Lost cat. :(
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So my very fearful cat who never strays too far from the house has been gone nearly 24 hours now and I'm just beside myself. I've tried calling her, shaking her food bowl outside and I also took her cat bed and wiped her smell all over the area.
My biggest fear is that she's been hit by a car or attacked by another cat and can't get home...
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Oh no! I'm sorry to hear about this! I personally own a dog, not a cat, but I'll help the best I can. I was going to suggest the scent thing but I see you already have done that. Can you put some items outside your house that has the scent of you and/or your family on it? Just to put some more familiar scents outside if nothing else.
I'd definitely hang up some signs around the neighborhood mentioning a lost cat with her picture. I had found a dog in my neighborhood one time and since it was too late and cold, I had her spend the night at my house. The next morning, I hung some "Lost Dog" signs on the stop signs of my neighborhood and literally, right when I hung the last sign, I got a call from her owner. It seriously may help.
My last suggestion is to post on Facebook groups. There's a Lost Pet group in my local area and I had posted the dog's picture there too. People truly do share those posts and try to help spread the word of a lost pet! I know your cat is fearful and it may be tricky, but the least people can do is let you know if they've seen a cat that looks like her near them!
[edit] And one more thing. Do you have any local animal shelters? My animal shelter has been getting involved with lost pets and have been posting pictures of found pets onto their Facebook page to help spread awareness of a lost pet. Perhaps you can check in with the local shelters to see if anyone has turned in a cat, and give them your contact info and a picture of your cat in case someone does later?
I left a bunch of her stuff out for her, and spend nearly the entire day outside talking to neighbors, calling her name and just in general looking for her. I'm pretty sure she's either scared to death and something is blocking her way home... Or, I fear... something happened to her and she can't get home.
She's such a skiddish cat so I'm not sure anyone would be able to get close enough to her to be able to catch her.
One of my neighbors told me her cat ran off for 3 days and they found her in a wood pile nearby. I spent a while there just observing but if she's in there she won't come out.
Tomorrow I'll try putting some wet cat food out to see if I can coax her out... If she's even there.
My heart is just breaking thinking of her out in the cold.
Thank you so much for your suggestions. I'm so glad you found your baby! It's horrible for a cat but I can't even imagine if I lost my dog...
Yea I wasn't sure if someone would be able to catch her if she's skittish, but perhaps someone will either post online or reach out to you if they happen to see her in their area? My friend did this when her dog was missing and since they hung up signs with pictures of her, a family had called my friend stating that they found a dog that looked just like her. It ended up being her dog. She had made it 10 miles away from home and was gone almost a week!
Out of curiosity, how old is your cat?
And I actually didn't lose my dog; I found someone else's dog during the winter. I hadn't seen any lost dog signs so I hung up some signs that said "Found Dog" and ultimately the owner saw my signs and called me.
My best friend has a real scaredy cat too. I'm so sorry this happened to you and your cat, and I hope she's back safely at home soon. People in my town report missing pets to the local police who notify the town listserv and post photos on social media. You may want to do this depending on your community's practices.
Sorry for not responding sooner, I've been spending the majority of my time searching and handing out flyers. She's 6 years old. She's been with us since she was 1. (She was a feral cat we rescued from poisoning.) So she's always been a little skiddish but never to the point where she'd run away. That's so awesome that the story ended well.
I went ahead and called all the local vets and the shelter to make sure she wasn't already there. She's not...
Tonight, I was chatting with a neighbor and we both heard a very faint meow in the bushes, but no matter how much I called she didn't come. I don't know if it was her or not but it sure sounded like her...Thank you both for the support, it's nice to have people try to find solutions.