Cat constantly disappearing

[BramblePie]

So... have had my cat 4 years. I lived in one place and he only wentmissing a couple fo times the rest he would eat and be out most of the day or night and just come back to rest and eat.

I moved home in August. I kept him in for 3 weeks and he was fine coming back. But since Nov/Dec he is constantly missing. The worst was over Xmas and NY when he went missing for 3 weeks but he turned up at a house about a mile away and the people posted on FB and my partner saw it and collected him. Since then he went back to that same hour 3 times and i had to go pick him up. He'd be back for a week then id let him out and boom, that'd be it, wont see him again until some nice person tracks me down as his owner.

In the last month he has turned up at another house 3 times. The y have my number so call when he arrives after a few days of him wandering.

I try to keep him in, i want to keep him in for a month or so. But he just meows constantly. He is totally an outdoor cat. I just got him back tonight and not even 3 minutes in he is mewoing to get out :(
I can't handle the meowing and also he become sso fesity after being kept in that he starts to attack me, he will launch himself onto my leg and it hurts!

What am i going to do?!

Also, i am well aware that these very nice families who call me will end up getting fed up of him turning up all the time.

Any advice welcome.

[cozietoesie]

Is he neutered?

[Migsy1]

Is he neutered?

[Migsy1]

Snap Cozie ;)

[BramblePie]

Yes, i got him from Cat's protection so they saw to that. Poor boy!

[cozietoesie]

It sounds to me just like the behaviour of a very feisty entire tom - out roaming for miles, with an occasional pit stop for a bit of food or 'fun'. I'd be awfully tempted to have him in to the vet for a check just in case CPL made a mistake with one appendage. (It does happen occasionally.) When is he due in to the vet's next?

Otherwise, you've just got a roamer, I'm afraid. Maybe he got into wild habits because he was raised pretty wild and was a late neuter (do you know his history?) - in which case, there's not a lot I can think of to be done. I'm assuming he's chipped so that will help if he goes too far.

[Thesebootsweremadeforwalking]

How old is your cat, and is he otherwise well?

My (late) moggie did almost exactly the same, except we'd had her for over a decade - when we moved she kept getting lost, neighbours kept returning her, etc. After a while I got concerned about some other behavioural changes, and took her to the vet - who said that my dear old puss was displaying signs of senility, and the wandering was part of that. Honestly, it had never occurred to me before then that cats could suffer from this.

[BramblePie]

Hi, thanks for replies.

I think he is 4.5/5 but cats protection weren't sure exactly how old he was so thats just a rough estimate.

He was found wandering the streets of the town i live in and taken to cats protection and that's when i got him. So maybe it is just in his blood to do this but by jove it is hard work! I mean people are calling at 10/11pm and i get dressed and go fetch him. Once or twice a week!

He just came over and sat on me and was purring so he obviously does like me.

One thing is he seems hungry all the time and is so fussy with what he eats. I always have to vary what he eats but really i think he would prefer just eating chucnks of chicken and ham. Fair enough but its £££

[cozietoesie]

He may just be a roamer but if he's due to get his MOT any time soon, I'd raise his behaviour with the vet at that. (And I'd be hanging a bit tougher on the food. I may be fairly indulgent with my own boy but he's an elderly fusspot and not a strapping young thing.)

Does he get into the house by catflap?

[BramblePie]

Yes, I will speak to my vet. Actually my uncle's a vet DOH! I'll speak to him!

No, i dont have a cat flap yet but think i'll do this as I am not sure if he comes home through the day and i obviously can't let him in so he just goes away again.
At the moment he goes out the front door or windows and he appears at them and meows when he wants back in. Unfortunatel this is not very often!

[cozietoesie]

Maybe if he's coming home and keeps not getting in, he's lacking confidence in returning. I'd have a look at the microchip cat flaps - Sureflap is the one used by most posters - because they're activated by individual microchips so you would have the confidence of knowing that he wasn't inviting the rest of his gang round in your absence.

They're unfortunately not cheap (about £60-£70 online) but they're easy to fit and probably the best notion for you. If he isn't yet chipped for some reason, that should be done in any case: that would probably be about £20ish depending on your vet practice.