Missing cat

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in
news:h8m9g.11708$8q.781@dukeread08:


"Simba's Mom" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi all - I am so stressed and need people to keep my baby in their
thoughts today. I recently moved into a new house last week and it
backs onto a forest, with few neighbours. Anyway I haven't let my cat
out because I wanted him to become familiar with the territory first on
a leash. However at our old house we had a lot of neighbours, lots of
cat friends would come visit and Simba would go outside all the time
with them, in and out all day long. So yesturday he wouldn't stop
crying to go outside. So we thought ok, he won't go far, he's been
around the yard on leash. So we put him out around 1:00pm. I watched
him from the window and opened the door once in awhile to let him know
I'm there, he likes that.

Around 3:30 I called him, and wondered where he went. At 4:30 I went
outside looking for him through the trees and asked the neighbours if
they've seen him. Nothing! I went out for hours after that, nothing! I
went out at 10:00pm, and every hour after that and constantly called
him from the door every few minutes. Now I'm panicking, I went out at
3:30am and again at 5:00am and then went deep in the forest and across
acres to the neighbours for about an hour at 6:00am. Now it's going on
24 hours and no sign of him. What can I do?? I already put missing
signs up on all the neighbourhood.

Since I just moved here, I haven't met my neighbours all yet and
they'll think I'm nuts, crazy cat lady if I go around asking them to
check their garages. Please keep Simba in your thoughts today, I do
believe in the power of the mind and a higher power.
Thank you!
Simba's Mom


How far do you live from your former home? Be sure check there (and
call your previous neighbors) if it is reasonably close -- even a few
miles. Cats have been known to "return home."

Put out some pungent, scented food at your current home -- tuna,
sardines, etc. -- to help attract your cat. Look *very* carefully at
any hiding place close to your house, even if you have already searched
there. Cats (especially if frightened) can curl up in the tiniest, most
unlikely of places, and they are often close to home in these situations
(the difficulty in your case, of course, being this hasn't been "home"
for very long).

MaryL




They sure have! Every year I here about a cat that wandered home hundreds
of miles. HOW do they do that? Cat GPS? Last year a family moved from
Chicago to L.A. The cat disappeared about a week later and went missing for
three months. Then they got a call from their old neighbor: You're not
gonna believe who just showed up on our doorstep!

Kiran wrote in :

In article om,
Simba's Mom wrote:

: Hi all - I am so stressed and need people to keep my baby in their
: thoughts today. I recently moved into a new house last week and it
: backs onto a forest, with few neighbours. Anyway I haven't let my cat
: out because I wanted him to become familiar with the territory first on
: a leash. However at our old house we had a lot of neighbours, lots of
: cat friends would come visit and Simba would go outside all the time
: with them, in and out all day long. So yesturday he wouldn't stop
: crying to go outside. So we thought ok, he won't go far, he's been
: around the yard on leash. So we put him out around 1:00pm. I watched
: him from the window and opened the door once in awhile to let him know
: I'm there, he likes that.
:
: Around 3:30 I called him, and wondered where he went. At 4:30 I went
: outside looking for him through the trees and asked the neighbours if
: they've seen him. Nothing! I went out for hours after that, nothing! I
: went out at 10:00pm, and every hour after that and constantly called
: him from the door every few minutes. Now I'm panicking, I went out at
: 3:30am and again at 5:00am and then went deep in the forest and across
: acres to the neighbours for about an hour at 6:00am. Now it's going on
: 24 hours and no sign of him. What can I do?? I already put missing
: signs up on all the neighbourhood.
:
: Since I just moved here, I haven't met my neighbours all yet and
: they'll think I'm nuts, crazy cat lady if I go around asking them to
: check their garages. Please keep Simba in your thoughts today, I do
: believe in the power of the mind and a higher power.

Is your new house near the old one? Then he may have found his way
there.

No need to panic yet, but also no harm in informing your new neighbors
gracefully (and also old ones if not too far) that your cat is missing
and you'd appreciate a call if they see any sign.

I hope he has an identifying collar with your phone number?

Maybe hang somethings with your household smells at the back door and
also at the entrance to the yard.

Let us know how it goes.


Funny looks from neighbors, but a dirty sock on the doorknob!

