Missing cat and seeming unlikely he'll come home

[BookWorm45]

This is a sad time - our cat has gone missing and even though we've done all the possible things for alerts, searches, posters, neighbours, social media, no sightings at all.

I've had older cats (in the past) put to sleep when their time came, and that was dreadful, but this feels almost worse because he is a young cat, and also because we have no way to know for certain what's taken place.

Still hoping of course that he might come home but it's starting to seem more and more unlikely.

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear this :( How long has it been?

Went missing end of Mon 25th - so not lots of time yet - but this is so incredibly uncharacteristic.
I have seen some lovely stories about people whose pets have come home after weeks / months, which is great, but I can't help thinking they are the exceptions to the rule.

Oh he will be back! Mark my words!

Even though uncharacteristic, they all tend to do this at some point or other. Don't give up hope and I bet you anything he will stroll in over the next day or two

Oh and I should put in the obligatory picture on any Litter Tray thread !

Have you canvassed the area asking for sheds and garages to be checked? under decking? any building being done?

They are sent to test our nerve you know op? The 9 lives thing is to keep us on our toes. My tortie queen was missing for 6 months. Turned up at shops at the end of my street one day. Keep looking and shouting op..

What a gorgeous boy!

I've had loads of cats over the years and currently foster. I won't lie to you, we had one cat who disappeared and never came back. That was over 20 years ago before microchipping and I still wonder what happened to him. We got him as a rescue and he was a right little scrapper, always coming home with war wounds despite being neutered, he was also a nosy bugger. So we suspect he either bit off more than he could chew, or got into a van (there was some work going on in the street when he went missing) and moved home! He would have moved in with the nearest person to offer him food.

Having said that, knowing lots of people with cats, and being in the cat world so's to speak, I hear more stories of cats going missing for days, even weeks and months at a time and then strolling back like they'd popped out for a few minutes! Bloomin' things! 😂Especially at this time of year as it's the height of breeding season and even a neutered male especially a youngster, might have the urge for the ladies and go on the wander. He may have also wandered into a garage or shed and got shut in as people are starting to do their gardens etc so do keep checking with any neighbours with sheds.

Also go out in the evening and shake a box of biscuits and leave one of his blankets outside. I'm guessing your microchip details are up to date on the website? Sounds like a silly question, but sometimes people move and it's an easy thing to forget to update!

Please, don't give up hope, and please do update us if he wanders in!

It’s very early days he could definitely still be back , I assume you’ve contacted all the local vets and cat rescues .

Thanks all very much for your messages - it is encouraging to hear from you.

So far we've :
Double checked all microchip details are up to date
Rattled biscuits / called for him (a lot !)
Posted on Facebook (several groups)
Logged him as missing with Identibase (who administer the microchip)
Joined National Pet Register and logged him as missing
Put flyers through the doors of houses that are near to us, up to approx. 35 houses away, down each side of the roads that back onto the gardens where he spent his time.
Spoken directly to neighbours where possible.
Flyer to 2 local vets, also flyer to local library, church, leisure centre etc
Checked house, garage, garden shed, behind garden pots etc.
Signed up with Pets Located, also with PetsReunited, who also send alerts to vets / shelters etc

Does he use a litter tray?

If so, pop his tray and some litter outside the back door. Also leave some smelly food out for him and put some of his blankets, bedding or your clothes outside on the line so he can follow the smell home.

I'm sure he'll be back - my house cat escaped and was gone for four days - no sightings whatsoever - she then reappeared in the neighbours garden and had apparently been hiding in their woodshed eating spiders

I've had cats go missing before and found they have been living with another family!

I feel for you and know how it feels. My cat has been missing since Saturday 16th. She's 10 and not in the best health but not so much so I felt she would have just died under a bush somewhere 😥I called vets near us in case someone brings her in. We've put her on neighbourhood Facebook but nothing we've heard. It's sad. I just want to know what happened. I keep hoping she'll come suddenly back but it's getting more and more unlikely now.

