General Chat

Hi all My cat has gone missing, last seen at 4:00am this morning. Not been back in for food/shelter from the rain. Never done this before, is ALWAYS here when I get up every morning and usually waiting for me when I get in from work. I have spent all evening walking round the streets in the rain shouting him and looking for him. Also crying everytime I think of some terrible thing that could have happened to him. Is this normal behaviour or is it just me? People from work have said 'oh he'll come back in a few days' and such like but I am devastated and convinced he is gone, never to return. I know he is just a cat, but to someone who lives on their own like me, he is like family to me! Anyone else ever gone through this? Sam

OOOh I'm soo sorry, I know what you're going through. I had a beautiful long haired dark grey female cat, that i absolutely addored, she went out one night and never came back, to be honest i still get weepy when i think of her. I would like to think some nice people saw her and took her home, but who knows. I hope yours comes back, may just be hiding from the rain. All the best with your search. Lisax

Me too Sam. One of mine ran away when I was on holiday. She was a pedigree and never wandered far from home so I was worried sick about her. She did eventually come back after about 5 days. I worry about the two I have now if they are gone more than a couple of hours because they don't usually go far either. I don't have children so they are my babies and I would be devastated if anything happened to them. I hope yours turns up soon. Mel

Thanx to you all, I'm glad it's not just me! People without pets don't really understand and look at me like I'm mad but I know my cat and like I said before, he has NEVER done this before so I know something has happened. At least I have not found any dead cats at the side of the road so thats a small comfort. Will try phonig the Vet tomorrow, there is one about 100 yards from my house so don't know why I didn't think of this before, hopefully if anything has happened, someone will have taken him there. Sam

Hi Sam - So sorry to hear your cat is missing - I've been through what you are now and it is awful as all sorts of visions go through your mind - I've trudged the streets, in all weathers, and with a torch when it got dark - sometimes I have been lucky - other times unfortunately not. One way I find very useful is to make up a note to put through neighbours letterboxes to ask them to look in their sheds, garages or outbuildings as sometimes our beloved pets are nosey and will go into an open door to have a look, someone comes along and closes the door and oops! I put a typed note with big writing on a 1/2 page through every door on both sides of my road, and all round the block and wayup the road, you never know how far they roam and then decide its too wet to come out and go home. One of my beautiful girls was missing for two days until an elderly lady who doesn't usually have her garage open saw my note and went to check her three! garages as she'd been in with her daughter two days before to get rid of some furniture stored there - she came to get me as she was sure she saw eyes under a cupboard in there and sure enough Blue was hiding under the cupboard and came bounding out when I called her - she was too shy of the lady to come out when she called - but she was really hungry and thirsty as it was middle of summer. As well as the note it is a good idea from Ann - contact your local vets if your cat doesn't return by tomorrow and ask if they have had a cat matching your's description brought in, also try RSPCA in area, Cats Protection League or any animal sanctuary as some good meaning folks may have handed him/her in. The charities/sanctaries/Vets will take your cats description and keep an eye out and also they will know who to contact if someone calls in saying they have found a cat matching your cats description. But don't forget that hopefully when your cat comes home to recall these places to let them know. I send all my best wishes and hopes that your beloved cat comes home or is found soon as mine are family so I understand how you feel about your lovely cat. Good luck Maggie

Hello Sam, If its any help to you i know what you are going through, my lovely Siamese cat, disapeared one night i was totally devastated, i was told two dogs from down the road had escaped and were seem on my property, i thought that the dogs had probably killed her, but i did the whole, notices in vets thing and flyers in peoples letter boxes, i cried and cried even thinking about it now makes me cry, i gave up hope of ever seeming my baby again. Then one day a local vet rang me to say that a woman had found a siamese cat, this was three weeks later mind you, i had to wait hours untill she got home, thinking the whole time it couldnt be her its been too long. Guess what, it was her, you cant imagine how thrilled i was, and how thrilled Perrin (my cat) was to see me, she was so thin, missing a claw and had a few sores, but she was home, I know how you feel Sam, and i wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy, but dont give up hope. Theresa

Oh Sam I know how you feel...Last week R.T. went out at tea time before his dinner and come four houes later he still wasn't home.I was worried sick and kept calling him and taking the dog for walks to try to find him. Nothing, no sign of him. By now it was 11.30pm and he hadn't been seen for7 hours then suddenly there he was, he came out from under some bushes and he was palying with the dragon flies. Still he wouldn't come in as he was having such a good time hunting. It was about 12.30 am when he decided to come in for his dinner and wanted his servant to dish it up for him. Like you I cried and my mind was working overtime. I'm sure given time he will get fed up "playing out " and be only too happy for food and shelter Lynn

Hiya Sam, let us all know if you find him/her.GL! Regards Lisa x

Oh my dareling you must be at your wits end.... my Clic's went missing for 5 days when we first got her and I was beside myself.... contact your local cat protection league and they will lend you a cat trap.... this can be left out at night and if your cat comes looking for the food in there he will get shut in the trap.... it won't hurt him.... one problem is that you may trap other peoples cats!! Please let us know he is safe!!

