank you alk for being on this forum.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I am so sorry that Daizu is missing.  It is such an awful feeling to be missing your pet.  I know that Norachan had a trail camera set up to see if it was possible her George was in the area.  I know you have exhausted yourself doing everything possible to find him.  Here is a link to some helpful hints http://www.thecatsite.com/t/248019/tips-for-finding-a-lost-cat

Is Daizu neutered?  The reason I ask, if he is not, he may be out searching for a female in heat.  This happened to my feral cat, Patches.  I had not been able to trap him and he was gone for 5 months the first time he left.  He did return when the weather turned cooler.  I decided that I had to have "HOPE".  It was my mantra.  I would sit on my deck each evening and many times cry for my loss.  I found a "HOPE" sign at an outdoor/garden store and immediately purchased it.  I placed it on my deck and each day I would look at him and "hope" Patches would return.  He did return.  Unfortunately after I did neuter him, he only returned a few times and I have not seen him in over a year. 

I hope that your Daizu will return.  Keep "HOPE" alive that he is out there.  You are in my thoughts.

 

[Norachan]

Hi Nekomaui,

I'm so sorry to hear about Daizu. What's your neighbourhood like, rural or urban? Are there lots of stray cats around?

One thing I would recommend is getting a trail camera, the kind that take a photo or shot a few seconds of film every time something moves in front of it. I got one for about 8,000 yen on Rakuten. Set it up in any parks or open spaces around your house with some bowls of cat food and see if Daizu comes to eat. Cats often follow other stray cats and try to join colonies when they are lost and don't know how to find food by themselves. It's helpful to know what other animals are around and where they hang out. I spent a few months making a big circle around my house. I found lots of places where stray cats hang out, met a few other people who feed stray cats who also helped me look for George and sent me pictures of cats that looked a bit like him whenever they had a new cat turn up to eat. It helps to have other people looking out for you.

George has been gone for 15 months now, but people still remember that I am looking for him.

Actually, a guy who lives about half a mile away came and knocked on my door this afternoon and said there was a cat outside his house that might be George. I went to have a look and found a big, fluffy calico. Obviously not George but obviously lost and totally freaked out about being outside. I put her in the cat carrier and took her home. About an hour later a woman came around and asked if I'd seen a lost cat. The calico turned out to be her cat. It was the first time she had ever been outside. The lady said this cat had been blind ever since she was a kitten, so it was really lucky that someone had picked her up as she could never have found her way back home. I said a little thank you to George after the lady had taken her cat home. He never did come back, but the contacts I made while I was looking for him have helped me to save other animals. It's such a good feeling to know that something positive came out of losing him.

Also you could try taking a copy of your flier into your local shiyakuba and hokenjyo. Most hokenjyo have a homepage where they post pictures of any dogs and cats they pick up. Shiyakuba keep records of any animals that are killed on the roads. Don't be afraid to call them every day. You know what Japanese officials are like, they need a bit of nagging.

Good luck, I really hope you find Daizu.

 

 

[nekomaui]

Hi Shadowrescue

Thank you for your reply. Daizu is neutered and has a microchip. He dropped his breakaway collar as he escaped. It really was an accident that he got out. There had been a boss tom cat coming around the back of my house. The houses here are built very close to each other, with the fence/wall in the middle, I could only fit my leg between the gap (less than 6 inches). So the tom cat would perch on the half wall and look inside my living room. Daizu hated that but I made sure the door was closed. They even fought with the glass between them once. Then last month on June 8, the tom cat had already come that night so I thought I would just open a bit of the door to get some fresh air in. I went upstair for 10 min and heard a loud noise downstairs. I rushed down and saw Daizu outside in between the wall and my house (6 inches wide gap), fighting with him. I separated them with my leg, and Daizu jumped up the half wall and dashed towards the neighbor's house. The tom went to other way. I panicked and went around all the houses to the front of my neighbor's house. There he was freaked out, and ran as soon as he saw me. I went back to my house, got a flashlight and started looking at 10:05 pm. That was the last time I saw him.

