Lost dcat during house move

[tt2]

And devastated. I can't enjoy my new house as I'm so upset.

2 cats, missing dcat is 3. Other dcat is 1 and very calm personality, walks straight into a carrier no issues.

Plan was to take them to my friends house the day before the move, so that they weren't in the way or distressed. Both are house cats.

Missing dcat wouldn't go in a carrier, kept running away. I managed to bundle her up into a towel, but as I put her in the car she dashed off and hasn't been seen since.

I feel so guilty, I should have put her in a carrier.

I've left note for the new owner, spoke to my neighbours and left notes for the neighbours that weren't home.

The thought of dcat coming back home and us not being there is breaking my heart. I think if she comes back "home" and there is someone else there she will be scared and run off anyway.

Just needed to get it out as I'm so upset and feel incredibly guilty. I wish I never moved.

Make sure you contact the microchip database & update your contact details ASAP.
Can you go back & put up posters locally?

How far have you moved? Can you keep going back to look for her?

This happened to some friends of mine when they moved. The new owners would call them when they saw her in the garden and eventually they managed to catch her and take her to the new house!

Likelihood is she will turn up back there.. as PP said make sure microchip details are up to date. Share on missing cat sights locally etc to try and get her home!

Oh no, how dreadful.
Will the new owners let you go back and sit in the garden?
Would they let you sprinkle some of her litter tray in the garden?

Keep bombarding the neighbours.
Post on facebook missing cat groups.
Inform the local vets.
Make sure chip details are up to date.
Put up posters.

My experience is that wayward cats have a tendency to come home around sunrise so try to look for her then.

Is there a cat flap at the old house? Can the new owners set it so the cat can't get out and you leave a pet carrier with them.

When my neighbour moved her cat returned to next door but then came in my house, I didn't catch him before he got out the cat flap though.

I would absolutely do this for someone, either try to get them in the carrier or keep them in the house until the owner comes. I'd ask them if they will do this OP.

Have you a local FB page you can post on too, in case anyone else sees her?

The house doesn't have a cat flap, she was an indoor cat so never needed one. I thought she would come to the door yesterday am before we left but never did.

I don't know the new owners but have left them a note, neighbours will keep an eye out.

Moved to the other side of town. I guess I could keep going back and calling for her, worried about making new owners uncomfortable too.

Will update microchip details, can't explain how devastated I am. I didn't want to leave without her but had no choice

I wouldn't be worried about making the new owners uncomfortable- go and get your cat. Take dreamies to rattle and something that smells of her.

I'm so sorry to hear this. My dcat went missing years ago during a house move - it turned out she was hiding in a small cavity inside a bed, and after at least an hour of searching and rattling kibbles, she suddenly appeared in a bedroom.

I think there is a very good chance this will end with you and dcat being reunited. It may take a bit of time, but her instinct will be to return home, to your old house. So everything you have done is right, and I would continue to be in touch with the new owners and your neighbours. For instance, can you leave some food and a cat carrier with the new owners, who can perhaps help entice her in? Maybe you could also put up some posters up in the neighbourhood. As others have said, ensure your microchip details are up to date, in case she ends up at a shelter or at a veterinary practice.

I've never used one, but you can buy live-capture traps for cats. She'll be hungry, and might be enticed into one left overnight in neighbours' garden with some sardines?

I'm so sorry to hear this happened, I have house cats too. I really hope to hear you’re reunited soon.
I have read somewhere that if you leave their litter tray out for them they can smell it and will return to it. Can you leave a tray in a neighbours garden if not your old garden?
Sending a hug and hoping for them to return soon 🐱

I have just started fostering for a local rescue. See if there’s one in your area they usually have people who have traps and can get them or loan you a trap and have loads of tips. They also say that they stay close to home and aren’t normally far away and you should put food down at the same time each day. If it’s an unneutered boy however they apparently have a tendency to roam to find some female cats.

She probably hasn’t gone far , you need to go back at dusk and call her . Ask the new owners if you can put out some used litter / a blanket or some such item . It really does need to be you or a family member she’s used to that does the hunting for her . Call round all the local vets , do flyers and leaflet drop your old area , post on the local FB site .

Oh that's awful. You really need to keep going back and searching for her. If she's not been outside before then she's not even going to know which house is (was) hers.

Not sure where you are but it's been very cold this week and she could die outside in these temperatures. Especially as in indoor kitty she won't know how to take care of herself.

Making the new owners uncomfortable wouldn't even enter my head!!! I'd be there now.

Have you posted on local FB groups?

Me too

I have updated the microchip, I don't have Facebook but will get a friend to post for me on a local group.

I'm going to find out about getting some sort of trap and ask my old neighbours to put in their gardens?

If she goes "home" and the new owners try and let her in, I've no doubt she'd run off- that's what she's like she's a great big scaredy cat.

I'm devastated. I'm trying my best, I understand what you are all saying about being there at dusk every day calling her but I also work full time with a big commute, I'm not going to be able to do this. I'm on my own with my children as well and a baby. It's a great big mess I just want dcat back :(

An indoor cat won't go far, go back when it's dark and sit in the garden and wait, no way would I just leave her out there, she'll be terrified.

Seriously, we would all be parked outside the old house and would have been there all day. We would have visited all the ex neighbours and plagued the bejesus out of the new owners.

A friend of mines cat went missing recently and this worked! Definitely worth a go I’m sure the new owners would understand

This happened to one of ours during a house move. We’d moved about 5 miles away, so kept going back and calling out etc. She turned up after a few weeks (I can’t remember now, maybe 2 or 3) and a neighbour caught her and called us. They come back, be persistent. I don’t know what she did during that time. She was the loveliest cat.

More reason to go round and see the new owners and explain. Don't worry about bothering them unless they tell you to go away, they may be the thing you need to catch your cat. Hopefully they are pet lovers 🤞

Ime go back to your old neighbours and knock on every door. Also them to check their garden while you wait... Dd had a poor moggy under a bush for a few nights... He was a well loved indoor dcat who had escaped. He had literally gone over 1 fence...

That is so sad OP. Just a thought but if she was an indoor cat would she know which was your old house to go back to? It might be worth putting up some posters in the area because she probably won't go hugely far but she might have run off and not know how to get back to your house - and so might be found by someone a little further away. (Not sure if she would still find her way back but just a thought!). I really hope you find her OP.