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

Original poster

Missing Cat - any positive stories of cats returning home?

50 replies

Whereisthecat · 10/09/2018 20:31

Our cat has been missing for 3 weeks now. She was being looked after while we were on holiday and escaped, 3 miles from home.

We're really worried about her and have done everything we can think of to find her.

I'd love to hear any happy stories of missing cats finding their way home. It would help to keep my hopes up that our gorgeous girl will come back to us.

OP posts:
TwigTheWonderKid · 10/09/2018 20:35

My Sainsbury's delivery driver once told me about a cat of his that had been missing for several months and was returned to him about 5 miles from home.

booellesmum · 10/09/2018 20:38

My MIL's cat went missing for about 3 months - walked in one day very thin but ok.

booellesmum · 10/09/2018 20:39

I hope your cat is home soon.

Sparklingbrook · 10/09/2018 20:42

There was a stray hanging about here for a few weeks. I finally managed to grab it and take it to a vet to scan the chip.
The phone numbers were out of date but the email address was still valid.

Cat was returned to owners about 3 miles away and had been missing for 6 months.

Don't give up hope,

slowco4ch · 10/09/2018 20:42

Yup, ours left the garden over summer, was away 4 weeks, during the hottest part of summer. In he walked one day like butter wouldn't melt. Very thin but where on earth was he?!

1tisILeClerc · 10/09/2018 20:42

Was she 'microchipped'?
Ours had 'wandered' and got taken to a vet after 10 weeks. The vet checked and called us.
They can wander a long way and it used to be said if you moved house some would try to go 'home'.
You could try the old 'missing cat ' posters or facebook or similar.
I hope she returns soon.

cissyfuss · 10/09/2018 20:43

As a child my cat was shut in the boot of a car by accident... Opened the next day 3 miles away. He was missing for 6 weeks but found his way home... It is possible but please be prepared for the worst... I'm sorry.

Original poster
Whereisthecat · 10/09/2018 20:43

I'm hoping she's heading in the right direction to get home but she could be anywhere! She's chipped so I'm hoping someone finds her and takes her to a vet.

I wonder where MIL's cat had been for 3 months booellesmum. Glad she made her way home.

OP posts:
PenguinRoar · 10/09/2018 20:44

Yes, I have a wandering cat and brilliant neighbours.

I postered everywhere and other local people did too. 3 weeks later, I found moggy in a field 4 miles from home after a sighting.

Fluffypyjamas · 10/09/2018 20:46

One of my mum's cats went missing about a month after we had moved house. She turned up completely fine five weeks later. Keep positive!

Original poster
Whereisthecat · 10/09/2018 20:49

Ahh, these stories are helping, thank you.

We've put posters up and are leafleting as many houses as possible. We've also put alerts out on various FB pages. I've emailed local hotels and pubs in case she get drawn there by the smell of food from the kitchens.

OP posts:
SnapFartJudgement · 10/09/2018 20:59

Neighbour's cat went missing for about three weeks around Christmas. He turned up at an airport hotel about 6 miles away. He has a habit of getting in delivery vans... (He is extremely laid back, lets my toddler chat away to him and stroke him, and is one of the very few cats I've met who I actually liked)

Original poster
Whereisthecat · 10/09/2018 21:14

I'll be so proud of her if she manages to make her own way home. I've been told cats have a good internal compass and often find their way back.

OP posts:
SpiderVictim · 10/09/2018 23:04

One of mine went missing in mid august. I was away with my children when he was last seen, DH hadn't been home much due to work and other commitments.

I had pretty much given up hope of finding him again, kids were upset and asking if I thought he had died.

Then he waltzed up the garden path on Saturday afternoon, after almost a month! He's actually put on weight - clearly someone thought he was a stray, and fed him (very well) but didn't get his chip scanned.

He's locked in for the next few weeks, to help him remember how much he loves me Wink We are spoiling him to facilitate this.

MazDazzle · 10/09/2018 23:07

My cat appeared after 3 years!

Harlexx · 11/09/2018 03:58

The same thing is currently happening to me. Same length of time too!! Mine has been away 3 weeks past Friday. If you live near fields or in the country, its currently harvest season aka an all you can eat mice buffet for our kitties! Difference is mine is an outdoor kitty and she's done it before but her longest was a week. So I'm worrying my butt off but last time she just came sauntering in like nothing happened!! There has been absolutely no sign of her and no news is good news. I'll add a pic but her colouring makes her blend in with EVERYTHING. So she could be watching us the whole time going" haahaha!"

Missing Cat - any positive stories of cats returning home?
Harlexx · 11/09/2018 03:59

Also forgot to say, Cats have 32 muscles in their ears which they use to ignore us!

glamorousgrandmother · 11/09/2018 04:12

My cat went missing for three months until someone phoned me from just round the corner. She'd been hanging about their back yard and they lured her in with food. She didn't go far from home after that.

thisisntmeok · 11/09/2018 04:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Whereisthecat · 11/09/2018 09:17

Harlexx, your cat is beautiful. I hope she's back from her travels soon. Feeling much better reading these stories of cats turning up after weeks/months.

The area she's missing in is very rural so maybe she's having too much fun chasing mice at the moment to worry about finding her way home.

OP posts:
Rudgie47 · 11/09/2018 10:21

Yes, one of mine went for 10 days and was found after an extensive leaflet campaign at the bottom of the street.He was living behind an old shed, so many people rang me up it was really heart warming.
My other cat went for a year and then was wandering as a stray round a hotel. Eventually he was scanned and returned to me much to the disgust of my new cat.

Aprilshowersnowastorm · 11/09/2018 10:24

Tortie cat went missing for 6 months. Saw her sitting under a tree at local shops one day!!
Another dcat Bob, went missing for ten nights one October, found his way home with back leg hanging off. Vet said cold weather had prevented bleeding to death - and us out shouting every night gave him incentive to make it home. He lived a good while on 3 legs!!

alifromtheforest · 11/09/2018 10:27

Yup, my boy was returned to me last night by a Cat Protection lady. It's the second time he'd been missing. We moved to a new house in March and we think he just got lost. On both occasions he was gone for about 6 weeks and was eventually found less than a mile away both times!

Don't give up hope Thanks

ifonly4 · 11/09/2018 11:29

OP, hope your little one returns soon. I don't know if you have to pay, but don't forget there are some online sites for adding missing cats to. I'm not on facebook, so it was those I looked to when I found a cat recently.

TuttiFrutti · 11/09/2018 11:53

My brother's cat came home after being missing for 8 weeks. Very thin but must have got food from somewhere. They never knew where she had been.

The cat's sister was so upset at her being gone that they had bought another cat as a "replacement" in the interim (it didn't work - old cat hated new cat) so they ended up with 3 cats.