Feel empty, cat isn't coming back

[allyf92]

My cat disappeared two and a half weeks ago. We found out he'd been transported 20 miles away in a delivery van that he'd climbed in, and since the day we found out where he'd been camping out, he has totally dropped off the face of the earth. People were seeing him up til the day we found out the village he was in, and now nothing. No one has seen him since that day. He must be either dead or travelled somewhere else.

We've put posters all around the area, but it's big wide countryside and he could be anywhere and if he's gone further, people won't know he's missing.

I know I'm not going to get him back. The chances feel too slim. It's too far for him to get back on his own.

I'm totally heartbroken. I've got a 4 month old baby and I can barely sleep, I feel awful, l know I'm grieving essentially, but I still have this lingering hope which almost feels worse as there's no closure. He's only a year old and was my baby. He was there for me for 6 weeks in the first lockdown that I spent completely on my own and we were so close. How can I feel better and get on with life?

Ok, I apologise.

Pet detective?. There’s Bengal Facebook groups too where they advertise lost bengals so other owners can look if it’s near them. I’ll link.

www.thebengalcatclub.com/rehoming--welfare.html

The fb link is at the top.

@Fluffycloudland77

Ok, I apologise.

Pet detective?. There’s Bengal Facebook groups too where they advertise lost bengals so other owners can look if it’s near them. I’ll link.

No need to apologise at all, just want to assure you it's not for lack of trying. The distance and having a tiny baby just makes this so hard. Such a silly cat! Pet detective is an option but god knows how expensive these things get! I think some sort of humane trap is my next step.

Thanks for linking that FB page, I'll keep checking it

Oh @allyf92 ours was a Bengal too! I always did wonder if he would have been ignored if not. He was such a people person. I wish there was something I could do to help.

My Bengal was my shadow too but I lost him on the road so I know how much they mean to you.

Try the nearest local spotted Facebook group, bengals are distinctive and a reward might help.

Oh I'm so sorry you're going through this, how awful. You must be devastated.

Are there any local rescue centres you could inform, or even ask them to help look? Maybe that's a silly suggestion, I don't know.

I would keep putting posters up on lamposts, in a plastic 'polly pocket' to keep them dry. It must be hard though, given the distance away from your house, you can't keep driving there.

Don't give up hope.

a couple of months ago my indoor rescue boy got out, freaked out completely and legged it. i was bereft, i’ve had him 3.5 years and we’re very bonded.

he was abused as a kitten and doesn’t know how to Cat. it was rainy weather and cold and i didn’t sleep for days on end. i had flyers up and spent ages rattling biscuit boxes and calling him. i was thinking about packing his things away and giving up when he came running back at midnight one night, having been on the missing list for 10 days.

don’t give up hope, OP. i really hope you find your cat. i know how devastated i was, he’s a furry idiot but i love him very much. and for anyone who thinks my cat went because he felt unhappy as an indoor cat is very wrong. he now gets under the bed when i open the front door!

as aside, and i know this is different as you know your cat could be a fair distance away, the Cats Protection League will loan you a humane trap with no charge. google your local branch and they should have a ‘Lost and Found’ number. i caught five different cats, none of them mine, but they clearly work!

@fucknuckle your story gives me hope! My gorgeous indoor rescue cat has been missing for nearly 48 hours and me and my dd are bereft. Can't stop thinking about where he is, we've done posters and walked the streets calling his name and rattling his biscuits to no avail. He shot out the front door early hours of Friday morning and disappeared straight away, he has escaped before out the window but always come back within the hour. Just want to see his furry face at the window again

Lollipop have you tried putting some of your cats used litter outside? Apparently the smell can help them find their way back, or at least to know they are 'home' once they find the right garden.

@GoodVibesHere yes his litter tray is in the porch

Please don't give up hope yet.

Almost 30 years ago we had a cat who went missing. Turned out he got into a lorry that had been collecting apples from the farm next door.

The lorry travelled almost 40 miles and when it stopped our cat jumped out.

Me and DH thought we would never see him again. 8 weeks later he turned up on the doorstop very thin and the pads on his feet were bleeding. He had walked home.

I lost one for almost five months last year, my mother's cat has just been found through facebook posts after a month, and my neighbour found one that had been missing for seven years, but her son had kept putting posters out bless him. There is every chance you will find your cat, MDC exports do good traps but I'd add a couple of weights to the door rings if you use one so it closes quickly enough. Fingers crossed you have good news soon.

I don't know how much it costs but there's an ex-policeman who has trained a dog to search for missing cats by smell...has good success rates and travels all over doing it.

Will dig the link out.

thepetdetectives.com/molly.php

Any luck @allyf92 ???

What a heartbreaking story... How sad, to have your cat go missing, and how devastating it is, if they never turn up again, and you never know where they went/where they are. My heart genuinely goes out to you.

Sadly, bengals are quite expensive and highly revered, so the chances are high that he has been taken and sold on.

I am sure wherever he is, he is happy, and being cared for, and is loved. Also, as a few posters have said, there is a fair chance he might return of his own accord. Not a definite cert, but a possibility for sure.

I can't imagine how upset you must feel. (((HUGS))) to you. Hope your lovely cat comes back to you SOON!

[quote lollipoprainbow]@fucknuckle your story gives me hope! My gorgeous indoor rescue cat has been missing for nearly 48 hours and me and my dd are bereft. Can't stop thinking about where he is, we've done posters and walked the streets calling his name and rattling his biscuits to no avail. He shot out the front door early hours of Friday morning and disappeared straight away, he has escaped before out the window but always come back within the hour. Just want to see his furry face at the window again [/quote]
Oh that's so sad.

I hope he comes back soon!

OP, can you give us an idea of the area he was last seen in? Perhaps one of us lives near by and can keep an eye out for him?

Animalsearchuk.co.uk might be worth trying too.

@allyf92

Any luck yet???

@FlaminEckVera he's back !!

@lollipoprainbow Oh wow that’s amazing!! So happy for you

@OriginalTaste

OP, can you give us an idea of the area he was last seen in? Perhaps one of us lives near by and can keep an eye out for him?

I'm in Oxfordshire but he travelled to Gloucestershire - the little village of Paxford to be exact. Everyone there is watching out for him!

[quote lollipoprainbow]@FlaminEckVera he's back !! [/quote]
That's fantastic news, I'm so pleased for you. I hope I get that happy ending too. No news at all anymore. I hope he's ok wherever he is, especially with this baking hot weather. My Timehop keeps coming up with pictures and videos of him as a kitten. Makes me so happy and so sad at the same time

Sadly with him being a pedigree he will be an attractive cat and someone may have decided to keep him. I think keep up with the FB posts, posters to all local vets as well. If someone has kept him he will have to go to the vet at some point - vets don't routinely scan but if they know there's a bengal missing they might.