Missing Cat

[MontyChops]

My gorgeous boy cat has been missing since yesterday afternoon. He was a house cat for the first 2 years of his life but I'd been feeling guilty and had started letting him and his sister out for short periods of time in the garden, never overnight. And yesterday he didn't come home. He's a shy quiet cat and I feel so guilty for letting him out. I've put his used litter in the garden, Notes through neighbours doors, called vets and made sure our microchip details are up to date. I've been out calling and rattling his treats. I am so sad and just want him to come toddling up the garden. Any other advice on what I can do?

Sprinkle your hoover dust outside and leave one of his beds outside too - basically as much scenting as possible. It really works. Dirty laundry on the washing line is another option.

Two of mine have gone walkabout in the past - they were both just off exploring and came home in their own times

That's a great idea about dirty laundry, thanks sunsets.

Call him, shake a container with his biscuits in, and then wait and listen. If he’s hiding he may take a while to feel brave enough to respond. Keep doing this, including at dusk, when cats are active, and night, when sounds carry further.

Put a message on your local facebook page, you’ll reach more people that way. Cats don’t always travel along human footpaths so can get several streets away going via gardens.

Hope he turns up. It’s common at this time of year for cats to go walkabout.

So stressful. These have lots of good advice...

Those are great ideas. We've just been out and put 98 leaflets through doors in surrounding streets, I hope we don't annoy the neighbours! I'll go out to the garden at dusk with some tuna and call him. Hopefully he is just hiding somewhere and will come out when feeling brave enough.

I'm sorry OP 😥 try going out at night with a torch and shine it in all the trees and bushes, cats eyes reflect so well if he's hiding somewhere or stuck up a tree you may find him! Fingers crossed do you ❤️

I found both of my miscreants when it was quiet - one at 10pm and one first thing in the morning. I called them both and shook the dreamies - heard the boy squeaking from next doors' shed. The girl was in a garden three houses away!

If he's been an indoor cat he might just be having a fabulous time and not ready to come home yet. He'll come when he's had enough exploring I hope.

Definitely post on FB groups.

When he comes bag, maybe consider a tracker?

Two nights now and hes still not home If he comes home I seriously think I might look at a catio! He's a really nervous timid boy, only really friendly to us and gets freaked out over noises etc so I really don't think he would choose to stay out. If someone has taken him, how would we ever know? Vets don't scan every cat that they see for the first time do they? Picture of my boy as I've realised I didn't pay the cat tax.

If he is timid ask people to open their shed doors, not go in and ask if they could leave it open for a while. Opening a door by a stranger in a strange place will make him retreat further inside or hide in a ridiculous place. He will be quite nearby, timid cats don't go far.

Hi Troys, I thought exactly the same thing this morning, I've done an updated Facebook post asking people to leave their sheds open for 10 minutes and we've done an updated flyer saying the same thing which we are posting through doors this afternoon. I read that cats can only survive two days without water 😢 so I'm hoping if he is trapped somewhere we can get him released today.

I'm hoping my the streets around us aren't getting annoyed by the daily flyers but I can't think what else to do. He has a very soft miaow and I've been out calling but can't hear anything to pinpoint where he might be.

His sister looks like a smaller version of him, she's out I'm hoping i might get a few calls if they spot her so I can get in a few gardens! Unfortunately though she is being very clingy and sticking close to me and home, I think she is unsettled too.

You have to just not worry about annoying neighbours, OP, until you get him home. I've looked for lots of lost cats over the years, usually in response to someone asking for help and people are generally keen to help.

A really good thing to do is ask the neighbour if you could pop into their garden/shed etc and check yourself. You'll be more thorough and he's more likely to respond to your voice, and less likely to hide.

Keep going. I know it's hard.

Hi all, fantastic news, he's home! He was spotted in a garden not far from us, it took a while to pusuade him to come out from under their decking. He was very hungry, thirsty and nervous but no injuries. Thank you all for your tips and help.

Great update! So glad he is back. I put an Apple AirTag on mine and until he took it off down the back of a neighbours shed it was really handy to check where he was and interesting to see where he generally goes.

Fabulous news, so happy he’s home

Excellent news.

I'm so glad he's home! 🥰

I'm so pleased he's home! What a gorgeous cat!

Fab news.