Missing Cat - Any Happy Outcomes?

[Springroll89]

My cat has been missing for 8 days now. He's the sweetest and gentlest fella. We've done the FB threads, knocking on neighbours, flyering. Going to deliver some more today. Walked around calling. Looked for his body on main roads. Etc. I know there are a lot of threads on this topic. I'm just feeling so sad and would love to hear positive stories. We lost a cat on the road a couple of years ago and this actually feels worse. Thanks for listening.

Oh and this week someone posted they had found a cat in the middle of the road between a village and town basically the middle of nowhere. She took said cat (who loved being in the car) to the local 24 HR vets and he was chipped.

On the post someone thought it was their cat who had gone missing TWO years previously, but 35 miles away

Methinks said cat hitched a ride

And I've just seen a cat has been found after going missing for 10 years but they can no longer find the owners 😭

@Springroll89 I saw my friend whose cat went missing for 5 months...it came back fit and healthy, had obviously been fed and looked after!

I have ordered a wildlife camera for the garden to see who is eating the food I put out late at night...

Sending love xxx

Ours was missing for a few days when we were on holiday. Our neighbours were taking care of her and were upset about her disappearing. As we were due back from holiday, they contacted my DM to come over and have a better look for her. No sign of her.

So, when we got home I gave DM a quick ring to say we were home. To my surprise she said she was popping over to see us - an issue with our cat not being seen for a while. When I put the phone down, said cat was waiting by the front door. Admitedly hungry but otherwise happy. When DM arrived I picked up our cat and answered the door. Dm burst into tears - “but your neighbours buried her last week!”

They had found a dead cat that looked like mine. Same distinctive colour. The put it in a sack and buried it in a private wood at the back of our houses. Marked the spot and got in touch with DM to break the news.

We notified our neighbours via a note through the front door which they found the following morning - “Fizz cat has returned from the dead and is happily residing back at number 8”. They can come back! Even when “buried”.

I hadn’t seen mine for ten weeks and he wandered back into the kitchen this morning!

Ours was gone for 10 days once. We thought he was a gonner but a lady let us know via Facebook that a cat matching his description was licking empty tins of dog food from her recycling. She sent us a picture and lo and behold it was him, took the dog for a walk where she lived and later that day he found his way home. He got lost in the rain and couldn’t find his way back until he caught the dogs scent. This was a year ago and he doesn’t venture much further than the back garden now.

More wonderful stories to hold on to. Thank you!

@takingcareofme2023 sorry you're also still going through it. And yes, it's a cliche but it's the not knowing that's the worst part. I haven't been leaving food out as I just assume once he gets near us (if he ever does) he'll come back in. There are 3 other cats here running around who he could smell. He may have forgotten them by now? But I guess I'm not very knowledgeable about how they act in survival mode. I hope you see your cat on the camera 🤞 🤞 and thanks telling us about your friend. 5 months. Wowsers!

Thanks for the advice about posters. Colour ones printed. Laminator, plastic wallets things and cable ties have all arrived ready for me to have a go at them on my day off tomorrow.

I've contacted a local cat charity who manage a feral cat colony in a minimum security prison a few miles away. Apparently you can't go in and check (for obvious reasons) but they've shared the photos. Maybe Arthur has shacked up with a friendly inmate and is getting a tattoo as we speak.

Still hoping and praying for you and me @takingcareofme2023 and all the other missing cats🙏 🙏

Now I’m going to start by saying that I don’t believe in any of this at all but…. I got home today and couldn’t find my girl anywhere. I went out and called for her, nothing. I’d not seen her for about 12 hours so was getting a little anxious. So I said a silent prayer to St Francis and asked him to make sure she was safe and let me know. That very second she trotted into the kitchen, looked at me, meowed, and went out again.

Don’t give up OP. I lost my cat one November. After looking for a year I saw him twice from afar so knew he was in the area and 3.5 years later the vet called
me to say a lady had been feeding him and had brought him in to see if he was owned. He was only three roads away all the time.

Don’t give up OP. I lost my cat one November. After looking for a year I saw him twice from afar so knew he was in the area and 3.5 years later the vet called
me to say a lady had been feeding him and had brought him in to see if he was owned. He was only three roads away all the time.

Thanks @Handeyethingyowl just seeing him would be a dream.

And don't worry @WonderfulSmith you're preaching to the converted. Literally. St Francis has been on notice for some time x

Our cat went missing for about 10 days once, ( long time ago)
Did all the posters, leaflets through doors etc, was so upsetting and had got to the stage where we thought we would never see him again. Then suddenly he turned up, covered in sticky burrs looking disheveled but no weight loss, looks like he'd been on an adventure, he was a hunter and obviously had fed himself.

Thanks again for the positivity. Still nothing here. 6 weeks 😞 I assume no news for you either @takingcareofme2023 I wish we'd both get some news. It feels like we never really had him x

No news here either 😔😔 Sending love xxxx

The trail camera showed the neighbour's cat coming for a midnight feast, as I suspected so I'm just putting unwashed clothes on line and in her box under the bushes now. Lots of fields and hedgerows at the back of us, I'm hoping she could be in survival mode and out there, and will come back when the weather gets colder...the internet tells me a lot of cats do reappear then...but it's hard clinging onto hope but also feeling I need to be realistic and move on. So hard not knowing what's happened, how can she have just vanished so completely?? Xxxx

I'm sorry @takingcareofme2023 And yeah it's all we can do. I had stopped with the unwashed laundry but have been advised to keep doing it.

