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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.

Original poster

Indoor outdoor cat is missing for over a week anyone has any ideas!?

38 replies

meadow89 · 14/06/2021 00:18

Please help me
We've done everything you can think of, searched, knocked at neighbours doors, put up posters, checked sheds and garages, called vets. Hired a pet detective who searched with his team for two days.

My question is - has anyone experienced this, a female neutered cat just vanishing?? She never went far from the house because she would like to "check in" with us every few hours. She was a very dog like cat. She has now disappeared without a trace and realistically I think something killed her maybe a fox we have lots in the area. I just don't understand how a cat which doesn't travel vanished without a trace. I'm so heartbroken

OP posts:
Want2beme · 14/06/2021 10:43

You've done so much to try and find her. She might actually come back of her own accord. This isn't unusual. I know lots of people say to empty your hoover bag into the garden, so she might pick up the scent and come back. Hope she returns soonFlowers

cupsofcoffee · 14/06/2021 16:57

Try putting her litter tray outside the back door.

Original poster
meadow89 · 14/06/2021 17:27

Thank you we did do that and no luck :( she is pretty used to the area but we did try with litter and with her blankets even some of our unwashed clothes. It's just I don't understand how cat can vanish we talked to all neighbours in 100 m radius and unless someone is lying and is keeping her she just vanished into the night between 9pm and midnight not to be seen again and we've had her for a year and she is the most clingy cat ever. I also spoil her so I don't think she would want to search for a better home :(

OP posts:
Want2beme · 14/06/2021 21:58

Is there any way she could be trapped somewhere in your house? Might sound ridiculous, but in the loft, up behind an open fire, in a cupboard, somewhere you'd least expect to find her.

NotABeliever · 15/06/2021 21:06

I could have written your post @meadow89 other than my cat has only been missing for half a day. She just seems to have vanished. She usually hangs out in the neighbour's garden and checks in every hour or so. She's always back by 4 or 5 pm for her evening meal and then we don't let her out again. I don't understand where she could be. I am heartbroken.

monkeysonthemoon · 15/06/2021 21:22

My female neutered cat disappeared one day - six weeks later, she turned up, so please don't give up hope just yet. I have no idea what happened to her although she was very thin so she hadn't been taken in by someone else.
It's very worrying when they break their routine, but it may not be bad news. Fingers crossed for you and NotABeliever too.

thefirstmrsrochester · 15/06/2021 21:30

Is there a local ‘missing pets’ FB page you can post on? One of my neutered girls buggered off to a localising farm for a week and the daughter of the farm owner saw my post and got in touch. They thought that she was a feral.

EcoCustard · 15/06/2021 21:53

My neutered female cat disappeared a few times for both shorter and longer periods. I used to worry frantically and part of me just wanted to know what might have happened to her if it had. However she would always come home days or weeks later, howling, dirty, thinner and disheveled. We had a phone call from Ipswich a few days after she disappeared once as she had been found in a haulage yard. We live a long way from Ipswich and at the time next to an industrial estate with many European haulage yards. She also disappeared to Scotland (thankfully discovered on route) and to a plumber who lived in a neighbouring village. She was a nosy cat and I believed each occasion she had gotten shut in and trapped or on a little adventure somewhere different, so don’t give up. I do hope she appears soon.

ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn · 15/06/2021 22:18

Hope she's home soon 🤞🏼

Are her chip details correct? Petlog fucked up a load of data so it's worth checking your details are there if you haven't already re-registered.

NotABeliever · 15/06/2021 22:33

I took her to the vet only two weeks ago for routine checks and they said the chip was working fine. What really worries me is someone may have stolen her. I can't see how she's not I some sort of trouble. So out of character.

Original poster
meadow89 · 16/06/2021 09:46

Thank you all. I made sure the chip details are up to date and I will activated the "lost mode". @NotABeliever I am sorry to hear you're going through this, I hope you're kitty turns up soon. It's so stressful worrying whether they're ok. My fur baby is still missing and I am finding it difficult to cope with new job which I just started and searching for her every minute we have. But mostly I just want her to be ok and I worry she's hurt and hungry :(

OP posts:
Original poster
meadow89 · 16/06/2021 09:47

@EcoCustard that is one adventurous kitty!! Mine isn't like this, saying that, previously I thought she'd never stray away from home or go missing, so who knows maybe she's on her way somewhere. I hope, like yours, she will come back to us.

