My cat is missing

[Lostcat]

My cat has gone missing and I’m not coping . She’s honestly the most gorgeous and special animal you could imagine. She’s so loving and friendly and playful. She was born the same time as my latest DC and they’ve been growing up together.

She went out last night and didn’t come back. Partner and I were up every hour looking for her. This morning we’ve texted all the neighbours, posted in local WhatsApp and fbk groups, called the vet, reporting her missing on her microchip, put little and dirty clothes, food outside… we are going to print some leaflets and posters .. anything else?

our neighbour said he saw her last night when his dog chased her round the corner 😡.

Please share your positive cat stories.

we love her so much. She’s DD1’s pride and joy.

Good news, hope for a speedy recovery for her. You must be so relieved.

@Snoopybird @Frosty1000 Im just looking in to different tracking options now. It’s a bit of a mine field. So do you recommend tracker as the best? Some of the online reviews are saying the battery life is really poor and that the device keeps coming off their cat..?
Someone up thread said air tags weren’t recommended for pets but I can’t remember why..

Okay this is my ‘review’ :

• lightweight - it looks bulky and I was worried my cat would hate it and get a sore neck, but she doesn’t care at all. No protestations or hiding when it comes to putting it on her, so I’m not worried at all about its size. my cat id medium-small (3.5kg).

• It will fit on any collar, so I have added it to my cats current collar, no problems with it coming off in the 6 months I have had it so far.

• functionality and the app are great - the tracking is pretty accurate and you can watch your cat move around in ‘real time’ if you enable live mode. What I love is that it saves the history of where your cat has been and over time you can see their ‘territory’ and where they like hanging out most and when. So if she does get lost without the tracker one day, I’d know where to start looking and which houses to target to check garages etc.

• A downside is it only works outside. so in the ‘locked in ‘ scenario I would be relying on her last known location, and what I know about her territory. Signal from under thick trees and bushes is a bit dodgy, so a disadvantage if you live in a wooded area.

• The battery life is quite poor, especially if you use life mode a lot. It’s better than my iphone though, and it’s quick to charge. Mine would probably last 4-5 days without using live mode, and only half that if I keep using live. If she was truly lost and she was constantly on live, it probably would only last a day.

• The tracker is not that expensive, but the subscription is. Some people say customer service is terrible and they don’t cancel your subscription when they should. I have dealt with companies like this before and will contact them early when I do want to cancel, and get my bank to block them taking any money if I do have an issue. So far I haven’t needed to contact them though .

• Overall I am very happy with it, it gives me peace of mind, and the best thing to me is that even if she goes really far away e.g. miles away in a van or far out into the countryside where there are no phones or people, it will still work because it uses gps.

Oh, and multiple people can track her on their phones. So if you go on holiday, your cat sitter can download the app (free), add the code on the tracker and bob’s your uncle. And you can still see where she is from your phone while you’re away, because it works anywhere in the world.

That's a great review @Snoopybird I use Tractive too and would agree with your points.

When you say it didn't work indoors, do you mean other people's houses? I'm wondering why it wouldn't work in that scenario. I thought it used GPS like Life 360 which works anywhere.

I take my cats' collars off each night while they're indoors so I can charge it every night.

I usually use the tracker to see if it's worth opening the door to let mine in, or if he's too far away to hear me call 😄

Really interesting to see their usual stomping grounds I wouldn't have guessed where mine go until using the tracker.

Oh yes, sorry I did mean other people’s houses, if a cat is hiding under a parked car or shed.

OP, it will work in your house because it will also connect to your wifi and bluetooth automatically. So while the gps doesn't work inside your own home, you can use bluetooth to find the cat.

I’m not sure re the GPS Life 360 @musicalfrog, I just know that my app will say ‘weak signal’ and fail to find her if she’s under my neighbour’s pergula for example.

Another point I forgot to mention is that you get a notification if your cat moves beyond a ‘safe zone’ that you can set around your home. So you will know immediately if they have wandered and can start tracking live to track them down before they get too far.

@snoopybird I've not seen that message come up on mine so maybe it's just the varying signal strengths where we are.

Overall I'm really happy with the tracker and would wholeheartedly recommend it.

Oh gosh these are such good reviews. Thank you so much. It sounds like we should definitely invest in this

This made me laugh, imagining the cat silently in the wardrobe waiting to be let out. The thought of uttering a meow not even occuring to him 😁

Cats are such arseholes. Which is why we love them 😻

😆😆😆

Can I ask how she's doing now?? Hope all is ok 🤗

We lock our cats in all the bloody time. They sneak in right behind you when you open a door but do so silently and always go the opposite way to how you turn. Luckily they're nosy buggers so normally knock something over while exploring or scratch loudly at the door to get out again and we hear them.

That said, I even managed to lock the dog in the garage the other week because he'd learned the cats' tricks!

Aww thank you for asking 😻. She’s so much better. Still not back to her usual mobility- it’s insane how high she could jump before the accident, but right now shes still struggling to jump on a chair bless her, but she’s walking much better now and back to her usual , curious, bold self 😼. She’s desperate to go out, but I think she needs more time to heal first. We have bought the Tractive collar and an AirTag in preparation 💪🏻