Cat has been missing for four days- when to give up hope?

[Usernamenotavailabletryanother]

He just went out as normal one morning and didn’t come back…

The kids are distraught.

I'm distraught.

His sister couldn’t give a shit and is enjoying the extra attention.

I’ve done all the looking, asking neighbours, local social media etc., but nothing. We’re due to go on holiday next week and it just all feels so sad. We love him so much.

Not sure what I’m asking for really, just thinking about when to stop hoping he’ll come through the cat flap 😞

Definitely don't give up yet. Have you asked people to check their sheds and garages? It's the time of year for cats to sneak into open sheds and accidentally get shut in. Or he may just be gallivanting around. Is he microchipped?

I'd keep posting about him on local social media and maybe put flyers round.

Just to prove it is never too late, our cat went missing for 10 years and then turned up at a vets having been taken in as a stray. Weird things happen!

If he is chipped, make sure your details are up to date and update him with the company as missing.

I had a big - 33lb (2.35 stone) cat. I loved that cat.
So we had this hoover salesman come one afternoon to try and sell us this fancy water-filtered hoover, and after he left - the cat was gone!!
I was convinced that guy took the cat, and my husband ridiculed me, as did my cousin who was staying with us. I mean, they really made fun of me. But the guy was paying a lot of attention to my 33lb cat - everybody did.
I too went to all the neighbors. It was pre-internet. I too was sick with worry. I called for him all the rest of that day and started first thing the next morning.
The evening of the second day, I went out the front door to call again and there he was — he was covered in a crust — like he’d gotten damp and then gotten dusty and then it dried in a crust.
Otherwise, he seemed spooked, but fine.
I have no idea what happened to him.
Don’t give up hope just yet. Do you have foxes and other animals or is safe to leave out food?
Because I’d leave out plenty of food and water if it is, and some sort of shelter like a box.
And keep calling.
Sending love. And good luck. Have hope.

Thank you- 10 YEARS 😱 that is insane! Trying not to give up hope, and that certainly helps ❤️

He is microchipped, but I’ve no idea of the chip number to report it. Do you know how I could find out? Would the vet have a record? Or the shelter we got him from?

Whoever chipped him will have the number.

Thank you @DreamTheMoors, that’s kind- I was wondering if he managed to get out the front door, but our neighbour behind says he saw him on Wednesday morning.

Lots of foxes and other cats around, so not safe to leave food out… trying not to worry about foxes as there have been a few scuffles recently (although I think it was him chasing foxes rather than the other way round!)

10 years is crazy!!

Ours went missing for 3 weeks. She's an old lady so we assumed she'd taken herself off to die. Anyway she rocked up while we were on holiday and when the landlord had come to sort something at the house. She was a bit skinny but otherwise ok. And still alive now!

I hope yours turns up soon 🤞

Sending good thoughts @Usernamenotavailabletryanother ❤️

Our cat came home after two weeks, we think he must have been stuck in a shed. He wasn't in the best state but was OK after an overnight at the vets and a week on fancy meals of rice and chicken.

Do not give up hope at all!

Our house cat was just found recently after 2 weeks of being missing. She is 18 so very old and was found!

Put up posters and add a reward if you can. The kids in the area scouted for that cat to get the reward and they found her!!!

She also got lost when it was super hot recently and we were worried she would become dehydrated. She's a house cat who has never caught anything but some natural cat instincts definitely kicked in whilst she was missing.

Gosh OP, only four days? Don't give up yet - cats often come back long after that. He's probably slipped into one of your neighbours' houses as they were going in and out with suitcases, about to go on holiday, and is now locked in and drinking water from the toilet

Try wandering around your neighbourhood looking for houses with all their curtains closed during the day, perhaps no bins out on bin day, and if you see any where the owners are obviously away, call your cat through the letterbox and look/listen for any sign of your cat.

Good luck, I hope you find him!

Thank you all, this is giving me some hope!

Also, try walking around late at night, calling him - your voice will carry further, and if he's been spooked by something and is hiding, he's more likely to have the confidence to emerge if its dark and quiet. Carrying an open tin of tuna might help, too.

My ginger Tom disappeared without trace for 6 months. One day, he just jumped in through the kitchen window, without so much as a hair out of place.
Strangely, he now has an absolute fear of plastic bags, and I always wonder what happened to him whilst away.
I hope your cat comes home soon.

When one of our cats went missing I put her blanket on the washing line hoping she would pick up the scent and come home which she did.

Does your road have a neighborhood watch group on WhatsApp or anything like that?

Ask neighbours to check bin sheds/bike sheds and garden sheds.

Your vet will have the microchip number.

One of mine went on a 6 week holiday (came home like he’d been gone an hour). He’s never left since. Hardly wanders now. That was 7 years ago. My younger one left for 5 days. Came home thinner and dusty and a bit shaken up! He hasn’t wandered off since.

Mine was gone at least ten days, terrifying!! Just strolled back in one night shouting for his dinner!

Have you put flyers through doors? Do try that, and put them further afield than you think. That's how we got our serial wanderer home (2 weeks that time). And do pester neighbours to check sheds and garages. We'd asked all our neighbours to do this but ît was only when I went and asked again that some people actually bothered to check. And he was locked in someone's shed that time (5 days).

Good luck and don't give up hope.

My parents elderly cat went out last week and strolled in tonight hungry but as if nothing had happened. She is a super home body stays in all year and one week in August goes out and doesn't come back, she's done it for about 5 years but she's getting much older now and less steady on her feet we genuinely thought she'd just passed away in someone's garden. Wed been out looking day and night, shaking dreamies, checked at the vets and social media etc.

Ours went missing for 18 months. She disappeared one day and never came back then about 18 months later we were at County Hall which is about 2 miles away taxing the car, and this cat came up to us meowing and rubbing herself against our legs. It was our cat. She had been living there and the security guards let her sleep in the their hut and they fed her. So we took her home and she never really wandered again and lived till the grand age of 22!

Don't give up hope. My friend's cat went missing in mid June and she turned up just over four weeks later. She was really skinny and dirty but otherwise she was unharmed. She didn't stop crying for two days and hasn't been let out since while my friend's husband is building a huge catio for her.

My friend searched every night, put posters up, we posted on local forums and Facebook groups etc but there were no sightings. She had given up hope of her coming back - until she turned up howling at the back door at 2 am.

Really hope you get the cat back.

Have you put the litter box outside? Just put some outside in an ice cream box etc so if it rains you have some left to refill it.

My parent's cat went missing on Monday afternoon and strolled in on Saturday afternoon, this was a couple weeks ago.

If you have a local Facebook group or lost and found pets page post on there.

When our kitten went missing we put posters through our neighbours doors and asked them to check their sheds etc.

Hope your cat is back soon.

Don't give up! Our cat once spent a bank holiday weekend locked in the local bakery. God knows how she'd got in there. She ran home when they opened up on the Tuesday morning and the baker saw me taking posters down and called me over to tell me where she'd been. DH's childhood cat went missing for a year and then came home as if nothing had happened, and an old neighbour of ours had a cat who vanished for five years and then just strolled back in. Hopefully yours will turn up quicker than that!!