DCat didn't come home today

[violetbunny]

My one-year-old male cat left at 5am, it's now almost 10pm where I am and he hasn't been home.

His usual routine is to pop out early in the morning then back for breakfast and a nap, in and out all day, then dinner and curling up in my lap for a snooze. I knew by the time he hadn't been back for breakfast that something was wrong, he's never even missed a meal let alone not come home for the evening.

I've been out for hours and hours today calling for him, I'm absolutely beside myself with worry. I know he's just a cat, but he's my absolute best friend in the whole world, he's like my little shadow and always wants to be close to me. He hasn't even been gone 24 hours but I just know something terrible has happened, otherwise he'd have come in by now 😭

Not sure why I'm posting really other than to try and reassure myself that I'm not crazy for being an absolute wreck.

[BovaryX]

No problem Oldestchild it's awful when they are missing. When I found ours, he was thin as a pencil but overjoyed at being found!

[violetbunny]

Oh gosh, thanks so much for your messages. It's kind of good to know I'm not alone in how I feel (but sorry to hear some of you have gone through this before).

He still isn't back yet, we've just been out searching again for him until 10pm. We've spent most of our time so far intensely searching our immediate area within 2-3 blocks of where we live, so tonight we went much further out. Still no sign.

Luckily the area I live in seems to have a lot of cat owners, so most people who have seen me delivering flyers and calling for him seem really sympathetic and have said they'll look out for him.

On the positive(?) side, his sister is absolutely loving being an only cat. Her brother would always get jealous of any attention so she's enjoying all the extra attention. Here they are together, she is on the left and he (my missing baby) on the right.

[violetbunny]

Oh and I sent loads of photos to the vet to make sure the cat they found wasn't mine. They said it definitely wasn't him. They didn't tell me at the time but I found out later (via seeing a found cat posting online) that the cat was deceased. So thank goodness it wasn't my baby.

[Oldestchild90s]

This is what i mean op, i know it's holding on to little hope but you normally see a 'i found a deceased cat' or something mentioned online on a forum or something. The fact you haven't heard that is a good thing, my nans cat was missing for over 6 months and living miles away.. when someone could finally be arsed to check him for a chip my nan got a phone call and nearly died of a heart attack, she couldn't believe it!
Your boy is on an adventure somewhere and knows when he comes back you will never make him feel jealous again that's what it is 😸

[Papergirl1968]

He looks just like my Matt.
I’m glad the poor baby at the vets turned out not to be him.

[Shinesweetfreedom]

Does the baby like Dreamies.
When mine don’t appear I walk the streets shaking like a mad woman.

[bebarkered]

Hi again OP. The last time my cat went missing I put out my slippers, trainers, and a pair of shoes. Along with my bed robe. I put the bed robe out on a plastic garden chair Did this on a Sat teatime. When I got up on the Sunday morning he was back! Wrapped himself in the robe! X

[violetbunny]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We have left out smelly food as well as some of my clothing. He normally responds well to my voice so have been calling a lot,

[DoingDiddlySquat]

Have you put his photo on pets reunited and local lost and found sites. I'm sure you have. Whereabouts are you.

[Feralkidsatthecampsite]

Sorry to mention it op but have you rang the Council? Apparently they aren't obliged to scan for chip any rta victims they pick up ..
I have lost 2 dcats temporarily over the years - 1 for 10 days who came home with a broken leg - needed amputation.. And Molly who went for 6 months and I found her sat under a tree in the next street!!
Many many stories like yours in here time after time op. Majority have a happy ending!! Dcats are sent to test us ime..
Don't give up just yet.

[violetbunny]

I'm in NZ, but have posted on the relevant local sites here and reported him as lost with the organisation who manage the microchips, and keeping an eye on online community noticeboards.

We did phone the council as it's the same situation here where cleanup crew don't necessarily scan RTA animals for chips. They seemed confused about what we were asking so DP is going to phone again tomorrow.

We've had a few more calls from our flyers from people saying they saw him but nothing has eventuated.

I've been reading up on missing cat behaviour, I really never knew that cats could become displaced so easily and that it would mean they're likely to be within 5 houses away but sort of freeze up in fear and don't respond to calls. So we are adjusting our search tactics, we have started knocking on doors more immediately close to us and asking if we can search under the property, inside sheds etc.

Thanks for all your support, it's giving me strength to keep up the search.

[violetbunny]

We've now done a thorough search of most of the houses in our street (both sides). Luckily people on our street seem remarkably fine with a couple of loony neighbours (us) who want to climb around under their house with a torch and look in their garden shed.

