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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

My lovely cat has gone missing - tell me some tales of cats that have come back please?

64 replies

LadyCelia · 09/07/2014 13:45

Just to keep my mind off it, can anyone tell me some nice stories of your cat going missing & then coming back to you?

My lovely boy cat has been missing for 2 days now, he's never even stayed out overnight before, and we are worried sick. Have done all the leaflet drops, spoken to the neighbours, the local vets, postman & even the local builders (he used to go & share their lunch with them!) and put up posters so now I am sitting here trying not to think bad thoughts, so if you can share your happy ending stories to cheer me up, that would be appreciated.

One of my older cats was found at the old people's home down the road after 5 days missing, having been taken in by an old lady who missed her cat, and who was feeding him haddock & fruit cake... I used to have to go & spring him from there on a regular basis.

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spiderlight · 10/07/2014 11:24

We have several stories. Our cat went missing for an entire long Bank Holiday weekend. We searched and called and made leaflets, and then she turned up very early on the Tuesday morning. It later transpired that she had been locked in the bakery round the corner!

DH's childhood cat also went missing - she turned up safe and well after two years, just strolled into the kitchen and asked for her tea as if she'd just been in the garden for half an hour. Another cat in the neighbourhood did the same after five years. And a fried of mine lost her cat for about eight months and then happened to see a cat she was sure was her out of the corner of her eye while she was doing 70 down a dual carriageway miles from home. She turned round and went back as soon as she could and it was indeed her cat! She was very thin but otherwise fine.

Hope yours is soon home.

Itsfab · 10/07/2014 11:48

dotty2 - last year I called the vet as I thought I had seen a cat that was reported as missing. He was found but probably not the one I had seen. It was hiding behind the vets the whole time. Later Found posters were put up and the vet rang to tell me as well and I thought it was lovely. It is heart breaking seeing posters months old not knowing if the animal has been found, DS gets upset, but I think it is thoughtless of people not to take the posters down and/or put up found ones. If you want someone to care enough to look for a missing pet and call if seen, then be thoughtful back enough to realise that people care and worry.

Original poster

LadyCelia · 10/07/2014 12:14

Aww, thank you everyone, this is cheering me up a bit.

We had a text from someone on the other side of the village to say that they think they might have seen him down their road on Monday night, so DH went straight over there - it wasn't ours, but another bloke there came out & when DH showed him our poster, he thinks might have seen him hanging around there yesterday afternoon, so will keep in touch if he sees him again. That area is actually near the primary school so we've asked them to put up a posted as well, lots of little people there to keep an eye out for him! It gives you a bit of hope that it is him & he's just off on an adventure.

We only moved to the area a year or so ago, but we've now met so many nice neighbours whilst searching for him, so something good has come out of it. Having come from London where we barely spoke to anyone in the area for years, it's a lovely change.

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Sparklingbrook · 10/07/2014 20:55

It's still early days, don't give up hope. Have you seen this thread? Very heartwarming.

Original poster

LadyCelia · 11/07/2014 16:51

Yes, I read that thread sparkling, how lovely and what a happy ending. I just hope that if someone does find him that they ask around or take him to a vets rather than assume he's a stray & take him in. My work colleague told me today she wouldn't know what to do & would just keep him! presuming he didn't belong to anyone!

I got very sad yesterday when we found the similar cat to ours, it's the same breed but a bit bigger - such a shock when I saw it sauntering down the road towards me & then eventually came close enough for me to see it wasn't ours Got my hopes up there for all of 10 seconds!

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ProfYaffle · 11/07/2014 16:56

Have you tried a local facebook selling page? Our cat went missing for a few days and that's how we found him. (he followed some blokes home from the pub then got lost and couldn't find his way home. He ended up living in their garden for a few days til we found him)

Sparklingbrook · 11/07/2014 16:58

The not knowing is awful Lady I really feel for you. But there's every chance he will return. Stay strong. x

Original poster

LadyCelia · 13/07/2014 16:16

Another bad day today. We've seen on one of the lost pet websites, a cat virtually identical to ours which has been found around 80 miles away, tied in with the dates as well, and could well be ours as he had a habit of climbing into cars & vans, and there are a lot of builders working nearby who are from out of the area, plus delivery people to the developments.

We've emailed the people who posted the advert, but had no reply from them or the website and suddenly the found cat listing has been taken down. So so sad, my 3yr old DS is in tears again.

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cozietoesie · 13/07/2014 16:36

Who knows but that they received your email and didn't manage to get back to you. (Check your spam folder.) That could be why the listing has gone down - temporarily.

ThrowAChickenInTheAir · 13/07/2014 16:49

I keep coming back to this hoping for good news.