A neighbour's cat went missing for 3 weeks. Turned out that it had climbed into the nice warm engine compartment of a visiting car which had driven into town (2 miles or so) and jumped out when it parked!

Sam, I'm so sorry. Of course you are not alone we all grieve for a lost pet. They are much more than a dog or cat to us. They are people. My littlest Smidgen was lost in a high gale and like you I walked the Island calling her till all hours of the morning. I had leaflets printed on the computer and I circulated the neighbourhood,I had photos of her on display in friends windows. It is quite a story .My next door neighbour had fallen out with a most unpleasant old man across the way. I think that he spotted Smidgen jumping over Pams wall and decided to get his own back on her,thinking she was Pams cat not mine. When I went round the neighbourhood banging on doors,before I had had a chance to explain what I was calling for he blurted out 'I havn't had her,I would never harm a cat.I love animals'. Very defensive when he had not been accused of anything.That night after dark she was put in my neighbours shed,on the other side of Pams. They saw her from their kitchen window in the morning. They had searched their shed the day before and she had not been in there then. How did she get in there unless someone had put her there. And we all know who we thought had done it. I hope your little one turns up alright Hugs Rose Very much a cat person.

Hello Sam, Have you asked neighbours to check garages and sheds, in case your cat has got locked in one. She may have gone into a garage or shed to shelter from the rain, then the owner of garage or shed, not knowing she is there, locked it.

Sam, is he microchipped? If he isn't, when he comes home - WHEN, not if - can I suggest you go to the vet and do the deed? It's invaluable. Of course, he may be 'chipped already, in which case I'm gabbling on! But as the folks have already said, ring all your your local vets, Cat Protection League and RSPCA. Our latest addition, Topsy, was fostered by us for a couple of weeks while we waited for someone to claim her. The vet said she wasn't chipped. We notified all the above, but they later told us that no-one had come forward. Then she disappeared, so we thought she'd gone back home (owners back from holiday?). I rang the above again, telling them this, but saying if she should be handed in to them with no-one claiming her, could we have her please? And that's exactly what happened! So it does pay to ring round. The local vet rang us, saying she'd been found in the bread store at the local McDonalds. We fostered her for another 4weeks (again, telling the other 2 organisations!) but no-one claimed her, so she's ours - and now microchipped! It's horrible when your pet goes missing; they are part of the family. Chin up, Sam, hope he turns up - and soon. Do ring round. Love (and purrs from our 5), Glenys x

my cat had never been away for a day.but disappeared for two days.was frantic and thought something had happened to him.then he came waltzing in as though nothing had happened.could have killed him!xxxx(:

My cat disapeared as well and just as I had given up she turned up, not very well, but back after six weeks. Jo.

I second the microchip thing.... Zammi was chipped and that's the only way they managed to contact me!! He lost collars every other week. Clicquot is also chipped and has a collar that she likes that has a chip shaped tag on it advising that she is so if found she can be returned home immediately!! I hope there is a positive outcome to this.... Sam please let us know!!

Hi Sam - I know its very hard, but try not to fret too much. Take comfort in that we all know what you are going thru - we've all been there. He may have just curled up somewhere warm out of the miserable weather - or he may have just gone 'roaming', in which case he'll be back when he's hungry. My second cat Coco is a real mummy's girl and a home-lover. I fret like crazy if she not here when I get home from work, and she doesnt turn up for hours on end - this has become a 'once a year' occurance during warm weather. Two weeks ago I bought home two new kittens - Coco has not taken terribly well to this and is spending a lot of time out - one evening I followed her out, only to see her disappearing into the distance towards where my street meets the main road. I rushed back for my key and her 'treats' but 10 minutes of calling failed to bring her back - I sat in here and 'balled my eyes out' full of guilt........ So you can see you are not alone - cats are fickle creatures and can go off without a thought for 'mum' then they stroll back hours or days later without a care in the world and looking bemused at all the fuss. Try not to worry too much sweetie :))

hi sam had my cat for nearly 10 years, last week she went missing for nearly 24 hours, i couldnt sleep, eat etc. she's home now, i panic that much i wont allow her out at night, no matter what. Ive put it down to all these fireworks going off, its been happening for about 2 weeks, so i think they must have gone off while she was out and she was to scared to come out of her hiding place. Sorry to say, if a cat knows its dying or its time, then they go and find a nice resting place, curl up and die, sorry to say that, as i know its upsetting. hope your cat comes back. nichola. S-O-T.

Poor you. One of my cats went missing for just over a week once and I was frantic with worry. The relief when he turned up was overwhelming. One of the girls I worked with went away for a long weekend and when she came back went into her garage and a cat shot out. She felt terrible that she had locked it in unwittingly. I hope your cat turns up safely. Lorrainex