[daveaka]

Ive had two house cats (Lola 3yrs old and her son Mani 2yrs old) for a nearly 2 years now, myself and the GF adopted them from the local shelter. Yesterday I was distracted by a few crows that have decided to take nest in the shed.

I forgot to close the door and my female tabby wandered out onto the garden. I slowly approached her but she ran off and jumped a wall into the grave yard at the back of our house , this was 11.00AM yesterday .

I haven't seen her since... Our house is surrounded by fields, woods and a church, apart from two hours sleep, Ive been pounding the streets. Will she come back ? how long do cats normally stop out??..Whats the maximum your cat has stayed outside? .

Before we adopted she was an outdoor cat, she got pregnant and as far as I know both her and mani were rather good outdoors, she is just really timid and I doubt even if I saw her, I wouldn't be able to catch her.....Iam totally gutted at the moment..

[mjn]

Cats have been known to roam for a couple of miles, but i doubt she has gone that far. I would go into your garden, call her name, and either tap a knife of cat food tin, if she'd fed from tins, or rattle her food tub, if she is fed dry food. Spend some time in your garden, she may appear if she hears you.

[mikeycubed]

It might be worthwhile knocking on neighbours doors and asking to check their sheds and garages. Our cat Smudge went missing a few years back, he was gone for about 4 weeks and we had almost given up on him but we were coming home one night from work and heard him crying at the door.
We suspect he had been nosing in someone's shed or such like and got himself locked in

I hope she turns up soon mate, I'm sure once the novelty has worn off she'll be back home for some food and TLC.

Best of luck

Mike

[Nimby]

You may be very lucky and see your cat again.

First we lost two brothers of the three kittens we rescued.

Then we lost the last one after seven years of clockwork like behaviour. He spent more time outside than in but never missed coming home for breakfast.

We put up notices in the supermarkets with a large picture but those who contacted us all had completely the wrong cat.

We still check the supermarket noticeboards everywhere we go and there are always cats missing on every one.

There are online cat charities which show cats which have been "rescued". Sometimes there are over 50 cats with pictures looking for a new home. They must put down hundreds a year due to lack of space and lack of interest in the stupidly high prices they demand. (after having a vet "fix" them prior to sale)

There is a huge loss of cat life on the roads. We see dead cat's almost every time we go out in the car.

Even two years later we still hope we see ours again but it is very unlikely.

If they don't get run over being shut in is the most likely reason for loosing a cat.

Anyone feeling sorry for a stray should never feed it or someone else will lose their much loved pet cat.

[daveaka]

Thanks for your well wishes, it just worries me that she will come back and we aren't in. We can't leave the door open when we aren't here as the other cat may sneak out.
Hopefully she will tire of her adventure and come home. She is probably having a great time whilst we are worrying ourselves sick.

[funkyspider]

Originally Posted by Nimby

You may be very lucky and see your cat again.

That's it, stay positive !

Originally Posted by Nimby

We see dead cat's almost every time we go out in the car.

Must be the way you drive, I've seen maybe 2 or 3 in my entire life. You don't see live ones through the windscreen and dead ones in the rear view mirror by any chance do you ?

Originally Posted by Nimby

Anyone feeling sorry for a stray should never feed it or someone else will lose their much loved pet cat.

Surely if it's already a stray then by definition it's either lost or decided not to go back to it's owner anyway. I get your jist, but there's stray and 'just gone out for a walk'

[mjn]

Originally Posted by funkyspider

Surely if it's already a stray then by definition it's either lost or decided not to go back to it's owner anyway. I get your jist, but there's stray and 'just gone out for a walk'

Exactly, a stray is very different from a cat just on his daily business, walking around their neighbourhood.

[eric pisch]

Was it chiped?

Let the local RPSCA know or which ever organisation locally is responsable for collecting "free" animals

Putting up some signs with a cash reward can be handy, my friend got his cat back when it got lost, some kids found it miles away wandering in some fields and spent ages trying to catch it for the reward money.

Some cats do like to be feral or semi feral, our first cat was a mature rescued cat and it would spends days out.

[IAN P]

[quote=Nimby;6854876]

There is a huge loss of cat life on the roads. We see dead cat's almost every time we go out in the car.