OP posts:
Original poster
meadow89 · 16/06/2021 09:48

@Want2beme it sounds reasonable but we do have a pet camera so we could see the last time she left via the cat flap and she never returned so we know for sure she isn't inside the house :(

OP posts:
TheFormidableMrsC · 16/06/2021 09:50

My cat vanished a few years ago. He'd only been with us for about 3 weeks. He turned up a week later in central London 👀. Thankfully we got him back because he was chipped. He must have got into a van or car as it was 40 miles away from home. Don't give up! Also this time of year cats seem to be out much more and want to be out. Better weather and much more fun to be had. Mine only comes in to eat currently. Good luck Thanks

NotABeliever · 16/06/2021 10:12

@meadow89
I hope your kitty turns up safe and sound too. I completely understand how you find it difficult to cope with a new job. I struggle to think of anything else! Honestly I didn't know I could be so worried about her. I've even lost appetite which for me, is unusual!

Original poster
meadow89 · 16/06/2021 11:56

@TheFormidableMrsC our girl is chipped too so I'm still hoping we can get her back, thank you for sharing your story!

@NotABeliever yeah we cannot eat and I can't even bring myself to cook we literally (shame on us) have been eating frozen pizza and chicken nuggets. And we are in our 30s haha. I am mentally exhausted and I agree with you - I didn't think I could be this worried. Sometimes when I stop and this sudden realisation hits me that she is gone I struggle to breath. I hope to see her again soon :(

OP posts:
ArchbishopOfBanterbury · 16/06/2021 12:35

Don't give up. Mine was found (we got a call from the vet) 3 months after he went missing. I have no idea where he was or how he'd been living, but he was in good condition and healthy.

NotABeliever · 17/06/2021 07:54

She's back!! She was at the door at 1 am, no collar and scratches on her faces. We took turns to sleep on the sofa so that we could hear if she came back at night (no cat flap).
I am so so happy! She must have got stuck somewhere and fought her way out all this time? Who knows?
I hope yours has a happy ending too @meadow89 🙏

thecatneuterer · 17/06/2021 10:59

I'm very happy to hear she's back. The fact that she is without her collar makes me think she may have been stuck somewhere by her collar. Even the 'safety' ones can become fused (by flea products - they react with the plastic) making them almost impossible to break apart. I would rethink using a collar.

I am very anti collar. You should have seen the horrific collar injury we had on our surgery table yesterday ...

Original poster
meadow89 · 17/06/2021 12:56

@NotABeliever such a great news!!! I'm so happy for you and glad your fur baby came back safely ❤️

@ArchbishopOfBanterbury yes we keep on hoping she'll come back but three months you must've been so exhausted from not knowing for so long!

@thecatneuterer our used to have collar but came back few times without so we decided not to put her through it as she was stressed about it. BUT now I'm really sad I took it off as it would've been easier for someone to call us if they found her. So many people won't take a cat to be scanned for a chip we worry we lost her for good :(

OP posts:
EcoCustard · 17/06/2021 20:06

@meadow89 any news yet? My girl was very adventurous, nosy and frankly quite daft. Sadly she died last year at the grand old age of 19. Still missed too.

Original poster
meadow89 · 17/06/2021 21:11

@EcoCustard thanks for asking but no, she's still missing and my heart is so broken.

I'm sorry for your loss it must've been so hard after having her in your life for so long. She sounds fun, daft ones are the best ❤️

My dear mother, bless her heart, wants to call psychic asking for the cat. It made me chuckle a little bit today.

OP posts:
NotABeliever · 21/06/2021 20:40

Any news @meadow89? Thinking of you

Original poster
meadow89 · 21/06/2021 22:28

@NotABeliever no, she's hasn't come home and we are still looking. I miss her so terribly I am having a really hard time. Thanks for asking x

OP posts:
NotABeliever · 21/06/2021 22:43

Don't lose hope! I've heard of so many positive outcomes even after weeks.
I know it feels like you'll never see her again but not all hope is lost. Hang in there!