I even got accepted to adopt a kitten. Beautiful tabby boy. I was thinking maybe if I do something that suggests I think he isn't coming home, then he will turn up! But I've seen sense and decided to leave it for longer. The cats protection place suggested at least 2 months which is a hopeful sign in itself as they so obviously have a lot of experience with cats turning up after a long time. I was also thinking that to adopt such a cute perfect tabby to replace my tabby isn't the best thing to do as I had told myself if we adopted again the next one would be black as they are less popular. Whereas this tabby would have dozens of people asking for him. I wonder whether black or black and white are the least popular? I see both mentioned but I find it hard to believe it's black and white as I've had 2 tuxedo girls and I personally think they are the most beautiful of all. Although black cats - also gorgeous.

We did have a possibly hopeful sighting yesterday (yet more lovely and helpful people). The photo at least looked the most like him we've seen. Hard to tell though as it wasn't very clear. I did my usual performance of walking the streets in that area (about a mile away) at dusk shouting ARTHUR!!! I swear if I kick the bucket the kids in this area will tell halloween tales about the scary and insane woman wandering the roads at night calling for her cat 🤦

Last week a guy messaged me on FB messenger saying "I MAY have your cat. Are they still missing?". When I checked his profile he looked like a leary teenager out with his mates and it said he was based far away and he hadn't just sent a photo of the cat, so I thought he was setting me up to take the piss and blocked him. Anyway separately I saw his posts and contacted him. Asked him if he had contacted me and it was him. Apparently he hadn't used FB since he was a teenager and is now in his mid 30s so best not to judge a fb contact by it's cover! His found cat did look a lot like Arthur but was at a vets and they wouldn't let me see him as they said he is a lot older. Would have been nice to have chance the chance to check for sure, but fair enough I guess.

Sending more love xxx

What a rollercoaster! Really hope the little sod strolls in any day now💐

Allow me to tell you a story to pass the time while you wait.

Most evenings I go for a walk around our estate. As a cat lover I know all the local cats and talk to them all on my way. One day I saw a black and white cat I didn’t know. He came running over to me yowling. He wasn’t a cat I knew but I gave him a stroke and chatted to him. He started to follow me. The whole time yowling. I’ve never seen a cat cry but I know cats really well and he was crying. Honestly, like a human wailing and distressed. He followed me to the top of the road. I took some pictures and a video and posted it on the local missing cats facebook page.

About ten minutes later a guy contacted me and said he knew this cat and it was his neighbours. He sent me pictures as confirmation. The cat had been missing for a month. He lived right the other side of town which involves crossing a river, no way the cat could have got from there to here on his own.

It turned out that someone had found him close to wear he lived and posted him as a missing cat. Someone else collected him and took him home to my estate. She then realised he wasn’t her cat and he escaped. He then wandered the estate and nearby woodlands lost until I found him. The man who collected him sent me pictures of him and his elderly owner being reunited

Thanks @WonderfulSmith that's a lovely story. The poor distressed kitty. Me and @takingcareofme2023 certainly seem to have some time to pass 😔

Still hoping for a miracle. I've recently heard a couple of stories of microchips coming out so that has worried me. I hope you're ok @takingcareofme2023 x

Just been reading this thread in the hope it’s good news for everyone.
Our dcat went at yesterday afternoon and hasn’t been seen since. She doesn’t go out much usually so very unlike her.
I’ve posted on a number of local facebook pages, been to see neighbours and posted a note through letter box of those not at home. Litter tray is outside back door. Have logged her as missing on microchip website.
She’s so good at coming in when called usually. We’ve called and called, and shook dreamies but not sign of her so far.
Is there anything else I can do?
It’s so heartbreaking, she’s such a character always following me around when I work from home.

I'm sorry @Snozzlemaid you seem to be doing the right things. There are loads of things that are suggested. Obviously asking all the neighbours to check their sheds etc (which it sounds like you've done). Going out in the early hours with a torch and looking for her then. Leaving unwashed laundry outside.

I really hope she's back before you have to think about posters and flyers over a larger area. The FB groups are really helpful. It's only been a day and I know you're frantic (I was after just one day) but it's likely she will just turn up. Keeping everything crossed for you. Let us know when she shows up. We need some good news on this thread! Xx

Thank you @Springroll89
I really hope we both get some good news soon.
If she comes back she will be grounded for sure.

Can’t stop crying today. Thank god I work from home. Went out checking when it was quiet last night and rang all the vets in our area today.
It’s just so unbearable not knowing if she’s suffering somewhere.
I keep seeing her things around the house and it’s so painful today. Thinking that at some point I’m going to have to pack it all away. 🥺
Im not feeling at all positive today. I don’t think I’m ever going to see her gorgeous little face again.

@Springroll89 @Snozzlemaid Sending love and solidarity. No news here 😞 xx

I'm so sorry @Snozzlemaid it's just so heartbreaking. I really hope she turns up 🙏 🙏

Sorry you don't have any news either @takingcareofme2023 xx