Crazy drivers down your neck of the woods,or what

[dng007]

As has already been mentioned - aside from walking round the nearby fields and woods - spend time out in your garden when you can, and call her, shake her food, etc.

I'd leave some dry food out by the back door too (though of course another cat might eat it rather than yours).

Cats are naturally very adept at finding their way back, so try and remain positive. We've had this happen before with one or two of our cats; one time we took our cat with us when we visited my grandparents, and after a couple of days had to go home again (150 miles) without him. A week later my granddad called to say he'd turned up meowing one evening and he had him.

So don't give up hope, but I know how anxious you'll be feeling - hope she comes back soon.

[waring192]

put some posters up around. We found a stray cat and put posters up and the owners called us up later that day!

Also my mother then house cat got out once and went missing for 3 days. We were about to give up but my mum had one last look. She found him about 40ft-45ft (no joke) up a tree! There was no braches for the 1st 15ft or so it couldnt get down. In the end we had to get a tree surgion to get him down so keep an eye up in the trees.

They also tend to go quiet if they are scared so have a propper look in bushes etc beacause they might not reply to you calling.

Good luck though, hope you find her

[AJUK]

My nans cat went missing for days once, turned up with a different collar on

[daveaka]

Cheers peeps,

The GF made a load of posters so Ive distributed them around the neighborhood. We have them insured and the policy covers up to £600 reward (Didn't mention an amount on the poster). Ive also contacted the vet shelter which we adopted from, I was going to ask for the previous owners phone no., just to inquire about her previous outside behavior but just my luck they are on holiday for a few days..

Big poker game tonight at a mates house so Iam going to play, Ill just feel a bit useless sitting around the house, with my concentration at the moment though, I may loose a few quid

[johntheexpat]

Go out the back at regular intervals and call her name loudly. If she's anything like the cats round here she's on heat at the moment and that is the over-riding thing which is causing the dirty trollops to stay out all night, but if she can regularly get her bearings she should return. And do check sheds and empty buildings too.

Good luck.

[Golf_turbo]

Originally Posted by daveaka

Cheers peeps,

The GF made a load of posters so Ive distributed them around the neighborhood. We have them insured and the policy covers up to £600 reward (Didn't mention an amount on the poster). Ive also contacted the vet shelter which we adopted from, I was going to ask for the previous owners phone no., just to inquire about her previous outside behavior but just my luck they are on holiday for a few days..

Big poker game tonight at a mates house so Iam going to play, Ill just feel a bit useless sitting around the house, with my concentration at the moment though, I may loose a few quid

Why didn't you mention the amount???

When ever i see a poster for a lost pet and it has "cash reward" i always think it won't be much and always imagine it will be someone like my nan when she used to give me 50p and "say don't spend it all at once"

Honestley If I saw £600 reward, I would start looking for it. Forget where I am going, this is £600 lol!

Good luck in your poker too dude

[daveaka]

Originally Posted by johntheexpat

Go out the back at regular intervals and call her name loudly. If she's anything like the cats round here she's on heat at the moment and that is the over-riding thing which is causing the dirty trollops to stay out all night, but if she can regularly get her bearings she should return. And do check sheds and empty buildings too.

Good luck.

A few people have told me it is that time of the year when a female/male look to mate, Glad she has been spayed but supposedly they still have the instinct to mate. I cant help but think of the episode on Southpark, where Cartmans cat is in heat so it, goes out for a good time and invites all the neighbourhood cats back to the house for an orgy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh-KCRmDlqk

Oh Cheers Golf Turbo, but Ive just found out the insurance only covers the reward money up to the price you paid for the pet, and since ours was a rescue cat and on a kind of 2 for 1 deal she didn't cost v much. I certainly don't mind adding to the amount though..

P.S, Am I allowed to post that vid, if not mods please remove...

Regards

Dave A

[brian s]

We lost one of ours for several days. We went round the area calling for her with various bits of food. We found her eventually.

Best of luck mate
Bri

[IronGiant]

One of our cats used to spend most of his time away from home doing his own thing, sometimes for weeks at a time, occasionally he'd remember where he lived and drop in to let us know he still loved us. Probably something to do with the little old lady down the road who used to buy whiskers for any cat that turned up at her door, whereas his cheapskate owners only fed him on Tesco's. Saved us a fortune in food though. I hope that your cat is enjoying a similar experience and will pop home when she's ready to.

