She jumped out of my second story apartment last Thursday, and we haven’t seen her since.
We’ve been completely miserable. We’ve put up posters, food, baby monitor, and I’ve even set up a motion detector / IR camera.
Thing is, on either side of my apartment are construction sites. The first night, when we called we got an answer, but subsequently… nothing.
She’s been an indoor cat all this while, so there’s some hope that she hasn’t gone far, and there haven’t been any bodies yet (thank God), so there’s still hope, but… sigh.
I want feel good vibes, prayers, and happy cat reunitement stories. I NEED Tara back.
Good vibes coming your way. You are right, she’s probably holed up and too afraid to come out. One thing I’ve heard that works is to wait until very late at night, when your neighborhood is quiet, and go out and call for her then. She might be more apt to come out when things are calmer. Or, any chance of getting a live trap and baiting it with her favorite food?
I feel so badly for you. I hope she comes home soon. Keep up the hope; I’ve heard some amazing stories. My own cat disappeared for a whole week and came home with a broken pelvis, but he did come home.
Wishing for your girl to come home soon. Hanna is right about looking for her at night, also try dusk and dawn if you can, it’s when cats are most likely to be active. Bring a flashlight, it’s good not only for looking into hiding places, but for reflecting off little kitty eyes in the dark. Keep some treats in your pocket while you’re out looking, and also wear gloves, she might be freaked out.
If you use a live trap, keep food in there, but also something with your scent on it. Swap out the scent item in the very likely case that you catch a cat that isn’t yours.
Most of all, talk to your neighbors! Posters are great, but try making flyers and personally handing them to your neighbors. You’ll be surprised how many of them will keep an eye out for her, if they actually meet a human being who clearly wants her back.
My cat went missing for a week last year, and finally turned up outside my next door neighbor’s house. That neighbor recognized him from the flyer, scooped him up, and kept him in his apartment until he could get hold of us.
Keep walking around your place and calling the cat. Do this when it’s dark as well as a scared cat might feel safer hiding at night and coming to you when it hears your. Cats can run away for days or weeks and just hang around their home before surfacing. You got the word out about being lost. The next step is up to the cat.
Have you tried sitting quietly outside and seeing if she will come to you? When my cat went missing, I realized that I should have tried that. I was so worried that I kept walking around, and he didn’t appear until I was finally still for a while.
Another thing, check the floor underneath yours. One of my son’s cats went missing once and the neighbours right underneath their apartment had found him waiting by the door and taken him in.
Good luck. These are incredibly long and hard hours for you, but I hope you get Tara back safely soon.
Sorry to hear that happened. My cat got out of the house last summer and I remember how scary it was. Since our yard isn’t fenced we were very worried he could have been several houses away within minutes, but we ended up finding him hiding in a shrub behind our house. That does seem to be the normal way for indoor cats - they tend to hide near their home rather than wandering, so I bet your cat is somewhere not too far off.
I would suggest going to the shelters in person rather than calling just to make sure that they didn’t overlook that they have the cat. I would also try posting about it on the craigslist pet section for your area (if there is one) to see if anyone has seen her or would be willing to help search the neighborhood.
Hope she turns up safe soon!
And I’ll second ( or whatever ) that she might be nearby. Even beloved pets can get spooked and avoid their owners. Recently my neighbor’s cat got out and she was eventually found several days later just three houses down and she had to be trapped, as she was too skittish to be approached. She was perfectly normal again once she was returned to her home.
Good thoughts going out that Tara will be found soon! Kitty got out of the house several years ago and was gone for about 24 hours, and I still remember that awful feeling. Like many others have said, she didn’t go far and she also didn’t recognize me at first because she was so freaked out.
We’re getting live traps from animal control today, and setting them out tonight. There’s at least 2 other cats in the area though (one of them in particular keeps eating the food I leave out!) and I’m wondering if all I’ll be trapping is him.
I’m also wondering if the ground floor of my apartment (i live on the second floor) is his territory, which is why she’s not coming for the food.
Really? I was told to put a dish of food out, with a baby monitor next to it, so that we could hear if anyone was eating (and check, I suppose). Or does that only work for lower cat density areas?
I had to chase 2 cats away from my cat trap last night, and there wasn’t any sign of my Tara at all! I’m wondering now if she’s gone further from my place, or if she’s still hiding in the construction site next door.