Norachan

I call the hokencho handling cats called animal center in my prefecture, every few days to a week. And I called the recycling garbage center so often and begged for them to inform me about any orange tabby bodies. One Friday two weeks ago, they called me to identify some bodies. I took the afternoon off, went to see the bodies. Not one orange tabby, but lots of them looked like my other cat, Ponta, who always lived with Daizu. The whole process was so stressful, as I saw the bodies wrapped in plastic bags and put in a cardboard box. It was very very hard for me to do, and I don't wish for anyone to have to go through it. I too have made some acquaintances during the search, many of them feeding cats at multiple places around my place. I live further away from the station so it is a residential area with an industrial area to the east. Not rural and not urban. There is a river that runs close to my house. I guess what is difficult is that I live alone with a full time job. I speak Japanese so I talk to as many neighbors as possible if they let me talk to them.But I also met many cat haters around here.

I worry that the camera would be destroyed because at least one cat hater constantly throws away the food the feeders leave for the cats at a feed station. The cat detective taught me to set a cardboard box with sticky tape inside to get sample hair to verfiy if an orange tabby is around. I put a note on the box for people to know I wasn't littering. 6 hours later, it was squashed.

Tonight, it is raining hard. I feel like going out, but I also feel exhausted, have no idea which direction to go.

 

[Norachan]

It sounds as if Daizu could still be close by, hiding during the day and only coming out late at night to look for food. He's probably still scared, especially if the other tom is still around. Have you tried looking for him just before dawn when there is no one about? That might be the best time to see him.

The camera I got is painted green/brown colours so that it can't be seen very easily. It has a durable, water-proof cover and can be chained and padlocked to a tree so no one could remove it. If you hide it well enough no one would notice it. I used to set it up every night around 11 pm and then collect it every morning around 4.30. (I barely slept at all last year.) Maybe you could get someone to sit up all night with you at the feeding station? Is there anywhere there you could hide yourself so you wouldn't be noticed?

Cats tend to go in circles, gradually extending their territory by making bigger and bigger circles. You could try getting a map of your area and making a spiral out from the last place you saw Daizu, checking off all the possible hiding places on your map as you go.

Good news is that it sounds as if the typhoon will have blown itself out by the time it reaches us. I have friends in Kyushu who say it's not as bad as expected. Maybe the heavy rain is a sign that you should get some rest. You put all that energy out there, give yourself a chance to recuperate and let some of it come back to you.

 

[nekomaui]

Norachan,

Thank you for your advice. I will try to get the camera on rakuten. I feel so lucky to have found this forum. Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I hope, I get strong again soon to pay it back or pay it forward to someone in need of the help I am getting here.

I will keeo checking, and hope for the best to happen.

 

[Norachan]

Nekomaui, one more thing you could try. If you go onto Google and type in 迷子猫　maigneko, a lot of lost cat sites will come up where you can post Daizu's picture and information about where and when he was lost. Some of them are for the whole of Japan, some for specific areas. You might be able to find one that is just for Saitama.

If you go back and update his information every few days it will bump his picture back on to the first page. People post pictures of cats they have found here too, so it's worth going back a month and checking all the images.

Good luck to you and your boy.

 

[nekomaui]

Hi Norachan

Thanks for your advice. I have indeed posted at nekojirushi and the vet association one, the very next day. And one more last week. There are so many websites like you said. I will keep going back and update so I get bumped up.

Every moment I spend at work, I feel like I am letting Daizu struggle on his own. I feel so restless that I want to just go and find him. But I can't neglect work which is the only means to sustain my living.

I hope all the missing kitties find their ways home soon because us human miss them so much.

 

[nekomaui]

Another week has passed and even though I got a couple of calls, I still haven't seen Daizu yet. The trail camera is coming tomorrow, after a rather long wait. I feel very alone in this search. Some kind people have offered help, and I really appreciate it. They gave me encouragement and listened to my frustrations. The animal rescue center where I got Daizu and Ponta, also put up a facebook page for me. Ponta is still with me, but it isn't the same without Daizu. They always lived together. I emailed an animal communicator in the states two weeks ago, and was told that he was alive, had a few sores from fighting. But he wasn't ready or couldn't come home. I wanted to find out if it was Daizu afterall, so I asked her to ask him what his favorite cat treat was. She could not tell me the right treat, well, it is a special treat possibly sold only in Japan -a fake crab meat strip snack for cats and dogs, made from fish. (Daizu would go crazy for it. In fact he learned how to sit and give me a hand whenever he wanted the treat. That is how much he loved it. ) So now, I find myself wanting to believe he is alive out there, but not wanting to believe that he isn't ready to come home. I guess my question is what if he is never coming home because he doesn't want to. What if it was a wrong cat?