Dave

[signs]

Let me just say I'm not the biggest fan of cats, but this might help, a bit...

Years and years ago when i was a kid we had a family cat ,the stupid thing would often sit on the bonnet of my dads car to get a cheeky warm

anyway one day i was in the passenger seat of the car (dad was driving, i was eleven ) it wasn't till i was fifteen i got the 8 points ...anyway i digress

we were about five miles from home when we heard a bang and clatter ,my dad looked in the mirror and said he saw something fly across the road we didn't stop

as you have probably guessed by now the cat had gone to sleep in the engine compartment and fell out

to cut a long and dull story short ,it came back two weeks later .....yipee






anyway must go ,looks like the wife has finished watching Eastenders

[wellladida]

the most important thing is that she was an outdoor cat and means that she will not be totally bemused by the outside world and shoud remotely street wise(staying away from cars etc.) cat have quite a good tendency of remembering where they live once though she might be having the time of her life out there shell get hungry and will want he wiskas meaty what ever. remember nothings goods gonna happen if you worry stay posotive though thats hard always think of ways you can get her(?) back.

[daveaka]

A neighbor called tonight saying she saw a cat fitting the picture on our posters roaming outside her house, the food we left out is gone, so Iam not giving up hope just yet... Oh and Won two poker games .

[eric pisch]

Originally Posted by daveaka

A neighbor called tonight saying she saw a cat fitting the picture on our posters roaming outside her house, the food we left out is gone, so Iam not giving up hope just yet... Oh and Won two poker games .

Thats good to hear

[The Snake]

I had a cat go missing for 6 months once. Came back when we got another cat (same day).

As stated try the RSPCA, or local cat rescue.

See www.catchat.org

Find your local cat rescue and contact them.

[daveaka]

Well we still havent caught sight of her personally but out neighbour saw her under a pile of rumble in their garden.
I have had a look and have seen some tufts of her hair stuck to the concrete so I think she is close by.
We will keep the doors open again tonight with some tasty grub and hope we can persuade her to come home.

Thanks to everyone for your support, we'll keep you posted.

[brian s]

Originally Posted by daveaka

Well we still havent caught sight of her personally but out neighbour saw her under a pile of rumble in their garden.
I have had a look and have seen some tufts of her hair stuck to the concrete so I think she is close by.
We will keep the doors open again tonight with some tasty grub and hope we can persuade her to come home.

Thanks to everyone for your support, we'll keep you posted.

Nice but not great news. Still hoping for the best.
Bri

[brian s]

Originally Posted by daveaka

We will keep the doors open again tonight with some tasty grub and hope we can persuade her to come home.

A thought. If you leave the door open with food on the go she might come in, eat and go back out. If the door is closed she may want to try again later when you're there and can then keep her in. That's apart from the potential burglers coming in.

All the very best
Bri

[DJT75]

Hope she comes back for you mate My old cat went missing for a week & was found by a neighbour, think he got stuck in a shed or something.

One question though - if both cats had formerly been outside, why did you take the decision to turn them into house cats? Surely both would be trying to escape at any given opportunity?

[daveaka]

^^Mainly due to me and the other half working full time + they are a lot safer indoors. We haven't had any trouble or attempted escapes with our cats until now. They never seemed to have any real interest with going outside, no crying etc...Maybe if they did we would have installed a cat flap and let them go out...

[DJT75]

Originally Posted by daveaka

^^Mainly due to me and the other half working full time + they are a lot safer indoors. We haven't had any trouble or attempted escapes with our cats until now. They never seemed to have any real interest with going outside, no crying etc...Maybe if they did we would have installed a cat flap and let them go out...

Fair enough, it might be an idea to think about it for the future, cats are pretty independant but also mostly very loyal. My cats love going outside but generally don't roam far at all. They love us being in the garden with them so on a summers day they hang around with us for hours.. I had an indoor cat when I lived in a flat for a while, as soon as I moved into a house he was far happier..

[daveaka]

Wow, just got her back!, I borrowed a cat trap this morning and set it up in the garden Ive been checking it every 2 hours and 10 minutes ago she was in there nearly five days later. Thanks loads people, your replies made me feel a lot better.