Has anyone had a cat disappear for more than two weeks and turn up safely?

[Minty82]

I know I really ought to give up hope and let myself grieve now, but I’m torturing myself by collecting anecdotes to let myself keep thinking he might come back!

Our gorgeous, soppy, affectionate two-year-old cat vanished a fortnight ago. We live in a small village backing onto fields, and his brother has previously gone off on a hunting spree and stayed away for up to a week, but this one rarely goes for more than a day. We’ve put notes through every door in our own street and the nearest two asking people to check sheds and garages, put posters all around the village, put something on NextDoor, rung the vets etc etc. I know it’s highly unlikely there’ll be a happy ending at this point, but I just miss him horribly!

Has anyone’s cat returned after this length of time?

Yep. DSis's cat went missing for a month, came back thinner & rather grubby but otherwise fine.

Yes. Had a cat go missing for six months and then just waltzed back in! Hope they come back soon OP.

A month?! Wow. Does she have any idea what happened to it?

Sorry, was responding to the first reply - six months is extraordinary!

Don't give up hope yet - many moons ago our cat disappeared for three months - to this day I have no idea where she might have been, she went on to live for 18 years, lovely cat

I had a cat who would disappear for days, sometimes a couple of weeks ...one time, he came back injured so clearly something had happened...another time, he just strolled back in like he'd never been away.

My parents on the other hand lost a cat....and then came across him 3 years later about 5 miles away in a local village. When he had arrived looking a bit tatty the locals had assumed he was a stray and fed him on tuna and cream so no wonder he didnt try to go home! This was years ago before chipping.

No idea where he went! Had given up all hope and he just appeared in the garden, slightly skinny but otherwise fine!

Yes. Mine went for about a month. I'd only had her 6 weeks, she was a rescue. She buggered off, then turned back up non the worse for it 🤷.

Yes.. my female cat, 5 and a half weeks she was gone for!

She came back quite skinny and dirty.. so we can only presume she was locked in a shed or something.

I gave up hope, then one day my neighbour just shouted my name and she was running through our garden!

Fingers crossed for you!

I do wish she could talk and let me know where she was.. it's fascinating really!

When I was a kid one of our cats walked off for about 4 months. We were sure he had died, then one day he just waltzed back in like nothing had happened.

Turns out a bloke in the street opposite ours used to give his cat really nice human food and our cat thought he could go get a bit of that action by acting like a starving beggar.

Hope your kitty turns up soon!

Our tom cat disappeared for weeks. We saw him in a garden with an elderly gentleman, who explained the cat had been keeping his disabled wife company in her sunny conservatory. They fed him roast chicken or fresh fish. So basically what it boiled down to was, we had a squawking new baby at home and his new home had a better quality of food and attention. A fine example of cupboard love.

Yes, my cat went wandering once. It was very unlike her to vanish and out of character. I put up posters everywhere, went out shaking cat treats after work. Went mental with worry. She turned up maybe 2-3 weeks later, skinnier but ok.

Is your cat chipped? Mine got into the back of a van and turned up in Central London some 40 miles away. I got him back! Don't give up hope!

MIL's cat went missing - and a year later turned up very well fed and cared for and so she shooed him away because she'd got another (nicer) cat by then and she felt could go back to whereever he'd obviously been having his dinner for the last year. He still comes round occasionally but is very happy in his alternative home.

Did you manage to coax him back justmuddling? Ours is a sucker for a cuddle, so could probably quite easily be lured into a new home by a welcoming lap and superior food...but how would you ever find out if you didn’t happen to spot him?!

Oh good grief MrsC! Yes, he’s chipped.

Well my cat went missing, over a month got a phone call yesterday off a lovely older man and his wife to say he has a new name and has moved in with them. 🤷🏻‍♀️ how ungrateful haha.

I also had a cat who went missing for 6 months. Sauntered in one day as though nothing had happened. Sat next to the fridge and waited to be fed.

I hope your cat turns up. It's awful not knowing. Our current cat went missing for a few days. We walked and walked scouring the area for him. Eventually found him (day 4 I think) hiding in undergrowth near a huge badgers set. He was very freaked out and hard to catch. We think he might have had a run in with the badgers.

There was one turned up in my local area today after being missing 4 weeks. Had been living in a nearby field. Don't give up hope

He never moved back full time. He would pop through the cat flap occasionally. The couple were very taken with him, as we're we, but it's up to the cat at the end of the day. We decided that they got to spoil and feed him, and we were responsible for his jags and vet bills. Just goes to prove that you never really own a cat.

Had one who was found after 3-4 weeks having been trapped in a shed. Worth putting notes through doors to ask people to check their sheds and garages, if you haven't already.

Yes, the neighbour stole him and kept him as an indoor cat for years. Then moved away and decided she didn’t want him and gave him to a rescue saying he was a ‘stray’ (knowing full well this was a lie). They scanned him and gave him back. He was obese, scared of our other cats and nervous and unhappy so my mum gave him away so he could be in a house by himself.

6 months. In winter with snow, ice and everything. No idea where he went but he was remarkably skinny when he returned. We thought he may have got stuck down a rabbit hole and had to slim down to escape

My SIL has a cat that regularly goes off for a couple of weeks at a time and the. comes back. For the first year of him doing this they went looking all the time for him and now they just wait for him to return!