It's now a week since I saw my Maudcat

[RoryCeilingCat]

Maud is a grumpy thing. We first met her in August 2000 at an open day run by Cats Protection. She was in a cage with Claude, her not-brother. She was 6 months, he 9 months, and noone looked at them because there were lots of tiny kittens around. We did. Claude hid under a blanket, Maud hissed and spat. We fell in love on the spot.

After 10 years we moved to Basel. It took a few months but both then bossed the neighbourhood. 6 months ago we added 2 kittens to the mix. Maud was most displeased and told them so in no uncertain terms. With 3 boys in the house, she is clearly top cat.

And now Maud is missing. She should be sleeping on the balcony or growling on top of the cable box. Instead, she is somewhere, and we are nowhere. She is not in the cats' home, any local vets or - this being Switzerland, where everything must be disposed of correctly - at the 'Tierkoerpersammmelstelle' where dead animals end up.

And I miss her. And Claude misses her. And the minicats miss her.

And today it's a week since I last stroked her, and I'm sorry to be so self indulgent, but I'm so, so sad

[ThistleWhistle]

Oh dear Rory I am so sorry. I know exactly how you feel as it's been 10 days since my cat went missing. I am missing him so much. It's just the worst thing not knowing where/how they are. It is driving me mad!

[Marlinspike]

I am so sorry.

I do hope that grumpy Maud turns up - our cat went missing for 3 weeks once - I had thrown away all the cat bowls and given the remaining catfood away and she turned up at the back door, as if nothing had happened. I don't want to give you false hope, but maybe Maud is taking a little holiday somewhere?

[RoryCeilingCat]

Oh Thistle, I am sorry. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. I know the risk with free-range cats is that this can happen, but having reached 12 years old and survived the urban jungle of Reading I never thought she'd vanish in sleepy Basel.

Part of me hopes she knew it was time and went Goodbye Mog. I'm actively not thinking about her being sad somewhere.

If you are able to talk about your cat ThistleWhistle I'd love to hear. I know how hard it is.

[RoryCeilingCat]

Sorry Marlinspike - cross posted.

Maud could be. She never has before, but cats are capricious and she may have had enough of being kittenly-bounced-on. I just don't want her to be trapped or sad or hurt. If she's living the life of Riley in an old lady's apartment then I'll be very glad.

I've spent the week in a frenzy of emails and posters and knocking on doors and asking in bad German. The not having anything more to do but wait is weighing heavily on me.

[ThistleWhistle]

Rory, my cat, (Terry), is just a youngster compared to your Maud. We got him last September as a kitten from the Cats Protection and he has been my baby ever since. I have an old cat aged 15ish and he wouldn't leave him alone always wanting to play and cuddle and my old cat is grumpy and not other-cat friendly. So we decided to get another kitten to keep Terry company. We got Pearl in October and they are like brother and sister. They playfight and cuddle, it's lovely to see. Pearl is most definitely my DD's cat and Terry is mine. Then Monday last week he just never came back in the evening. They always come back for food and he didn't show. I always shut my 2 youngest in at night and my old one has a late night prowl out the front and in the back and that's it. It is so hard as I had to have my old lady cat PTS last August and found my other 5 year old cat dead in the lane behind our house last July so to lose 3 cats in less than 1 year is pretty crap. Poor Pearl keeps squeaking at me she doesn't know what to do with herself as he is not here to play with. I have been looking and looking for him. I have been out tonight calling him where I have had 2 possible sightings. But I've been walking this route for 5 days now and no response, so I am feeling pretty low.

[RoryCeilingCat]

Oh ThistleWhistle, I am very very sorry to hear that. Sending positive cat vibes your way - I know it's not much help. Thinking of you and hoping you have news of Terry soon.

[ThistleWhistle]

Any news Rory? Thanks for your comments btw. Still no sign of Terry though .

[RoryCeilingCat]

Hi Thistle - no, no news :( I guess we have to accept the unpleasant truth now :( Thanks for asking.

[RoryCeilingCat]

Well, it's now 5 weeks since Maud went missing, and unbelievably she reappeared at 6am today. She is very thin, has a number of ticks on her and had some kind of sticky substance on her head/leg (not paint, not creosote, doesn't smell of anything, but hard to remove). She's not dehydrated though so she must have had a water source. I had thought maybe she'd been in a shed, but her paws/claws aren't scuffed which I'd expect them to be if she'd been scratching to get out.

I wonder if she got into a car and ended up far away, and has been making her way home since then? I'm so happy, but we're both fairly shocked. The kittens keep looking at her with 'WTF?' faces - she hasn't increased her love for them in her vacation, and has soundly cuffed and hissed at them, just to re-establish who's boss :)

Now she's curled up on my lap, having eaten a good portion of my lunch, as though she'd never been away. Funny old Maud.

So, to those of you who are in the sad situation of having a cat go missing, miracles do happen. I didn't believe those people who told me stories of cats going and coming back later, but...

[frostyfingers]

Oh what wonderful news - she's been on an adventure! We mislaid a cat (well he escaped through a window) when we moved and I found him 2 weeks later like a bag of bones. The vet advised to give very small portions of plain food for a while and to have him re-wormed and an antibiotic as he was a bit cut and scratched.

Maud sounds in good nick so hopefully she'll need no extra care, just lots of love.

[ThistleWhistle]

Rory that is great news! I have wondered if Maud had come home but as you hadn't posted an update I assumed not. How strange, I wonder where she has been? We rescued a stray who had been living on a railway line previously and he had some kind of sticky stuff on him which the vet thought was a weed killer that he had been sprayed with presumably when they were spraying the railway bank. He had some chemical burns from it but I presume Maud doesn't?

Still no sign of my Terry cat . It's 6 weeks today that he went missing. I am not optimistic though as he had only been going out a couple of months and was not street-wise at all. It was his birthday on Friday and he would have been 1. I had a few tears that day. My elderly neighbour was asking me yesterday if I had found him yet and when I said no she said "You'll probably find him in the winter when all the foliage dies back and you can see him", (we have a wooded area behind our houses where it is thick brambles and weeds). I was like thanks for that!

I am so pleased for you though. It is good to know that they can return after so long an adventure. I hope Maud is back in good health soon.

[RoryCeilingCat]

Hi both

Thanks :) Maud has a bit of an upset tummy, so I've got some sensitive stomach biscuits, which she seems to like. I'm guessing it's the return to a proper diet after over a month of eating goodness-knows-what. I think she needs some quiet time, so I won't stress her with a vet's visit until the weekend, unless she deteriorates.

Oh Thistlewhistle, I was thinking about Terrycat - I'm so sorry he's not back. When M vanished I hated people saying she may come home - I needed to accept she wouldn't and grieve. But then she came back, so maybe there's hope? Someone on another forum was telling me their cat vanished for 8 months, because a crazy lady near them kidnapped him, and he only escaped when a window was left open...So, stranger things have happened. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you regardless.

[ThistleWhistle]

Thanks Rory. I always say I know he's not coming back but still rush to the phone if it rings just in case it's someone who has found him! He is microchipped so if he is found then he'll find his way back to me. I've had lots of potential sightings but none have been him, not heard anything for a week or so now though.

I'll post here if he does come back. Take care of the Maudcat x