!!Please help!! My indoor cat got out!

[fucknuckle]

hey all

i have a beautiful four year old rescue boy who has lived happily indoors since i got him at 7 months. yesterday i opened the front door to the postman and he legged it (the cat, not the postman).

it turns out there’s an old coal bunker in a giant bramble patch under a tree at the end of the garden, which is where he’s hiding. there’s a hole at the front and a gap at the back, deep in the undergrowth. i know he’s in the bunker as he’s been responding to me talking to him but he just will not come out.

i’ve borrowed a humane trap from the Cats Protection League, it’s set at the rear gap of the bunker and we’ve blocked the front entrance up. he was missing all yesterday and last night and i’m so so sad at the thought of him terrified and hungry in there.

the trap is set with his favourite revolting sardine flavour food. i didn’t sleep last night and i probably won’t tonight.

my question is: if he won’t venture into the trap to get food, what the fuck do i do next? i can’t just leave him in there to starve to death. there’s no way to physically reach him due to how the bunker is set under the tree and the size of the gaps.

i know he came out of there last night as i saw him belting down the garden path to go back in there. he know where i am and where the flat is, i keep calling him, i’ve been shaking biscuits like a madwoman for hours.

how do i not leave my stubborn, terrified cat to starve to death in a bloody coal bunker?

any help or suggestions will be so gratefully received. he’s literally the thing that’s got me through shielding, he’s my furry best friend and i can’t bear this.

thank you...

Is he hurt and can’t get out?. Can you open the bunker?.

he’s not hurt. the bunker is probably from the sixties, it has a tree growing on top of it and the gaps aren’t big enough or located so anyone could get an arm in there. plus i think it’s big enough that he can just hide in the corner if anyone tries.

it’s basically concrete slabs on three sides plus one on the top. the top one overhangs the little entrance hole at the front so the angle is impossible, and the gap at the back is really only cat-sized.

i know the chances are he’ll get hungry enough to get into the trap. i’m going out of my mind though! my next step i think is to ask the CPL lady if anyone has one of those grabby-sticks with the loop on them. i don’t really want to waste the fire brigade’s time for ‘my cat won’t come out of a hole’.

this is just a nightmare. i have horrible anxiety anyway and am torturing myself with thoughts of how scared he must be. aargh!

Surely he will just come out when he gets hungry?

three sides? that would be much easier. four sides.

he’s a bit of a special case as he’s a rescue - he won’t be picked up, he’s scared of everything and this is way beyond his comfort zone. i just have to wait this out, don’t i?

the only way he can get out now is into the trap. this is night two, and i don’t know how long he’ll hold out...

I'm struggling to picture what the bunker looks like but I think the grabby hook/ stick thing you mention is probably the answer. They are probably more commonly used for dogs than cats though. Maybe call your local fire station/ dog rescue/ RSPCA to see if they have one?

Surely it is good for him to discover the garden?
Just put some food next to the front door and he will come back, surely...or what about a nice cosy cardboard box side on with a padded blanket in it.
( I have three cats aged 10 X 2and 12(my last cat was 17 when she died) and a dog. They love outdoors but they also like their home comforts)
I think you are overthinking this.

For now, put food in the bunker so you know he isn't hungry

i can’t post the pic for some reason. the hole at the front is maybe 12x8 inches, with a slab at the top overhanging it. it’s now blocked off. the gap at the back is in the bottom corner, this is where the trap is set. it’s all in undergrowth and there’s a tree on top of the bunker! it’s all basically buried in bushes and years of overgrowth.

he ate the food from the front step last night but went back in his hidey-hole.

i’m overthinking this. i’ll just wait it out.

If he has come out and then gone back in the bunker, he obviously wants to be in the wide world a bit longer. Shaking biscuits is probably freaking him out. What about something exciting to play with on a long string...catnip mouse? If you were frightened and hiding under the bed, what would tempt you out...probably not someone shouting your name.

Oh dear, how stressful, but he sounds basically OK. Why is he an indoor cat in the first place?

I would let him in the garden more often...mine used to climb trees, fences, scale sheds.

Poor pet

Hoping he comes back in
So stressful xxxx

I don't understand why you have blocked up the front if he can just get out the back.
Just leave food on the front door step for him. I'm sure he'll come home soon. Maybe let him be a indoor/outdoor cat.

the only way out the back is into the trap. he’s an indoor cat because he is. we’ll see what the morning brings. he’s very scared, that’s all i know. he is not enjoying his freedom.

fair point about not shouting or shaking biscuits at him. thank you.

I think he is enjoying his freedom you know. Poor cat.

My indoor cats come back in of their own accord when they have escaped.

Is he home?.

Can you spray him with a water squirted from the back? To encourage him into the trap?

Can you not let him be an indoor out door he might enjoy it

@fucknuckle did you manage to get him back inside??

I thought indoor cats wanted to stay inside? my friend has one and she will not go beyond the doorstep.
As long as he isn’t trapped, I’d just wait for him to come out by himself.

@SwanShaped

Can you spray him with a water squirted from the back? To encourage him into the trap?

DO NOT DO THIS.

Is he back op? Do you live next to any busy roads? If not I'd think about letting him roam a bit. For him to bolt out the door in the first place I'd think he wants a bit of outside time?