Please come home safely Lady's lovely puss cat. Thinking of you Ladycelia

Itsfab · 13/07/2014 17:04

Maybe they want to keep him

I would suggest you don't tell your DS any news at all until you know for sure one way or another as cruel to get his hopes up.

I really hope he comes home soon.

Original poster

LadyCelia · 13/07/2014 17:06

They have just replied saying its not ours, that the cat is small so not a 3 yr old (though he is very very small, runt of the litter). I have emailed them back again, just to see what has happened. I just hate getting our hopes up & then going back down again.

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timtam23 · 13/07/2014 21:01

Oh this sounds really painful for you.

Surely because your cat is chipped they could save you the agony of not knowing if the found cat is yours or not, by taking him to a vet & having him scanned for a chip?

I hope you get a proper answer soon

MySpideySenseTickles · 14/07/2014 07:17

My mils cat wandered in after six weeks as if nothing had happened. They do sometimes wander back.

Itsfab · 14/07/2014 07:41

My cats came from the RSPCA where they aged them as 3 years. They were actually 12 and 18 months and one was very tiny. I would be asking them to get him checked at the vet and use your child's emotion if you feel it would help. Have they posted a photo of the cat? They can't say for sure he isn't your cat and I would be pursuing this tbh.

dontcallmemam · 14/07/2014 07:46

My old boy disappeared for 6 weeks. It was awful.
We live in a rural area & everyone knew we were looking for him.

He came home one evening at 9pm looking rather fat & pleased with himself. We never found out where he'd been.

Don't give up hope.

MizLizLemon · 14/07/2014 07:52

My DF and Step-mum's cat went missing a while back, he was quite elderly (18 I think), and his brother had died the previous year so they pretty much accepted the inevitable that he had died. Then about six months later they got a phone call from a vet who had the cat, the vet had been able to identify him by his microchip. The cat had been found at the back of a supermarket on the other side of the town, no one knew how he'd got there or where he'd been in the intervening six months. That was about two years ago and the cat is still alive, but rarely strays further than the garden now.

Original poster

LadyCelia · 14/07/2014 11:28

I've sent a couple of emails asking if they have had the cat checked at the vets, but no reply The photo they posted is so similar to our cat (quite a rare breed, and usually indoor cats so very few of them roaming around - having said which, the one on the other side of the village is also that breed & roams freely!!) so I was almost convinced it was ours.

Thank you for the stories about the little fur monsters wandering in after weeks, gives me a little bit of hope. Thank goodness he is chipped, I just wish more people would think to take strays/lost cats to the vet just to check. The amount of people I have spoken to who think that it would cost them money to do so is staggering.

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timtam23 · 14/07/2014 14:57

Sorry to hear that you're still no further forward with the "found" cat

Have you registered with the chip company that your cat is missing? In that case, if anyone ever did find him and at any point take him to a vet for a checkup or anything else, it would be flagged up straight away and the "finders" would not be able to wriggle out of that one.

How weird of them to put a post up about a missing cat & then not seem keen to check things out with you given that the cat could well be yours

Good luck, keep hoping

Wishyouwould · 14/07/2014 16:03

So sorry to hear that your boy is not back yet.

My girl went missing for 5 days last year so I feel your pain. She turned up in the back garden hungry, dehydrated and smelly, she had obviously been locked in somewhere. She has never roamed far since.

When I was out looking for her I spoke to many people whose cats had gone missing for days/weeks/months and one lady whose cat came back after 2 years!!! Just walked in her kitchen as though it had been there the day before.

Fingers crossed that you boy makes his way home soon x

NuggetofPurestGreen · 14/07/2014 16:10

Hi haven't RTFT but my sister's cat has gone missing twice for weeks at a time and come back. First time she just came back on her own after two weeks, the second time a nice woman found her after ten days and rang up the number on her collar and we collected her. She was fine just thin.

My lovely cat has gone missing - tell me some tales of cats that have come back please?

NuggetofPurestGreen · 14/07/2014 16:11

That's her just back having a feed.

NuggetofPurestGreen · 14/07/2014 16:13

Oh yes and our dog came back after 6 months when I was a kid! She's been taken in by another family as she had a new collar and tag, they lived on other side of the city, she just found her way back eventually

FruitOwl · 14/07/2014 16:25

My mum's elderly girl was missing for about 5 months, because she was such an old cat we thought she must have gone to the great litter tray in the sky. When she turned up she was really thin but it was definitely her. We still have no idea
where she was for all that time! Sadly the cat died about a week after she came home but it's good that she came to say goodbye to us
Hope your boy turns up safe and sound. As others have said, it's very early days yet, don't give up hope x

Fuzzymum1 · 14/07/2014 21:47

One of ours went missing for almost two weeks once, he strolled in stinking of beer one night so we think he may have been in the local pub cellar.

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