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

My cats missing, what helped you find yours

32 replies

eltsihT · 04/09/2014 16:24

My 13yo cat was last seen on Monday night, been out and asked the neighbours if they have seen him, asked then to check garages etc. I have scoured the hedge rows near us looking for him (just in case) and wandered round the streets calling him.

If your cats gone missing what helped you find them

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AnneElliott · 04/09/2014 16:58

So sorry to hear that. I went out with a torch at night (when it was quiet) and called her. She was hiding under some ones car.

Hope you find them soon

Lonecatwithkitten · 04/09/2014 16:58

No just asking them to check their sheds and garages, but leave the doors open for an hour or so.

Longdistance · 04/09/2014 17:05

Sorry he's gone missing :(

When my cat disappeared, he got returned to me via a vets. He was micro chipped. Is your cat chipped and the information up to date?

My mums cat returned after an 'adventure' for a month. She didn't leave my mums side after that.

They are funny creatures, aren't they?

eltsihT · 04/09/2014 17:14

He is microchipped and I will be notifying them tonight, when the kids have gone to bed. Will chase the vets too and see if they have heard anything.

My neighbours all know him as he is in and out if everyone's house (even the ones with dogs).

I am hoping he reappears having gone on an adventure.

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eltsihT · 04/09/2014 17:15

I was out for an hour last night but the place was swarming in nspcc cold callers so will try agin tonight.

Thanks all for the suggestions

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firstposts · 04/09/2014 17:47

You can empty contents of Hoover on doorsteps. No idea if it works but was suggested to me when I lost mine.

Local Facebook pages can be useful. Posters on lamp posts. Door knocking neighbours or leaflets through letterbox.

Going out late at night to call / rattle treats. It's easier for them to hear you at night I think, less car noise.

Lastly, call the council any cats found on road are scanned for micro chips.

Good luck, mine returned after 9 days, we think trapped somewhere as skinny and cut leg when returned home.

Steben · 04/09/2014 17:54

We leafleted quite a large area and regularly drove round the areas (to the point where DH was accused of being dodgy by a curtain twitcher) - one of the leaflets came good and we got him back after a week Smile

He was farther than I thought he would have managed.

crazynanna · 04/09/2014 17:56

A local recently lost her cat. She put posters with his photo on nearly every lamppost and I thought I had seen him and called her, but someone had found him already, she said she had paid for an Ad in the local paper which was now pointless as he was home and the paper was out the next day
Good luck

ProfYaffle · 04/09/2014 18:03

I leafletted the neighbours with photo of the cat and our number plus I used local facebook selling pages. A combination of both those things worked in the end and we got him back.

BustyDeLaGhetto · 04/09/2014 18:13

I called all vets + local shelters when my boy went missing. Poster up in local pet shop, school etc. No photo but his is very identifiable so just drew a picture.

Talked to everyone and knocked on lots if neighbour's doors. He was gone four days and in the end I had a call from someone who had seen a poster and spotted him lounging - LOUNGING, THE CAD - in her neighbour's garden. The lady had been feeding him Angry

sunbathe · 04/09/2014 18:17

I went to my nearest patch of wasteland, with good cover for a cat and called him.

His little face popped up from the undergrowth and he didn't seem to stop miaowing for a week!

LoopyLa · 04/09/2014 18:34

Thanks for asking this OP, my boycat has been gone for almost 4 weeks now, I'm losing hope Sad

RaisingSteam · 04/09/2014 18:39

We did a poster campaign (A4 poster with good photo in a plastic pocket, on lamp posts) and gradually increased the range. After 4 weeks we got a phone message that someone had seen a cat like that in a certain street, so we put a poster on every lamp post on that street. A day later a lady phoned and said that she thought he was living at the end of her garden but wouldn't come near her. It was him, thin but OK. (Dh did go and collect all the posters!)

Having said that we were really worried he had just got run over - he had crossed a dual carriageway and fields to the houses a mile away. Just lost his way I guess.

antimatter · 04/09/2014 18:41

knowledge that your cat is never than 2 gardens away from your home
it was - gone semi feral hiding behind garages, then it got so hungry I was able to leave food to make him miss us and then caught him whe ngave him another portion the following day

but she was just 2 years old cat then

RaisingSteam · 04/09/2014 18:42

Hope you have a happy outcome LoopyLa. I wouldn't worry about people putting food out - a cat might not come near enough to a stranger to catch him and look at his collar, but at least it keeps him in one place and eating.

