I know other people have bigger problems, but our 6 month old cat hasn't come home today and I'm heartbroken

[DottyDot]

He's the friendliest, daftest cat in the world - not afraid of anyone or anything and has never not come home before, so I can only assume he's either been run over or taken

He's so beautiful - ginger and white - and we've had him since he was 6 weeks old. He was neutered last week and I feel like we've only just got him and now he's gone.

Am trying very hard not to cry and lose the plot and have done notices to put up tomorrow and we'll phone all the local vets, but I think my lovely Barley has gone.

[CricketsMum]

just posting to say so sorry to hear that... my cat went missing at one point and i was devastated. Luckily he did come back. Will keep my fingers crossed that you have a good outcome too.

[ChunkyKitKat]

Keeping my fingers crossed too. Have you put flyers through people's doors?

Take care.

[Sparkletastic]

He might well be in someone's shed or garage. I've had a cats be gone for days only to turn up looking a bit thin but otherwise as if nowt had happened. Can you run off a few posters with a picture of Barley on and then go round and check with neighbours?

[GetOrfMoiLand]

Oh poor you.

If it is any consolation, my dear departed cat buggered off for 2 weeks when he was about 6 months old.

We were in despair, we hunted high and low for him and put posters up. I remember waking up one morning, and said to dd (who was about 8) that we had to accept that he would never come back. We cried like babies, and then opened the front door and there he was, our lovely Henry. He looked a fright (really skinny and dusty) and was starving, so we assumed he must have been locked in somewhere.

I do hope your cat comes home, all is not lost.

[GetOrfMoiLand]

We were late for school and work that day . Well, we had to give him some much missed attention!

[DottyDot]

aww - thanks for the posts. Still no sign and we're just all so sad

Today we've phoned the 2 local vets and there are no reports of injured cats being brought in.

A friend laminated some posters we made so I've tied them to lamposts up and down the local streets.

Dp did a little note asking people to check sheds and garages and put that through all the doors in the street and she also knocked on most of the neighbours' doors we know.

He's a very popular, well known cat on this road because he's so friendly - he would wait for all the school children on the wall in the morning and get lots of cuddles and would weave in and out of everyone's legs walking past

So, most people are on the look out for him and we've even had someone come round to say their daughter who lives nearby is also looking.

People are lovely - just hope he is stuck somewhere and gets out this weekend

[juneybean]

Awww don't get upset my 9 month old cat left home and I didn't find him for 3 years, but when I did, he was alive and well living with a new family.

[Portofino]

Mine disappeared for 48 hours at about the same age. I was very worried as we live near some main roads. He came home though, and scoffed his own bodyweight in whiskas. I wouldn't panic just yet. Maybe it's a rite of passage thing for cats!

[FabBakerGirlIsSURVIVED]

How long has he been missing?

Mine went awol for about 7 hours once and I was beside myself.

If it is the first time he has really gone anyway he is probably partying and will be home when he is really hungry.

Hang in there and don't give it yet.

[FabBakerGirlIsSURVIVED]

Feeling a bit about my pathetic 7 hours. Felt ages at the time.

[FiveGoMadonTheDanceFloor]

We returned a cat in May that had been missing since October last year. Please don't lose hope just yet. Cats are wiley creatures, my cat moved with my parents this March and decided to go nack to their old home, he was gone for 4 days.

[VicarInaBooTu]

mine went AWOL for a night once and i couldnt sleep or rest, but she did come home, tail waving in the air, next morning!

your moggie might have just gone for a sleepover somewhere - really hope he comes home. x

[HumphreyCobbler]

I have had much experience of cats going missing for a few days, they all came back and yours has every chance of doing so too.

It is horrible, I know, but don't give up hope.

[DottyDot]

aarrggghh - someone just phoned having got our note through the door - he'd just seen a ginger and white cat on the next road a few minutes ago - dp's run down there but has phoned me to say there's no sign

sigh. FabBakerGirl We were exactly the same at 7 hours in - it's been about 30 hours now and it's a nightmare.

My mum just phoned me - I hadn't told her yesterday he was missing, but couldn't pretend everything was OK, so burst into tears and told her I couldn't speak to her

Honestly - will have to phone her back and try and pull it together - I'm not normally so tearful but he's just so young and gorgeous and he was kind of 'my' cat...

[FabBakerGirlIsSURVIVED]

Get your dp to sit quietly for a while and then call for him. He might be hiding/stuck some where.

[DottyDot]

No sign - we've done more notes and I was hoping people would maybe be in and out of garages and sheds over the weekend - except it's crap weather today.

Ho hum... Can't keep crying and being miserable but it's so heartbreaking.

[IWantAChickAndADuck]

My cat went missing for 3 days once... turned out he was 3 roads down sat in someone elses garden just staring at their house (think he got confused and couldn't work out which house was his!).

Hope you find him

[FabBakerGirlHasHadEnough]

Have you called for him when it is quiet?

Come home pusskins.

[sitdownpleasegeorge]

One of ours was missing for 2 weeks and came home dusty and skinny with no energy and very little appetite, had clearly been shut in somewhere and when finally let out had somehow dragged itself home again but had no energy once it flopped through the catflap. It took it a few months to recover properly.

I had leafleted the entire neighbourhood and called animal rescue places and asked the local PCSO/ any dogwalker I came across if they had seen a dead cat anywhere.

Don't give up hope yet.

[DottyDot]

Oh God - keep me calm - am posting because about 10 minutes ago a couple of school boys knocked on the door to say they'd seen Barley in their school playground on Thursday.

The school is about a 10 minute walk away, over a main road but it's quite possible he was there as we live on a cut through that loads of the school kids walk through each day and he usually sits on our wall waiting for them to walk past for cuddles - he's quite a character and well known to lots of the school children who walk through.

So, dp has just legged it there with notices, slips to put through doors and a torch and I've just e-mailed the headteacher asking her to please ask the Caretaker (do schools have caretakers any more?!) to keep an eye out.

The school boys have also gone back to have a look (bless!) and I've mentioned the possibilty of a reward - although they were so sweet I know they were just trying to help anyway.

Gah.... I came home early from work today 'cos I was so upset thinking about it and now my adrenalin's going bonkers - what if we're too late or we don't find him but we know he was there last Thursday?

Aaarrrgghhhh....

[bibbitybobbityCAT]

All fingers and toes crossed for you Dotty

[EightiesChick]

Don't panic. My shared cat (mine and my old housemate's, who'd gone to live with her) went missing for 11 days and turned up. We did flyers through doors, walked up and down streets calling him, and eventually it was one of the flyers that worked - a bloke found him in his shed, where he'd got locked in. He was very hungry and dirty, and had lost weight, but had been drinking rainwater and was right as rain in no time. He lived for a good few years after that, and he was already an elderly cat.

There is a very good chance of him being found at this rate, with people recognising him and looking out for him. I would also try calling when it's quieter. And I would widen your search area - my cat was trapped a good few streets away: they go farther than you'd think.

[boodeniites]

hope everything is ok

[seeyounexttuesday]

Lots of cats come home weeks later. Will keep everything crossed for you.

If anything had happened to him, such as being knocked over I am sure word would have got back to you by now. He is more than likely on an adventure somewhere and will saunter back in without a care in the world, when he is ready.

[FABIsInTraining]

Come on cat, where are you?