Thanks for your support - I put signs up every where and visited all
the neighbours. No sightings yet. I can't imagine Simba going all the
way back to our old house. That's a 20 hour drive. He usually doesn't
let me out of his sight, he's my baby, very needy of me. Do you really
think he'd go all the way back to our old house?? We move a lot all
over the country and he is used to it by now. He had alot of
neighbourhood cats there tho, but he never left our yard back at the
old place ever!! I would have thought he'd know this was our house now.
I'm so worried now! And the drive up here he wasn't paying attention to
the roads and smells at all. He just would cry until I looked at him in
the kennel and just stare at me the whole drive up, 20 hours. He'd just
reach out to hold my hand, that's how much he needs me. I sure hope he
didn't go all the way back to Ontario. Please keep him in your
thoughts. I have done everything I can. I put our bedding out on the
patio for our scent to blow through the wind, hopefully that helps, if
he's lost.... Gee I sure hope he knows what he's doing!!!!
Thank u, Simba's Mom

Dear Simba's Mom,

Don't give up. We had a cat once that I let walk around our back yard.
Normally, we don't let the cats outside but with this former stray, I'd
take him out once in awhile and stay right with him.

Of course, I made the mistake of letting him out of my sight and he
disappeared. He too, was gone overnight. At one point in his life he was
outside-savvy, but I had no idea now what he'd do or how to find him.

I kept going back in the woodsy area. I knew he had to be around. I went
out at least every hour. I'd call and call and look under bushes. The
next night, I was out there after dark, and I heard a faint cry. I kept
calling and he kept answering. I had to go through thorns and crap to
get to him as he sat and waited for me. He was afraid to come back into
our yard through all of the brambles. I carried him out and that was a
trick in itself -- 14 lbs of cat and I needed both hands to get through
the "jungle."

Keep a vigil, keep going out and canvassing. He might be stuck somewhere
and waiting for you.

Good luck,

Rhonda

Simba's Mom wrote:

Thanks for your support - I put signs up every where and visited all
the neighbours. No sightings yet. I can't imagine Simba going all the
way back to our old house. That's a 20 hour drive. He usually doesn't
let me out of his sight, he's my baby, very needy of me. Do you really
think he'd go all the way back to our old house?? We move a lot all
over the country and he is used to it by now. He had alot of
neighbourhood cats there tho, but he never left our yard back at the
old place ever!! I would have thought he'd know this was our house now.
I'm so worried now! And the drive up here he wasn't paying attention to
the roads and smells at all. He just would cry until I looked at him in
the kennel and just stare at me the whole drive up, 20 hours. He'd just
reach out to hold my hand, that's how much he needs me. I sure hope he
didn't go all the way back to Ontario. Please keep him in your
thoughts. I have done everything I can. I put our bedding out on the
patio for our scent to blow through the wind, hopefully that helps, if
he's lost.... Gee I sure hope he knows what he's doing!!!!
Thank u, Simba's Mom

OceanView wrote:

: Every year I here about a cat that wandered home hundreds
: of miles. HOW do they do that? Cat GPS? Last year a family moved from
: Chicago to L.A. The cat disappeared about a week later and went missing for
: three months. Then they got a call from their old neighbor: You're not
: gonna believe who just showed up on our doorstep!

Amazing. The cat had to survive, find food and water, and keep walking
maintaining a general direction for 2000 miles!

"Simba's Mom" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for your support - I put signs up every where and visited all
the neighbours. No sightings yet. I can't imagine Simba going all the
way back to our old house. That's a 20 hour drive. He usually doesn't
let me out of his sight, he's my baby, very needy of me. Do you really
think he'd go all the way back to our old house?? We move a lot all
over the country and he is used to it by now.

Q was bonded to me but still when we moved 3 hours away he went walkabouts
for 3-4 days. It it still feasable to think tha Simba is either checking out
the new area or is in the process of deciding whether or not to try to get
back to his own home. I read somewhere that cats have some kind of magnetic
built in sat nav in that they will home in on their 'used to' location but
adjust if this is too far away after a few days. Keep your fingers crossed,
I will have my thoughts with you and Simba in the meantime. xx

--

Niel H

Simba's Mom wrote:

: Does anything think my cat can really be lost? Some people say cats
: never get lost. I wonder if he knows what he's doing out there. I'm
: afraid if Simba is locked in someone's garage for the weekend that when
: he gets out he'll lose his scent back home and then get lost. I'm
: usually pretty sensitive in a 6th sense kinda way and I feel nothing,
: no answers right now with his where abouts. Nothing! I'm so worried
: now, where is he? I put my sleep clothes outside on near by trees and
: our blankets from the bed. Now I just read that kitty litter helps, I
: just cleaned his litter box so I'll use that. I just hope he's not far.
: It's been about 31 hours now since I've seen him last. Poor SImba. I'm
: not religious usually but he's in my prayers, if anyone else is please
: keep him in your prayers too. His brother died last year and they used
: to explore neighbourhoods together, closeby, always by eachothers side.
: I'm so worried that he's out there all alone!

