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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

stupid question - cat missing for three years

25 replies

Charis1 · 02/05/2015 17:08

Has anyone ever had a cat return after being missing for so long? I still look out for her. Chipped and collared, but has never been taken to a vet for a scan. Maybe living ferral near by do you think? We searched for months and never found any sign. if she had been run over or something like that, is it possible foxes could have eaten the body? all of it, leaving no trace?

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MissingKittyCat · 02/05/2015 17:45

When I moved into where I live now (4 years ago) my mum's two cats (mother and son) came to love with me. She was a nightmare, very hairy toity. Clearly didn't enjoy her new home! As soon as I left the door open for a millisecond she ran. She never came home.

About a year ago I was looking out of the window and there she was, plain as day, sat staring at the house! I see her every now and again, peering at us. She never comes over when I call and doesn't come in but it's definitely her. Maybe she's coming to see how her son is getting along. She'll be about 12 now, must have found a new home in the area. Despite only living here for a couple of hours, she remembers it.

I only saw her a couple of days ago. It makes me smile to see her sat looking down her nose at me. I accept a cat chosen it's owner and I wasn't the one.

MissingKittyCat · 02/05/2015 17:47

So many typos. Sorry, on my phone. She was hoity toity! And came to live with me, she obviously didn't love with me.

I hope one day your long lost girl will make her appearance.

Original poster

Charis1 · 02/05/2015 17:51

Ours might still be out there somewhere! We have other cats now, and we love them dearly, but still wonder where this old beauty went.

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Micah · 02/05/2015 17:57

As far as I know council cleansing doesn't routinely check for chips.

So it is possible she's been run over, been picked up by the council and you wouldn't know.

Original poster

Charis1 · 02/05/2015 17:58

maybe, although I think someone in our block would have seen here if it was on the estate, Unless she had strayed a long way away first, it is possible though. thanks

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dingit · 02/05/2015 18:02

I still look for my girl 8 years on, went missing 9 months old. We still have her sister. Sadly I think she was hit by a car ( Saturday night) and a fox would have taken her body

Original poster

Charis1 · 02/05/2015 18:06

yes, that is what I've always thought likely Dingit. Do you think a fox could pick up the whole body and take it?

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dingit · 02/05/2015 18:40

I'm not sure, but she was only tiny. I try to think of it that if she was killed, the fox was only doing what came naturally.
It's the worse feeling when they just go missing, I've had two others in RTAs, but at least you know what happened.

ProfYaffle · 02/05/2015 18:47

We lost our cat a couple of weeks ago to an RTA and that's what I said dingit, at least we knew what happened and found him quickly.

One of our neighbours had a cat run away and she lived feral in the neighbourhood for a few years. We used to see her in our garden and she'd sneak in and steal our cat's food. We left our garage door open so she had somewhere to sleep. Eventually she was killed on the same road we lost our cat on. They're very good at hiding in plain sight imho.

Lonecatwithkitten · 02/05/2015 21:00

I recently reunited a cat with it's owner after 7 years, 1 year really common 2 to 5 years happens every so often. I suspect 7 years is a once in a lifetime.

Kleptronic · 02/05/2015 21:09

My local council scans them. I know this because my cat went missing and I work for a company which works for them, so plagued the life out of everyone until I found out that they do from someone at the depot. They are kept in a freezer until they can be scanned. I'm guessing that'll be common everywhere?

Original poster

Charis1 · 02/05/2015 21:28

lonecatwithkittens, how did that come about?

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hiddenhome · 02/05/2015 23:00

My boy has been missing for almost two years. We found his collar, but no body. Some shrubs nearby were a bit squashed as though a struggle had taken place. I think he'd been driven off his territory by another animal. He was nervous, so would have hid if he'd detected humans. We never found a body.

I hate driving by the area he went missing in as my eyes keep searching for him. He was microchipped.

We've moved now and I worry about him turning up at the old house and the new people chasing him away. I think about him every day. I'd rather have a body

RoosterCogburn · 02/05/2015 23:07

One of mine went missing exactly a year ago.
He was a stray who turned up here, we kept him, had him neutered and he seemed happy then he just disappeared.
I think he was a wanderer by nature - sometimes he'd go for two or three days so to start with we thought he was just off on a jaunt.
I searched everywhere for him but there was no sign.
I'd love for him to come back, I always look out for him when we are out and about.
I hope he has another home where they love him as much as we did, but in my heart of hearts I just hope he'll turn up again.