We've realised that one house near us has had the occupants move out (it's a rental so not sure when), and a house directly opposite the owner has been on holiday since our cat went missing last weekend. Apparently they are back tomorrow, can't help but wonder if he may have slipped inside and gotten locked in? The house directly behind us we also couldn't search as apparently it's a diplomatic residence.

Other than that we are running out of options for places to look, tomorrow we will do a thorough search of the other properties we back onto, but after that I'm running out of ideas 🙁

[Fluffycloudland77]

Your doing all the right things. Can you see into the house where they’ve gone away?.

[violetbunny]

@Fluffycloudland77 No, it's behind a massive fence. We only know they're away at all because we spoke to their neighbour. We will definitely go over there tomorrow though to see if they're back.

Just had another reported sighting, it's nearly 11pm and DP drove over to to site but there was no cat. We will go back and look in the morning but we have had so many reports now, he's a tabby so easy to confuse with other cats.

[coastergirl]

My boy went missing for two months. I was in the process of moving and I think he got scared and went further than usual (he was a feral kitten and is still very timid). I only moved round the corner but was so upset and the thought of him going home and I wasn't there. We did posters, Facebook etc. The thing that kept me going was something the rescue lady said. He is chipped so hopefully if anything had happened to him, we'd have found out. He turned out to have gone much further than I expected. He was so happy to be with me when I eventually got him back.

Good luck.

[violetbunny]

Thanks @coastergirl that's heartening to know.

Just about to go out now for some more searching. Feeling a bit desperate now we're at 6 days that he might be trapped somewhere. Friend is coming to help do flyers.

[Bbq1]

My niece's cat went missing for 16 days. He was an extremely timid housecat but miraculously found his way home. Don't give up hope. Hopefully your boy will be home soon.

[Icequeen01]

Any news @violetbunny?

[violetbunny]

@Icequeen01
No news. We are still looking. Running out of ideas as we've searched every property on the block that we have access to. The neighbours opposite us are home from their holiday now so he's not over there.

Really wish I could hire a search and rescue sniffer dog to find him but I don't think such a thing exists for missing cats here.

[Icequeen01]

I'm really sorry to hear that. I know it's easy for me to say but don't give up hope. I saw on our local FB page that someone's cat had turned up nearly 10 miles away. He was trapped by a local rescue centre after a kind couple got in touch with them about the cat which kept appearing in their garden. As he was chipped he was reunited with his owners. They managed to work out that he had got into a delivery van which had left its doors open. Luckily, the driver didn't go too far before his next stop.

I think there is a UK wide missing pets site. It might be worth looking into that if you haven't already done it?

I'm keeping everything crossed for you.

[violetbunny]

@Icequeen01 Thanks so much, it's reassuring to hear these stories. I haven't given up hope quite yet!

I'm not in the UK but have notified the main organisations here (microchip register, shelters, council, community groups etc). He's only been gone 9 days so it might be too soon for anyone to have noticed a random cat hanging around.

We've had a couple more phone calls about deceased cats matching his description, we had to send photos of him to one on Sunday to check if they matched and DP totally broke down while we were waiting for them to call us back. Luckily it wasn't him, but gosh that was a long and horrible 10 mins while they checked. And I feel terrible for the family that did lose their cat.

I tried getting in touch with some agencies here that have detector dogs / search and rescue dogs, but none will look for a missing cat. It's a shame because it would be SO MUCH help (and frankly I would pay just about anything if they actually did find him). Feel like this is an untapped market!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Is there any news?.

[violetbunny]

@Fluffycloudland77 No, still no news. Still feeling pretty bereft without him, and still spending hours searching for him every day. 😭

On the bright side, I think I may have found someone else's missing cat. I got a call out about a tabby cat who was hanging around a house one block away, it wasn't DCat but he looked identical to another tabby cat who went missing in our neighbourhood recently. I managed to take a photo of him and sent it to the owner of the other lost cat, she was going to go and check it out.

[Icequeen01]

I really feel for you @violetbunny. I know how I would feel if I lost one of mine. How bitter sweet for you if you have found someone else's missing cat. I still have a feeling he will just walk in the door (as so may cats on here have done) as though he's never been away!

Still thinking of you and keeping everything crossed.

[violetbunny]

@Icequeen01 Thank you. I really hope so. Every time his sister comes in the cat flap, my heart does a little flip.

I've been looking through photos of him and feeling pretty sad. He loved sleeping snuggled up next to me every night. This is a pretty typical photo of us together 💕