I know 31 hours is a long time for a worried person, but cats have
shown up healthy and safe many days later, even weeks later.

The important thing is to cover all angles.

(1) Leave a scent trail for him to come back to your door.

(2) Walk around the woods, in a sort of systematic way with attentive
ears. He could be scared & hiding or just stuck in some spot.

(3) Distribute his photos, with your phone # on the back, to your
neighbors and their kids. He may show up at their homes they may just
spot him. It does not hurt for them to be aware of the possibility of a
cat hiding/stuck on their property.

(4) If there are enough kids in your neighborhood, organize a pizza
party where a large number of them fan out looking for the cat and come
back for pizza!

(5) 20-hour drive is far away to his old home and common sense suggests
it is the least likely of all possibilities. However, cats have shown
up at their old homes unbelievably far away (Chicago to LA, 2000 miles,
according to another post). So let your old neighbors know.

(6) Finally, do contact any shelters in your area. He could have lost
his collar (did he have one?), been picked up as stray and turned over
to such organizations. So visit them, ask to see all cats turned in or
picked up recently, and make them aware of the situation. Anyway, there
are experts there whose suggestions might be helpful even if he is not
there.

That's all I can think of. Don't lose hope; by the standards of lost
cats who come back, 2 days is nothing. Cover every angle you can think
of.

All of our prayers are with you and Simba.

And when he returns, think about fitting his collar with a homing or
ringing device. : ) I've never needed one but they exist.

Something similar happened to me and I live in the woods. I left the back
light on and a bowl of water out the back door. Julian showed up around
midnight fending off some raccoons. He was very scared and had no interest
in going outside again for a very long time. Indoor cats get disoriented
when they get lost, even if is their own neighborhood. That is why they
hide and don't come when you call. If you leave out something familiar or a
beacon of some sort it helps them find their way home.

Good luck!

Stacey

"Simba's Mom" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for your support - I put signs up every where and visited all
the neighbours. No sightings yet. I can't imagine Simba going all the
way back to our old house. That's a 20 hour drive. He usually doesn't
let me out of his sight, he's my baby, very needy of me. Do you really
think he'd go all the way back to our old house?? We move a lot all
over the country and he is used to it by now. He had alot of
neighbourhood cats there tho, but he never left our yard back at the
old place ever!! I would have thought he'd know this was our house now.
I'm so worried now! And the drive up here he wasn't paying attention to
the roads and smells at all. He just would cry until I looked at him in
the kennel and just stare at me the whole drive up, 20 hours. He'd just
reach out to hold my hand, that's how much he needs me. I sure hope he
didn't go all the way back to Ontario. Please keep him in your
thoughts. I have done everything I can. I put our bedding out on the
patio for our scent to blow through the wind, hopefully that helps, if
he's lost.... Gee I sure hope he knows what he's doing!!!!
Thank u, Simba's Mom

"Kiran" wrote in message
...
OceanView wrote:

: Every year I here about a cat that wandered home hundreds
: of miles. HOW do they do that? Cat GPS? Last year a family moved from
: Chicago to L.A. The cat disappeared about a week later and went missing
for
: three months. Then they got a call from their old neighbor: You're not
: gonna believe who just showed up on our doorstep!

Amazing. The cat had to survive, find food and water, and keep walking
maintaining a general direction for 2000 miles!

When I was growing up we took our cat, Sniffy, on vacation with us down to
the New Jersey shore. When it came time to go home Sniffy was no where to be
found. Eventually we left and came home without him. We lived about a 3-4
hour drive away. About a week later Sniffy showed up at home. My sister and
I have wondered how he managed to get across the Delaware River. I just
can't imagine him using the Walt Whitman or Ben Franklin bridges with 8
lanes (or maybe it's 6 - it's been a while since I used them) of traffic. He
would have had to use a bridge though because the river is pretty wide and I
don't think he was much of a swimmer.

W

Wendy wrote:

: When I was growing up we took our cat, Sniffy, on vacation with us down to
: the New Jersey shore. When it came time to go home Sniffy was no where to be
: found. Eventually we left and came home without him. We lived about a 3-4
: hour drive away. About a week later Sniffy showed up at home. My sister and
: I have wondered how he managed to get across the Delaware River. I just
: can't imagine him using the Walt Whitman or Ben Franklin bridges with 8
: lanes (or maybe it's 6 - it's been a while since I used them) of traffic. He
: would have had to use a bridge though because the river is pretty wide and I
: don't think he was much of a swimmer.

I have no idea how they do it, but your is quite a story. I hope it
will give some hope and solace to OP.