AIBU to think my cat isn't going to come back home :(

[Vilanelle]

My cat was usually a house cat but we have recently got a cat flap so are allowing him to come and go as he pleases. He has been neutered and microchipped.

Over the last 2 weeks he has started bringing home live mice, dead birds, live birds - basically the animals of farthing wood.

I let him out Wednesday morning and closed the cat flap as didn't want him bringing anything home whilst I was at work.

He hasn't been home since :(

The last time he went missing, our neighbour found him in her garden after him being run over. He was insured but only for £4k, vet bill came to £7k. Still paying that off.

I am pregnant and this is causing me huge distress, I am so so worried about him. I have printed off leaflets for the neighbours to ask them to check their garden sheds, houses etc.

He never goes missing for more than a few hours. Never.

He isn't coming back is he?

I have rang the local vets too but nothing. Last night I walked the streets, looking at side of roads, ditches, gardens and hedges - calling him. I didn't eat last night and I feel bereft!

Congratulations OP glad he is back home 🐾

Hurrah!!! Merry Christmas

Thank you everyone. We've been pretty heartbroken this Christmas. We looked for him again earlier and we decided that we just have to wait now, that we cant torture ourselves.

Then this evening we were watching Netflix with door to kitchen closed, I heard crying but assumed it was on the tv. I turned to dp after the 4the or 5th cry and asked if that's in the kitchen or tv. I've never seen dp get up so fast!! I yelled not to get her Hope's up! But there he was, dry as a bone and pristine clean.

He has just had wet food and fresh prawns and we are all so so happy!

Yaaaas!!!!
OP, I don’t even know you but I’m sooo delighted this had a happy ending.
Cats are so special to us. This is fantastic news!

The best news ! I'm so pleased for you all. X

So so happy x

Fabulous. One of mine once went missing for one day and the stress of worrying about him was horrendous. Glad he's home safe.

Aww this is brilliant news! Our kittens only recently started going out and one didn't come home for a full day and I was in tears I was so worried. Dd cried from the minute she got home school til they found him. I have a pic of her holding him roaring crying all red eyed and snotty and the cat looking at the camera as if to say WTF is all this fuss about?!

So happy for you - my little cat going missing is one of my worst nightmares. I panic if hes not come back for more than a few hours!

Op, could I strongly recommend something to you? We have four cats. Two don’t go far beyond the back garden, but one is more of a wanderer. He was once missing for two days and it was awful. I know how you must have felt.

Now we have an app on our phones called “Pawtrack.” It’s a GPS cat tracking system. Your cat wears a micro-light collar and you have a visual of your area on your phone - a bit like Google Earth, which you can zoom in and out of. Your cats movements and position are visible at all times on your phone, so if he’s ever trapped somewhere again you can go and find him. I think it was something like £75 for the collar etc, and then it’s £7.50 per month. It’s well worth it for cats that like to wander!

Also, I always found cats tend to wander more at night, so you could lock the cat flap at night maybe? Or get one of those ones that’s on a timer?

I keep ours in at night and then let the wanderer one out with the collar on when they wake me up at 6am!

Another of our cats didn’t go far, but found a way through the tiniest gap under a neighbours fence to get out the front and was generally hovering around a busy road when we let him out (the tracker showed this) and it was so stressful. In the end, I’ve had to get a sonic containment system around the garden so he can’t go beyond there now. It’s just a wire that gives cats a “correction” if they go too close to it. I’ve felt this myself - it’s like the static you might feel if you touch a car door or something like that. It’s not electric, it’s radio waves. I tried everything else, prickly plastic on top of walls, water squirters, high pitched devices. Nothing worked. This wire Installation cost about £500 but again, was well worth it as it was like Russian Roulette every time she went out. It’s a bigger collar, but it doesn’t bother him and I take it off when he’s in obviously. It’s odd because the other cats never attempt to go towards the road at all. They all have their individual habits. I could have got rollers on top of the garden walls to stop this cat getting out, but then this would have affected all the other cats.

So pleased he's home OP, I've been checking this thread hoping he'd be back

Lovely to hear a happy reunion!

Awwwwww so happy it has a happy ending!!

@cosima1 I'm strongly considering this but my cat has an amazing talent of removing his own collar! He came back tonight without his on. The day he went missing we let him out in the morning so unsure when he got stuck. I will look into the collar!

Yes I was very reticent to put a collar on our cat in case it got stuck in brambles or something, but the Pawtrack collars are like a moulded plastic with a catch that releases apparently if it’s pulled too much. Even if it did come off, at least you can go and find it and you know what direction the cat was heading in. Plus after a few weeks of tracking, you’ll know your cat’s daily circuit, more or less, so you can follow that. And if someone else is feeding him, you’ll find out!

Only on.page 1 but has anyone suggested scattering the contents of your Hoover bag in the garden so.he can.smell.home

Oh.great? Hes home!

I would never use a collar. Even the quickest of quick release collars don’t always release. They are a hanging and trapping risk. Plus collar injuries are bloody awful. (Leg caught through. Nasty.)

I have been checking here regularly in hope of good news. Am super chuffed for you that he's home and well.

Great news! :) Turkey treats for kitty now?

In future I’d lock him in at night rather than lock him out in the day . They mostly hunt at night / early morning .
Glad he’s home

Yay! So pleased he’s home 😊

Lovely news.

Mine got lost for 3 months. She had got out at night, we assume somethinh scared her and she bolted. She was eventually found a few streets away in a garden. The elderly couple living there were apparently oblivious to the many posters we had put up. They left food bowls & beds for their own cats outside year round, and knew our cat was pinching the food . Eventually a neighbour spotted her sleeping in bushes in the pouring rain and got suspicious, and texted the number on our posters. Luckily she was microchipped. By this point she had a nasty abscess from being bitten by another cat and had lost weight, she was fine after a couple of weeks at home though!

So happy for you OP! I second what a pp says - no collars for mine as they are too dangerous, even quick release ones.