One of my indoor cats escaped Saturday afternoon (she’s always looking for a way out). Obligatory picture. She was missing for over 24 hours and I did a lot of crying. Last night, I went on my almost hourly ramble around the house looking for her and spotted her on the deck. She took off when she saw me and appears to be hiding under our shed. Anyone have any ideas how to get her out of there and into the house? She’s making me crazy!
Food would be number one, I imagine. If she’s a affectionate sort, you also might want to spend an evening with the door open and sitting nearby, to see if she comes in to be petted.
If that fails, baited live-trap, usually easily gotten on loan from animal shelters.
Thanks Tamerlane. Someone else mentioned a cat trap. I wondered where I would get one; on loan from an animal shelter sounds like a good idea. I asked my husband to put some food out. We’re hoping she’ll come onto the deck and then we can casually open the door–after locking up the other two first, of course. I’m afraid she won’t come if I sit by the door; she ran away as soon as she saw me last night. But maybe if I was there for a while. Might be worth trying. Thanks.
Did you try calling her?
She may be too frightened to recognize you by sight but might recognize your voice.
Oh, yes, I’ve called. I’ve made little kissy noises (that’s one way I call them, so sue me 
). I’ve even shaken the dry cat food container, while calling and kissing. I’m picturing her under the shed thinking, “Not the kissy noises for heaven’s sake!” She hasn’t budged.
One of our neighbor’s cats got loose once. They were really upset and went around to everyone asking us to look out for her. I spotted her walking in the woods near my dad’s house (we live in the same neighborhood).
He started putting cheese and then cat food out for her. She always came to eat but never let him get close enough to get her. He also put her carrier out near the food, and the food in the carrier. I forget what the cat did - if she went to get the food in the carrier or not.
The neighbors who lost the cat moved away (that’s when the cat got out, while they were moving) and while they were previously upset about the cat they seemed to stop caring once we said it’d take more than just my dad putting out food to catch her (as in, them coming out to sit and wait for her).
I did call a local shelter who did direct me to a place where I could borrow a cat trap, but it was too far away for me to go to get it if the ex-neighbors didn’t care that much.
So, call a shelter, see if you can get a trap. In the meantime, leave food out for her during times when you can watch the food. You might see her!
Now that she is out, she is not ready to go back in, too much fun chasing leaves, sniffing at mole mounds, spying on the indoor cats etc.
How do you catch her? Act like you don’t care!
See if you can get her to follow you by ignoring her, nonchalantly stroll the yard or sidewalk,she may zoom right after you - Don’t pick her up or snatch her, at the same unhurried pace walk back home and call to her. It sounds weird but you have to give off a vibe that you really aren’t that interested in catching her.
That’s an interesting strategy chela. I’ve gone out a couple of times trying to pretend I don’t care, but it isn’t working. I freak out too soon.
One of my co-workers is going to borrow her neighbor’s cat trap (same thing happened to her). I should be getting it tomorrow. Maybe that will do it. Anna loves small spaces, as most cats do.
Break out the canned tuna.
I agree with this. The cat is having a ball, if she was scared she’d run right to you. What she did was got scared, saw you, and said “Oh gee, they’re still around, I’ll keep on playing.”
I had an indoor/outdoor cat and you can’t catch them outside. One time my cat wouldn’t come in. So I left her out. She learned after that, never to do that again.
I bet a good thunderstorm would send her right into the house.
Food should work providing she’s not catching things or eating bugs. Like the above poster said, if you ignore her she’ll get lonely and come over. But never act like you’re gonna catch her. See if you can sit outside and get her to jump on your lap
I don’t mean to be harsh but honestly I can only shake my head in disbelief at some of you who “have” cats. It will come back when it wants to. Why must you be so damn controlling? Is it a prisoner? If it doesn’t want to come back, why the hell are you trying to make it do so?
It’s a domestic pet, with not much more ( if any ) higher consciousness than God or evolution ( or both, if you swing that way ) gave a kumquat. It is much better off under the properly supervised care of someone who loves it, as opposed to roaming off to get in scraps with local predators, pick up parasites and disease, or get struck by a car.
It’s no more a “prisoner” than a potted begonia - IMHO pets cannot be prisoners by definition. In addition, the emotional comfort of the owner trumps the right of a well-treated pet to be a free agent. Simple as that.
I captured LittleCat who was feral. I didn’t need a cat trap. I used a cat carrier and put a particularly stinky can of tuna at the back of it, and had a string attached to the door. I sat in a chair about 40 feet away. LittleCat entered, started eating, and I snapped the door shut behind her!