My full time job and long commute is slowly draining my energy to go look for Daizu. There is a university in my town, and I went to the place where some people claim to have seen an orange tabby, 3 days in a roll at different times. Still no sighting. I have 1500 fliers made, and posted about 200 this weekend. Just what else can I do physically and mentally? Sorry, having another down spell. Thank you for letting me vent here.

 

[shadowsrescue]

It is so very hard when you beloved cat goes missing and you have no idea where he is or if he is alive.  You just have to keep the hope.  Every night before bed, I used to talk with Patches.  I would ask him to give me a sign that he was still alive.  Many times I would dream of him and that was my signal. 

Is he neutered? 

My thoughts are with you.  Feel free to vent away here.  We all understand.

 

[nekomaui]

ShawdowsRescue,

Thanks for understanding. Daizu and Ponta are both neutered and microchipped. They were due for another round of shots just when Daizu went missing last month, so I am worried that Daizu may have gotten in fights and infected. If I could only see him with my own eyes, I would set up a trap. Everytime I check on the internet for missing cats, people post that they have found their cats, and I feel happy for them but at the same time sooooo envious of them.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Have you tried sitting outside very very late at night when all is still and quiet?  Cats are often afraid to come out during the day.  Night time is their time.  You might try the special treat you mentioned to see if he will come out for it.  You certainly could try a trap, but I think you might want to sit up and watch in an out of the way place to be sure you don't catch another cat or wildlife.  I bet you will see alot from the trail camera.  I have surveillance cameras on my deck and use them to watch my ferals at night.  It's amazing what I see.  Some of which I wish I didn't know about!!  Right now I have baby opossums and skunks.  The skunks look like little kitties and the opossum is so darn ugly that he is just so cute.  They are all around my deck and yard.  I don't leave cat food out at night, but I am sure they smell it!! 

Try to keep your spirits up.  Talk to him and ask him to give you a sign.  See what happens. 

Keep us posted and you and Daizu are in my thoughts.

 

[winkie]

Dear Nekomaui,

I came back to this site after a long gap and I read your post which made me cry...I came here to check Norachan's George to return and now I am reading of Daizu and Ponta. Such lovely names.  I can understand and feel the pain of a lost beloved cat. Whenever my cats used to go missing I also used to be have gone crazy and upset. But believe me unless the cat has been attacked either by dogs or humans or any one and has not died THEY will RETURN. I had a cat that was lost and came back after 5 years, have posted earlier about his return in one of the posts in this forum. He was very playful and one day didnt returned from his night walk. But he came back after 5 years and it was the happiest moment. 

Please keep the faith and dont give up easily. They love you and know you love them too. And they will return soon.

 

[nekomaui]

ShadowsRescue,

The last possible sighting was at a university and it is a rather big area of space where cats can roam. It is 20 min walk from my house, so I will try and find a spot to sit tonight and will try not to get too many mosquito bites. I can't leave food outside because that tom boss cat would come and eat it up. He has been chaing other cats out of this block.

winkie, thank you so much for you compassion. I don't want to give up and will try to have faith. I wish I could stop beating myself up for not being able to find him sooner. A few nights ago, I heard cats quarelling outside, and by the time i got the flashlight out, I could only see a glimpse of the cat facing the tom boss cat. I thought it looked like Daizu, or was it wishful thinking?

 

[Norachan]

Nekomaui,

That's so good that you got a possible sighting. It give you something to go on. Do you know the trick of leaving a trail of dust from your vacuum cleaner so that your cat can smell his way home? Litter from his litter box will work too.  You need to walk towards the place Daizu was spotted and sprinkle a trail of cat litter or dust as you go. The idea is that the cat will smell this and follow the trail home. I've heard of people cutting up their clothes into tiny pieces and using this to make a trail with too.

Is there any chance that you could trap the big tom and get him neutered? His presence might be stopping Daizu from coming home. Tokyo ARC have traps that you can borrow, they might even know of a group that does TNR in your area.

Here's a link to their homepage.

http://www.arkbark.net/?q=en/node/75

 

[nekomaui]

Norachan,

I am at the university now and just saw a yellow tabby. It wan't Daizu. It sure looked like him but this cat is too used to being outside and had yellow eyes. I asked him to tell Daizu to come home if he sees him.

It was Arkbark Tokyo where I got Ponta and Daizu, and they have put Daizu's info on Facebook. I bought a step on trap two weeks ago, as Ark had lent theirs out. I will try to trap the tom cat if I can, except he wasn't getting in to the trap last week.

Anothe lead got lost. Back to square one.

 

[Norachan]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Hang in there, I'm sure you'll get another lead soon.