Can't find new rescue cat

[KvotheTheBloodless]

Help! We adopted a pair of 4 year old cats from a local rescue whose owner couldn't keep them due to a change in circumstances. One (a little tortie) is very timid, and hasn't been out in the open much, preferring to hide under the bed, in corners etc. The other (bigger ginger) is much more confident and into everything.

The issue: I saw our wee tortie this morning around 8am, but haven't seen her since, despite searching the house and putting out food and treats. I can't think how she could have got out, all the doors and windows are closed, but I can't find her anywhere

I've looked under beds, on top of things, in cupboards etc. It's a large house but not ridiculously big.

How can I tempt her out? Or even just find where she is? I'm so worried she's somehow done a ninja sneak past me when I went out on the school run, even though I was careful.

Awwww. Everything crossed that she's just hiding. If she's small, check spaces you think are too small for a small cat to hide in. Kick boards in the kitchen sort of thing ... They are so squishy. But maybe just give it a little bit more time and hopefully she'll appear.

She is probably hiding. I lost mine when I first got them and thought they had climbed out of the upstairs window. But they ended up being squished behind the drawers underneath my son's bed where I had already looked, but in a hard to see spot. Hope you find her soon.

Thanks both. I hope she's around somewhere, she's so little!

On a 3rd day in my home my new rescue Calico cat managed to get into a utility cupboard then under the floor boards through a small gap where the pipes came out.

I thought I had lost her and that she was going to get stuck under the floorboards and die.

She appeared a couple of hours later after I put food near the gap and I managed to grab her.

I have also found her in my wardrobe, in drawers, the laundry basket...

Basically cats are very good at hiding and usually re-appear when they want food.

I looked after my friend's cats once and lost them both for seven hours, no food or treats brought them running even though they were normally greedy pigs. I was absolutely distraught and about to make the dreaded phone call telling my friend they must have both escaped when I brought the shopping in.

Nope, both were snuggled up under the duvet in the spare room and they had somehow managed to flatten themselves so there were no visible lumps.

If you have a wildlife or ring-type camera have it pointed at their food bowls so you can see if she comes out to eat at least. They really can be little beggers at times

Cats really are so good at hiding! I hope they reappear soon! 😻

Mine have all at various times discovered that they can get inside the covers of my sofa. You have to pull it away from the wall & try to see if there are any suspicious bulges, in the hopes they hadn't actually crawled into the recliner mechanism (which has happened in the past)!

Even now I've lost Girlcat on occasion, I've found most of her places over the years but there's still at least one I haven't discovered yet.

Cats love a hidey-hole. I “lost” our cat when he’d lived with us for about a year. I was actually bewildered where he could be - he does go out but I knew he was in the house at the time and hunted everywhere for him. He was under the throw on the armchair (which no-one ever sits on) in the living room, having a lovely snooze! Now he goes in there quite regularly and if you go over and say “where’s Louie?” he miaows to say he’s there.

Found our tiny 'Minnie' behind some suitcases. There was only a couple of inches of space!

I found our lost kitten hiding behind a book on the book shelf after looking for hours I was frantic thinking he's got out. He was having a good snooze

Took me 24 hours to find one of mine when I first got them. Once I realised she was safe, I left her too it. She appeared about a week later, after dark. Her sister was unimpressed as she dominated from then on.

Mine was on the kitchen worktop, hiding behind the mug tree when I lost her.

She was also found behind the fridge in a gap I had no idea she could get into.

Oh, and once about a decade later she was accidentally shut into the airing cupboard - she must have gone exploring when I changed the bed sheets....

I pulled our house apart and searched the neighbourhood all day for our little tabby kitten girl - she eventually strolled out of a cupboard where I had definitely looked already three times...

But not before I had thought 'Have I seen her since I put the washing machine on?!' 😱 and emergency stopped it and hauled it all, hot and soaking, over the kitchen floor...

(And it was a Coloureds wash too... 😁)

She will have squeezed in the tiniest of spaces. If you have free standing wardrobes have you checked there? 🩷

I lost our rescue cat once when she was new to us and she was in the pan cupboard in the kitchen! Must have jumped in and I’d not noticed

Ours have shelved themselves with the books, tucked themselves behind books, somehow got onto the top of the kitchen cupboards, squeezed into a drawer full of Lego that I’d have sworn was too full, my undies drawer, my wardrobe, in my handbag, inside DH’s coat sleeve, in between hanging clothes on the heated airer, behind the loo, on top of the net curtains, in the plate cupboard in a bowl (I wish I had photos), in the tumble dryer…

I have a friend whose new kittens hide INSIDE the sofa! They ripped a bit of stitching underneath to get in.

We once tried to adopt a feral cat and she disappeared for a few days. Then we decided to put on a movie and she jumped out of the VCR cabinet! In the end my Mum gave her to a farmer cat and she became a barn cat.

We have adopted 3 street cats, a bonded pair and another one separately. The female of the bonded pair (also a tortie) will not come anywhere near us or in the house. She has an outdoor house and a shelter for her food.

Is she back yet?

@KvotheTheBloodless Too late now, but you should keep new cats confined to one room only for at least two weeks. A whole house or flat can be overwhelming for them at first. (I'm saying this for the benefit of anyone reading who might be about to get a new cat or kitten). A frightened cat will hide, so there is a fair chance she is hiding, and cats are really good at hiding. I pray she is hiding. If not, I pray she is microchipped.

My calico is 19 and still goes missing in the house - after 19 years you would think she had exhausted all hiding places, but no!

Did you find her, @KvotheTheBloodless ? 🤞

Yes! She was behind the skirting board in the kitchen cabinet, she'd somehow managed to sneak through a tiny gap by the washing machine. I'm SO relieved!

Sneaky little puss. You won't worry as much next time!

My two rescue boys sleep up inside my sofa, they retreated there when they first came home and choose to sleep there now despite having 2 cosy beds they could use!

This little princess did the same the day after she came home. Searched for hours, I felt sick with worry. She was under the recliner sofa.