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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

Cat has been missing a week... should I give up hope?

39 replies

MooChops89 · 08/04/2021 23:23

My 4yo big boy has been missing since last Friday morning he's very much an outdoor cat, out most of the day and just pops back now and again to be fed. Occasionally stops out overnight but we suspect he's been taken in by people across the road as their kids love playing with him. He's never been gone more than 24h before and I'm swinging between "maybe he's just wandered a bit too far and got lost" and "he must be dead"
Somebody has said they've seen a similar cat hanging about some allotments about a mile up the road so I'm going to have a look there tomorrow but it's probably not him.
Anyone had a cat go missing for a long time and they've eventually turned up?

OP posts:

user1471543683 · 16/04/2021 18:53

Our cat disappeared and returned 3 weeks later. An abandoned building had a door window smashed, my cat went in then the council boarded it up. Thankfully the building had big windows and a neighbour opposite spotted my cat at the window. I had put it on our village fb page so people knew he was missing. Very skinny and smelly but doesn't seem to have been scarred by his adventure!!

Hill1991 · 16/04/2021 18:54

Sorry phone pressed send

One of my mums cats went missing 6weeks later someone spotted her and phoned the number on the poster she was only round the corner

Aprilshowersandhail · 16/04/2021 18:55

Our dcat left and I found her under a tree 6 months later!! She has been seen living rough in a shed. Had been seen catching birds.. A few smashed teeth but vet was happy she was fine.

Newnamefor2021 · 16/04/2021 19:00

So sorry OP. Around 3/4 weeks ago I had a phone call to say they found my cat who had been missing for over a year! So there is hope. She wasn't even far away. Hope your cat comes home soon x

Stickytreacle · 16/04/2021 19:00

One of mine was missing for four and a half months. I religiously left food and a camera out every night and couldn't believe it when I saw him tucking in! Never give up hope.

Original poster

MooChops89 · 16/04/2021 20:38

Loving the positive stories, thanks everyone! I hate the thought of him being stuck somewhere, or injured and suffering. I really hope he's just wandered too far and lost his bearings. I don't think he'd just randomly stop coming home, he doesn't spook easily, but then cats do what they like don't they!

OP posts:

HerMammy · 26/04/2021 00:06

Any news?

Cailleach1 · 26/04/2021 08:43

11 weeks missing girl cat walked back through the cat flap one evening. We'd done everything and had really given up and hoped she wasn't or didn't suffer. Called to every door on the roads around (more than once). Put up posters on every tree. Called shelters and all local vets.

She was skinny, but put back on weight just fine. We think she may have been stuck in a shed or something, but have no idea how she survived wrt water and food.

Hope your cat is fine and he comes back.

Eyevorbig0ne · 26/04/2021 08:50

My cat turned up after 10 years

Subwaylunch · 26/04/2021 08:54

My cat came home last September and he had been missing for 5 years.

Polly99 · 26/04/2021 08:55

Mine was missing for weeks and weeks. He turned up a mile and a half from home.
If yours has a second family he is likely the sort of cat who will find someone to feed him if he can't find his way home.
I think mine went because he was in search of his own territory; we get lots of cats in our garden and I think he wanted more space and then because he is a bit dim he couldn't retrace his steps.

I recommend you put up lots of posters in an ever-increasing circle around your home. Keep going back to check they are still up. That's how I found mine in the end, though it took a lot of posters and a lot of walking! You could also try going out early in the morning when it is quiet and calling to him gently as you walk around. This part didn't work for me, perhaps because our cat actually doesn't respond to his name...

Anyway, he cried (really! There were tears) when he came home and he hasn't done it again.

MiniLeopardInTheHouse · 27/04/2021 10:38

At this time of year cats get a spring in their step and seem more likely to wander. A friend's much-loved cat walked back in after 3 months - a bit thin and no doubt with a story to tell but otherwise ok. His sister-cat had missed him dreadfully and it was quite the family reunion. I hope this is the outcome for you, OP, and quicker than 3 months.

FatCatThinCat · 27/04/2021 10:43

I have 2 cats. One went missing for 10 days and was eventually found due to leafletting. He was trapped in an internal garden/courtyard at the health centre. The staff had been feeding him but couldn't catch him. When they saw my flyer they called me.

The other one went missing for 12 weeks and came back looking like an extra from the Walking Dead. No idea where she went but she was in a terrible state when she eventually made it home. Just skin and bone. So don't give up. They're little furry buggers who like to stress us out.

RhapsodyandAshe · 27/04/2021 11:09

Sprinkle your hoover bag around the local area as the scent will help if your cat is nearby.
A couple of weeks ago there were posters everywhere about a missing cat (very distinctive as white and not deaf) I had seen him before I saw the posters so phoned and let them know.
Anyway they found him and let all the people know who had phoned in with sightings so that was awesome.
But the fliers were everywhere in the local vacinity.

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