Thanks Bella and wishing you all the best -it's awful just waiting, isn't it.

Fingers crossed OP. We still have the flyer of a missing neighbourhood cat stuck on our fridge from six months ago incase we spot him out and about.

Have you done any flyering? Are you following all your local vets and cat rescues on Facebook incase anyone shares a post that they’ve found him?

Sorry, just seen you’ve already done the flyers.

It is horrible when they go missing so you have our sympathies but hopefully your cat will stroll back through the door soon.

One of my cats went missing and days later returned, as if nothing had happened, smelling of fags and strong perfume - we joke that she went for a party at the Queen Vic. The same cat also ‘disappeared’ for a couple of days and I thought I was going mad because I could hear meowing but couldn’t see her - she was hiding under our decking but too frightened to come out (we have no idea what frightened her). For a while I had to drop Dreamies through the gaps until I managed to drag her out.

It's is quite common for them to go away for a few days. I'd also re check your house as sometimes they're hiding after a fight or similar. We had one who went missing for days and eventually turned up hiding in the spare room!

Thanks Isonthecase, I have been looking under beds / sofas etc (or getting my husband to !) quite a lot.

I've had cats all my life but never had one go missing before -it's quite a shock

This time of the year, evenings getting lighter, warmer weather, is prime cat buggering about time.
The longest mine went missing was 3 days and I too has resigned myself to not seeing her again. DH went out, shaking Dreamies and asked the residents of a row of houses a little further away if they would check their sheds etc.
Cat reappeared less than an hour later, very hungry and thirsty, extremely pleased to see us and then slept for 24 hours! So, I think she had got shut in. But she regularly disappears overnight in the summer.
I think that especially younger cats, have a roam beyond their usual territories every now and again.
Fingers crossed yours is home soon too..

Keeping everything crossed for you OP! My daft boy wandered off for 9 weeks and turned up again right as rain.

Have you put out some of your clothes / blankets / cat litter for him to pick up the scent? Hope he comes home soon.

Where possible, do a thorough physical search of every property in the vicinity. Unfortunately not everyone pays attention to flyers. When my cat went missing, I found him injured in someone's garden several streets away. I had dropped a flyer to that property the week before and walked past that house calling for him, it wasn't until I knocked on doors and asked to look in gardens that I found him.

Cats can also get spooked and go into a sort of frozen fear mode and don't respond to calling, so this is another reason to knock on doors and ask to visually check under houses, in sheds, in gardens yourself. There is a high chance he will be walking distance from your house.

Good luck.

My son has a georgious Bengal cat. When he moved into his own home up North he took him with him. He kept him in for a month so he could learn about his new home. Then he had cat flap put in and let him out again. For 4 months everything fine. Then he went missing one day. Gone for 7 days. Then he strolled in well fed and stonking of cigarettes. My son thinks someone stole him and kept him in but then he escaped and came home. Also his collar was still on but his tag with sons phone number on was missing. Poor cat, my son is keeping him in now all the time. He is too georgious for his own good.

Thanks all for your support / stories / updates.

We had a couple of neighbours get in touch to say they'd seen him - false alarm, turned out to be a completely different cat (tabby with much more white on him). Still it was good that they were trying to help us.

I have had two cats go missing over the years. Our ginger tom never came back, that was more than 25 years ago. Then a few years after that, our male tabby disappeared. One day we came home nearly a month later and he was sitting on the doorstep!

Try shining a torch outside at night, this can sometimes help them come home.

My cat went missing a few years ago. She was gone for 6 days and we feared the worst. She wasn't a roamer at all. She suddenly reappeared one morning looking thin and poorly. Her front paw pad had been literally chewed off.
All we can assume is that she got stuck on some type of building glue or - awful to even think - someone did it deliberately and it took her that long to gnaw herself to freedom. She's now a very petite and perfect 13 year old 😍
Telling you this just incase of any DIY/building work in your area.
Lots of pavements are being dug up also in my area, for new gas pipes, leaving holes for a few days..