Bonus: her BootFacedDad went in first, so I trapped them both. BootFace and LittleCat both went to a vet’s. He busted loose, demolished an examination room, and while staff were chasing him around the office, another patient came in the front door and he burst out of the building and ran into a conservation area. So his life continued in the wild, chillin’ with deer, raccoons, and squirrels in a provincially protected park.
I don’t mean to be harsh but honestly I can only shake my head in disbelief at some of you who “have” children. Your three-year old child will come back when he wants to. Why must you be so damn controlling? Is your child a prisoner? If he doesn’t want to come back, why the hell are you trying to make him do so?
I assume you’ll never have a pet, and I pray you never have children.
To the OP: I agree with the suggestion of the cat trap. Years ago, I got some from the local Humane Society to catch some feral cats that had taken up residence around a friend’s house. Cats really don’t understand the idea of a trap, and when Wayward gets hungry, he’ll go right into the cage for the food.
Another possibility: Take a lawn chair, cat treats, and one of the other cats on a leash out near her. Sit in the lawn chair, read a book, let the other cat wander on the leash. After a while, get out the cat treats and call the leashed one over to get treats. The loose one may follow. She may even have come out already to play with the other cat. Bring the leashed one close to you, the loose one may follow, and get close enough for you to grab her. Worth a try.
Indoor cats make deer look smart when it comes to dealing with cars.
I know cats. My family had cats my entire childhood, and I get on very well with them. I only don’t have one now for reasons entirely unrelated to how much I enjoy their company.
They are tough little things, both physically and mentally, some people’s need to pretend they are comparable to immature toddlers notwithstanding. They are very capable of looking after themselves. They’ve been doing so in urban and rural environments for millenia. Yes, a cat outside may get hurt in some way as **Tamerlane **speculates. It very, very likely won’t. The sky may fall on our heads tomorrow also.
The cat is outside but nonetheless it clearly wants to hang around because it’s “on the deck” and “under our shed” and not a mile away, so there is no serious issue.
The problem lies entirely in the OP’s attitude: the OP doesn’t need to “get” the cat into the house, the OP needs to think about the conditions under which the cat will want to come into the house. The problem answers itself if you know anything at all about cats.
Cats don’t like being made to do things. They are shy of direct approach (ie “looked for” once an hour). They don’t like to be “got out” from the nice secure little hideaway under the shed where they feel secure from the attempts being made to make them do what they don’t want to do. Attempts to achieve this will provoke determination not to come out from under the shed. Particularly when the attempts are being made by “anxious” people, whose attitude will be written by the OP in body language that the cat will be well familiar with.
When the OP takes a whole box of chill pills and leaves the cat alone already, it will realise that inside is warm and comfy and has food, and it will come inside. It will beg to be let inside, frankly.
Alternatively, (and I say this for completeness, not because I think it is likely) the cat is so traumatised by being locked up all the time that even food and warmth and comfort won’t be enough for it to want to come back in. Personally I wouldn’t enjoy keeping a pet that felt that way, but clearly from some responses mileage varies.
You’re not the only one shaking your head in disbelief. Cats can get run over. They can get eaten by coyotes, dogs, raccoons, or bobcats. They can get snake bit. They can get torn up in fights with other cats. They can be poisoned, either intentionally or by accident. They can be exposed to diseases they would never encounter inside. These are all very real concerns that can and do happen. Say whatever you want about how tough you think cats are but it’s a fact that indoor cats live significantly longer lives than outdoor cats, more than twice as long on average.
You say they’ve been surviving in urban and rural environments for millennia. You’re right, they survive long enough to breed a few times. Then they usually die in some nasty way or another. The average age of an outdoor cat is somewhere around 5 years. That’s pathetic compared to the lifespan of an indoor cat.
Even if the cat’s safety isn’t something you worry about, consider also the non-trivial fact that cats are an invasive species that can fuck up a local bird population. This is a real problem in some places. If you want to let your cat outside go right ahead but don’t act like the people who keep their cats in are somehow wrong for it when by any measurable statistic it’s the more responsible choice.
Princhester, I’ve had cats all my life. My earlier cats were indoor/outdoor and came and went as they pleased. They also got hit by cars, poisoned by asshole neighbors, injured in fights with nastier cats, etc. I’d rather my cats stay indoors now. I do agree that I’m probably more worried than I should be, but based on past experiences I want that cat back in the house.
Maastricht, thanks for the link. I got a trap from a friend today, and we’ll set it up tonight. We left a little food out for her yesterday, not too much (want to keep her a little hungry) and it was gone this morning. We’ll put some food in the trap and see how it goes tonight.