Woozlebear · 04/09/2014 18:42

Oh god so sorry op. I dread to think how awful this must be for you.

Mine didn't go missing for that long and this may sound stupid but do look up. And listen. Ours vanished badly injured. She ended unbelievably high up in a massive tree. Never seen her climb more than 6ft before. She'd been in a fight, had a fall and clambered up there in terror with a broken jaw. Lived to tell the tale.

We could hear her miaow ever ever so faintly when all background noise stopped - hard in London! And it took us hours to work out where it was coming from. I just didn't look up to start with- spent all my time peering behind neighbours fences and sheds etc.

eltsihT · 04/09/2014 18:43

The fields my cat plays in are full of cows atm so when I whistle for him (he comes to my whistle really well) I just get cows appearing from the far side if the hedge. Going to do some posters tonight when I get a chance to sit at the computer, I am currently sitting in the kids room waiting for them to settle

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eltsihT · 04/09/2014 18:46

Your suggestions are all really helpful. We do have another cat (also 13) but he doesn't seem to want to go out. Hoping that's not a bad sign

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Woozlebear · 04/09/2014 18:46

Op does he wear a collar? Know several people who have had microchipped but collarless cats who have gone awol and been 'taken in' by well meaning old ladies who assumed they were strays as no collar and didn't think to get vet to scan for chip. Might help you target your enquiries....?

eltsihT · 04/09/2014 18:54

He looses collars in trees unfortunately, (we found 6 in the same tree) he suffers from bladder crystals if he is given the wrong food for too long it is likely he will get a urinary infection/pee blood so hopefully will get taken to the vets.

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timtam23 · 04/09/2014 19:08

All good suggestions above, I would also ask your postman to keep an eye out, also your milkman if you have one

Mine went missing for 3 days earlier this year, I leafletted all the houses in the immediate area (about 200), some neighbours posted his pic and a description on Twitter/local Facebook, I rang the council to see if any cats had been run over & collected (they hadn't), told the vet/microchip company, DH & I took turns going out looking for him after dark with some dry food.

Next step was going to be hanging his blanket on the washing line as their sense of smell is very good and they can detect these things easily (same goes for vacuum cleaner bag contents & cat litter left outside)

I'm not sure if any of this worked but he did come back in the early hours of day 4.

I do hope you find him (and you too LoopyLa)

LoopyLa · 05/09/2014 18:41

More great suggestions, and thanks everyone for your kind thoughts Smile

eltsihT · 07/09/2014 15:56

LoopyLa, I really hope you cats turns up too.

We have postered, and have had someone call to say they think they have seen him, about 4 streets away so totally possible, been out today rattling his food box and calling for him. My dh is going to head out tonight and try to so the same.

Really hoping he comes home soon, feel like I am in a bit of a head fog just waiting to see and hoping.

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Tiptops · 09/09/2014 00:57

Sorry for checklist, bit tired so just going to fire off what I can remember!

*Make posters and leaflets to give to people. Include a colour photograph. Don't just pop through letter boxes, ring doorbells and talk to people. They tend to remember better that way.

*Leaflet far and wide. They can travel much further than you would think, and even further if they get distracted chasing a female/ hunting then lose their bearings.

*Inform local vets and rescue centres, and distribute copies of your posters there.

*Inform microchip company

*Don't ask other people to check their garages/ sheds, ask if they mind you having a look for yourself. Most other people won't get on their hands and knees to search for your cat.

*Check in bushes and under decking. A scared cat might not come to you, so search thoroughly

*Make regular patrols, even covering places you have been before. One of mine was missing for a few days, and we had walked past her countless times calling her name. She didn't decide to make her prescence known and meow back until a few days in.

Keeping my fingers crossed he turns up very soon. It's so terrible when they do this.

eltsihT · 09/09/2014 18:04

Thanks, we have had a few sighting from, Facebook and from posters so are going out every night in those areas, dh is looking elsewhere too. hoping it's him they are seeing and not a similar cat

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