My cat is missing

My dumbass cat disappeared for over a week. I was beside myself like you. She just strolled in one morning as if nothing had happened. The cat flap has since been removed

Look for her very early mornings. She had probably not gone far.

I’ve had several stray cats living in my garden, one (feral) for 10 years with sadly noone looking for him and one for three months and I finally found the owner (teenage boy and mum) who cried their eyes out. And a kitten who had gone extremely far but I found the owners. Don’t give up hope.

I hope this helps

I have had cats go missing and I totally relate to the sick with anxiety feeling, it feels hopeless.

Your cat is almost certainly lying low nearby after being chased by that dog. I would wait for it to get dark and, if she's not home, go out in that direction calling her name and listening for a reply. Keep up the facebook campaign if it goes on beyond the next day or two, check if your insurance may offer a reward as that gets people looking.

Take heart from the fact that you haven't heard any news that she has had an accident.

Hope she comes back or you find her very soon and your torment comes to an end. We have always found our missing cats ourselves and generally trapped in a nearby shed. There is nothing like the relief when they are home!

What do you use out of interest?

I think it doesn’t help that our area is a bit crappy signal-wise.

Our little tortie girl has done this a 3 times now, scares us very time. Each time she was in a garage or shed and we found her by knocking on doors and asking people to check. Or once by opening a shed on farm property and she was in there, no doubt chasing mice

But if she was chased by a dog, she might just be hiding in a bush. I would go round calling on her and rattling a treat bag. Make sure you stop and listen as well, in case you miss her cry.

Seriously @Lostcat don’t feel bad about the tracker , cats are always losing their collars so a tag isn’t foolproof .

Make sure you look up - she could be in a tall hedge, up a tree, or in my brothers case, on the roof of a bungalow!! Hope you find her x

Mine came back after 5 days. He was scared and a bit bedraggled. And sooooo thirsty!
He drank loads, slept for about 12hrs and wee'd all over my bed. I forgave him!!

If she was chased by a dog she may be scared and hiding or have left her territory. Try going further afield after dark when it’s quiet, calling her. No news is good news and it hasn’t been long. Likely she’s fine. Good luck.

Airtags not recommended for pets.

It sounds like you got a duff brand, you can get ones that you press the button when you want to activate them and the battery is barely used, ours last 6 months (used daily because our cat likes playing hide and seek).

Also depends on the size of the cat, smaller cats you don't want to get one of the regular size trackers because it's too heavy for them. Need just a basic proximity one.

I can imagine how upset you are but most cats don't go too far. She was probably scared by the dog chasing her and is lying low somewhere.
Hopefully she will come back soon. 😿

Check any trees around you! My cat has on 2 occasions been treed by a dog, the first time she was up there 2 days.

Don't give up hope. It's really not unusual for a cat to go AWOL for a few days.
If no one has suggested this yet, go out once it gets dark and take a torch. Shine torch around while calling - easier to see their eyes that way.
She's almost certainly close to home but a bit spooked. Shake dreamies and put strong smelling food outside to tempt her home.

Honestly our tracker is more trouble than it’s worth. Constantly running out of battery and doesn’t realise it’s home so keeps trying to find a signal indoors - again, running down the battery. It’s more stress inducing than not having one tbh.

An AirTag might work if you live in a town/city though.

Your cat won't be far. Most of them are never too far away. Ours went missing a year ago and we did everything you did and leafleted about 80 houses. We were due to go on holiday as well which was adding to the stress. Day five we received a call from a neighbour on our estate about 50 yards away (a house I had leafleted) and the cat was hiding under a car. Needless to say the cat was grounded.

Don't give up hope. Your cat will not be far away

And I think vets should be able to pop in a tracker like a chip.

Childhood cat caught a lift with a delivery driver. She disembarked at a jewelers about five miles from home.
She was brought home by one of the sales assistants before we knew she was missing.
The woo thing is it was a jewelers my mum had worked at when she was only just married. So thirty years before cat rocked up to them.

I feel your pain op.
My sons lovely cat went missing. We did everything you have done but it was 7 weeks before he returned!! The thing that helped was putting posters up, as he had actually gone exploring in some woods about 1/4 mile away. He couldn't find his way back and the residents of the road near these woods got in touch with me. No one had been feeding him so he had survived 7 weeks independently. He was very skinny but only took a few weeks to get back to normal. Hang on in there... it's still very early days and I hope you have a happy ending

Get neighbours to check sheds/garages/lockups and tucked away places. They often end up in them, especially if cold or sick.

When they come back, get a GPS tracker so you know where they are all the time.

Our cat came back after 6 months. Then we bought a tracker.

Our friends cat arrived at their new house in the removal van. Crept in there when no one was looking! They could not find him before they left so all the neighbours were asked to keep an eye out and the new owners of the house. No need as it turned out.

Hope she comes home soon . Don’t forget to ring round the local rescues , all the localish vets and also the council as they sometimes get called if an animal is deceased on the road , which is not nice to think about but probably preferable to not knowing if it has happened . 💐

Mine went missing (this is decades ago but cats are cats) for 48 hours and we feared the worst. Despite torrential rain, we prowled the streets calling his name and shaking the cat treat tin.

We'd just about decided he was lying dead somewhere when he came clattering in through the catflap. Despite the two days of rain, he was dry - but absolutely filthy. We decided he'd probably got shut in a garage or shed and spent the time trying to find a way out, getting very dusty into the bargain. He went on and on about it, as if it were our fault, for quite a long time.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_litter_tray/4957835-lost-cat-has-been-found-help?page=1

Thats the orginal thread, and yep, still here, i only let her outside supervised now, but she is back with us