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Wayward feline woes

15 replies

givemushypeasachance · 26/03/2018 11:56

Just wanted to post a bit of a venting thread about my missing cat, in case the universe sees it and takes pity on me having him stroll back in through the catflap.

I've got two black rescue cats, both 5yo neutered boys, and one of them has been gone since Saturday morning. He's typically out all day but pops in for dinner early evening, and I shut the flap to in-only after about 9/10pm so then after that he's in overnight. Usually he would be in from that sort of time, occasional late nights off on an adventure but 95% of the time he's cuddled up asleep on my bed when I go to sleep.

I last saw him when I let both boys out at breakfast time on Saturday. I was in and out a bit, but home from 4pm and he didn't come in after that at all. I use a motion activated camera to keep an eye on them when I'm away (since they're shy & hide from pet sitters) and I've used that when out of the house since then - no appearances. The longest he's ever been gone before is 24 hours, so this is potentially 48 hours+ of not having been in the house.

As I mentioned both cats are shy with strangers, they run/hide if anyone ever comes to the house and never let anyone else come near them. So I don't think he'd have a second family on the go anywhere. He might have let himself in to someone else's house to steal their cat's food, or have nosed about in a shed and been shut in, but otherwise I don't know what could have happened. We've lived here a couple of years so he's familiar with the area, and back when we first moved I used a GPS tracker to see where both cats were going so know it was a fairly self-contained area across the nearby cul de sac and next streets.

I've walked around the neighbourhood and called, looked out for anywhere he could be but nothing. Posted on the local lost pet FB group and I'm printing some leaflets to distribute but not much else I can think to do. Please universe, let him be okay and to come home soon. Sad

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YetAnotherSpartacus · 26/03/2018 14:06

Good luck! Come back kitty cat!

Want2beme · 27/03/2018 15:22

Sorry to hear this. You must be so stressed. I really hope he comes home to you soonFlowers

givemushypeasachance · 28/03/2018 10:01

Thanks, no sign of him yet unfortunately. The Saturday in early spring timing of the disappearance does make me wonder about him being shut in a shed or something - or even shut in someone's house/garage and maybe they've gone away for Easter? It's horrible to think about him being stuck somewhere, confused and hungry. But then the alternatives of him having wandered far and got lost, or hurt, are also horrible. But I just can't imagine him staying away for days and days and not coming home of his own volition in the local area, and when he's a shy cat who wouldn't just take on a new family. Oh I don't know, it's all just sad to think about.

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tearsofrobertsmith · 28/03/2018 16:05

So sorry to hear this, I really hope you have a happy outcome. Is he microchipped? Have you contacted your local vets? How long have you had them?

Wolfiefan · 28/03/2018 16:07

Both of mine have been shut in. I wandered round calling them and they shouted back. Also worth putting a used litter tray outside. They can smell it.

givemushypeasachance · 29/03/2018 09:29

Yeah he's microchipped all details up to date, and with a collar (reflective & breakaway that he likes to lose for a hobby!) with a tag and bell. And I've rung round local vets to get him on their lost and found lists as well as local rescue centres. The local RSPCA had a black cat with a microchipped that scanned as blank but they compared numbers and it wasn't him unfortunately.

I adopted them back in 2014 and we've lived at the current house since 2015, so he definitely knows his way around the place. It's totally normal for him to go out at breakfast and stay out for 12 hours but he's never been gone longer than 24 hours before - it's day five now so pretty sure he's not just hanging around in a local garden somewhere.

Have tried calling while wandering around the streets I know he frequents but no response - to be fair he'd rarely come when I called under normal conditions. He never used a litter tray unless he was on house arrest for some reason so unfortunately can't try that. His adoptive brother (they were put together as kittens at the rescue centre) is still just coming and going as normal and appears completely unbothered, he's not doing much of a Lassie act...

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givemushypeasachance · 02/04/2018 16:21

Unfortunately it's been more than a week and still no sign of my cat returning. Had a few double checks with black cats being handed in to local rescues where their chips didn't bring up details, but the chip numbers weren't a match, and one deceased black cat handed in to a vet again with a blank chip but that wasn't him either.

I've moved on to a point of now not expecting him to just stroll in - he's clearly not just hanging around in the neighbourhood. Maybe if he's got lost somewhere one day he'll be picked up as a stray and I'll get a call, or if he did have an accident/sudden illness and went off to hide he'll be found and at least I'll know what happened. But I know quite often these stories just remain open-ended as mysteries.

Other cat is entirely unbothered and doesn't seem to be particularly missing his adoptive bro! I don't know at what point it becomes reasonable to consider giving another rescue a home - so many cats do need a home and it feels weird just having one cat around. He's the bossy one though so it may be a challenge bringing him around to the concept of an interloper! Guess I'll sit on that for a few weeks yet then maybe talk to the rescue they originally came from and see what they suggest.

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Wolfiefan · 02/04/2018 20:07

Hoping for news soon. We did have one abscond for three weeks when I was a child. Is there a local lost pets FB page or other way of spreading details. It's hard when you just want an answer.

givemushypeasachance · 03/04/2018 09:00

Yes we have a really good local lost & found FB group for our city - I've been a member of it for several years since a friend's cat went missing, and my boy is posted on there and I'm keeping an eye on all the other black cats being reported. Friend's cat turned up handed in to a vets eight months later on the other side of the city so I know that can happen!

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givemushypeasachance · 16/04/2018 11:26

Update to this story, since tales of lost cats don't always have happy endings and it's nice to hear when they do: three weeks to the day, amazingly he walked in on Saturday night! He's quite a bit thinner but otherwise seems fine - and very pleased to see me and have strokes and cuddles again. Think he must have been shut somewhere. Thankfully my other cat was very blase about the whole thing and just accepted his return fine, it's lovely to have the pair of them back again.

Wayward feline woes
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Gatekeeper · 16/04/2018 11:30

What a lovely happy endingSmile, you must be so relieved. Prawns for tea?

givemushypeasachance · 16/04/2018 11:59

Ha he's certainly been happily troughing through the biscuits, wet food and some chicken - in small portions so he doesn't shock his system. I kept him in yesterday but he seems fine in himself so let him back out today and he popped out then in for second breakfast, he seems happy to get back into his normal routine.

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Allergictoironing · 16/04/2018 12:27

So pleased your little panther came home. May be an idea to have a quick check over from the vet just in case? And make sure his worming & anti flea are up to date!

Want2beme · 16/04/2018 13:21

That's such good news. You must have been so relieved when he sauntered inGrin
He looks lovely Smile

givemushypeasachance · 16/04/2018 13:22

My first instinct was vets for a check and if it'd been a weekday I might have tried to get him in to have a quick once-over the next day, but given yesterday was Sunday that wasn't very practical. And having observed him for 24 hours he hasn't shown any sign of any injury or anything other than the lost weight - he was a right chunker (think he was over 6kg at last weighing, he's a big boy but was overweight) so he's probably a healthy weight now to be honest - it just seems dramatic in comparison to how he was! He's a nervy cat with strangers and vet visits are a very stressful experience so on balance I thought it was better not to put him through it if there doesn't seem to be a particular problem to have examined. Going to keep a close eye on him for the next few days though.

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