SirVixofVixHall · 02/05/2015 23:12

My friend's cat was missing for over a year, and then just turned up, but refused to come in or let anyone touch her. They have her daughter and she'd been cuddly home loving cat who never went far (rural remote-ish area, no other houses nearby) so goodness knows what happened. She then went away again, so possibly has found another home, but it was all really strange. They had assumed she had been killed by a fox.

Lonecatwithkitten · 02/05/2015 23:14

Charis I scanned a at who had been acquired in unusual circumstances, my name is now mud with the person who acquired the cat.

Original poster

Charis1 · 02/05/2015 23:16

wow! There is still hope for us yet then. I thought that if someone else had her she would have been scanned by now, but maybe not.

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Original poster

Charis1 · 02/05/2015 23:20

Are you in animal care Lonecat? can you shed any light on this two week rule I have been told about? We found a starving kitten, and took it in and cared for it, while trying to find the owner. Eventually handed it over to cats protection, who rehomed it.

I was unsure if we could legally hand it over, but were told that if you find a cat and make every effort to identify its owner, but can't, it is legally yours after two weeks.

( We cared for that kitten for three months, had her spayed, and defleed, and immunised, and fed her up. We couldn't keep her though. we already had two cats, and I had just resigned from my job, and we couldn't afford long term insurance and vets fees. It broke my heart giving her away)

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Lonecatwithkitten · 03/05/2015 07:37

Charis I am a vet. The unwritten rule is that an unidentifiable animal no chip or collar is kept for 7 days, if it's owner does not come forward in that period it can be rehomed.
In many cases people take cats in and never think to have them checked for a chip hence the seven years and also another one year case recently.

Justusemyname · 03/05/2015 07:42

Not a stupid question at all. I recently heard of a cat turning up after nine years. He'd been taken in by someone else in that time but he had been found to belong to someone else.

If you think you're stupid I must be beyond help. My cat is actually dead and I still can't believe it. Two years since she had to be PTS and I still think I can wish her here.

Original poster

Charis1 · 03/05/2015 07:42

Thanks for that. We had this one scanned, we looked really hard for an owner, so I think we were ok to have her rehomed. She was such a little character, I'm sure her new family love her as much as we did.

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Original poster

Charis1 · 03/05/2015 07:44

I know just, i'm a fairly recently converted cat lover, started in my 40s, after DC persuaded me to get our first. I couldn't believe the way they worm themselves into your heart.

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123Jump · 03/05/2015 07:53

back in my home town with mum and dad we have always had cats, including a stream of strays. Some stayed, some moved on. They got their first kitten for a long time a few years ago, she never came home one day. My dad was distraught, searched everywhere.
He found her a week later dead at the side of a road, near us. He was so upset that she suffered. We have loads of foxes, so amazed she wasn't taken by them.
In my own home we have a spoiled puss from Cats Protection, I'd love to know where he was before he came to us...
I witnessed a cat being knocked down and killed recently, I brought it to the vet who scanned it. The owners came to thank me, it meant so much for them to know it was instant, and why he never came home.

Justusemyname · 03/05/2015 10:53

123Jump, I found a dead cat but wasn't able to stop. I rang the vet to report it sure they'd think I was a fool. They were very kind and said they'd send someone out. A few hours later they rang to say they had located the owner and to thank me for calling. I was glad I'd phoned.

Tiptops · 05/05/2015 17:01

Really sad to hear about all the cats who have gone missing and not come home again. I don't think I'd ever get over that, the not knowing must be torment.

There's a huge problem for missing pets in that vets and other organisations often don't routinely scan for a microchip. So, if someone takes on a cat believing it to be homeless or outright steals a cat, they can subsequently take it to a vets as 'their pet' and never have the microchip checked. I think all vets should routinely scan new animals that are registered at their practice, and it should be compulsory for councils to scan any deceased animals they collect.

Whenever my pets are vaccinated or at the vets for other reasons I usually ask that their microchips are checked to be working. It doesn't seem to be standard practice as I always have to ask, and then the microchip number is never cross referenced to make sure the animals actually belong to me. This has been my experience across several practices and with multiple animals. I think a lot of lost/ stolen pets slip through the net this way.

There's actually a petition trying to change the law on this here

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