My cat, who was lost, is now found

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

He was always an indoor-only kitty, but 3 nights ago he darted out the back door and went immediately though a hole in the neighbor’s fence. We sat up for hours thinking he’d come home after he’d had his little adventure, but he didn’t.

Having left the door open all night, when he wasn’t home for breakfast the next morning, we were sure he was permanently lost. Much sadness.

The morning after that, in full grieving mode, I went around the neighborhood with flyers, but without any real hope. He stayed gone all that day and all that night, Night #2 of being lost. Next morning, still nothing, and we KNEW he was dead.

But then I read some blog posts about lost cats, and they said a lot of lost cats get immediately freaked out, and hide themselves good and well. They can stay hidden for days, fear being a more powerful motivator than hunger. So we kept calling over all the backyard fences, again and again. Some people said nighttime was the best time to search because the cat gets bolder under cover of darkness, so I went out at about 8pm calling his name.

Still nothing, but my partner went out right after that and said “Mew” very softly all along the fence. Finally the cat said “Mew” back, very soft. They continued this conversation for some time, until we finally laid eyes on him with a flashlight over the fence. It was really him, but he couldn’t get back through the same fence he’d easily slipped through the first night.

So we broke down the fence with a hammer. That of course freaked out the cat some more, and he disappeared. I sat on the ground near the hole in the fence till I got too cold, then dragged out a dining room chair, prepared to wait all night.

About 10 minutes later, his little face appeared in the fence hole (“Mew?”), then his left paw, then his right paw, then he was through. 10 minutes after that (about long enough for us to brick up the back door) he was acting like nothing had happened. Not a scratch on him, not a drop of water, nary a pine needle, not a single flea. The eighth stage of grief, for us, turned out to be “Oh wait, never mind.”

Yesterday afternoon I was going to post a boo-hoo, lost my kitty thread, and stopped myself. But now I want to post this one in the spirit of a PSA – if you lose your cat, don’t give up too soon, and keep in mind the hiding instinct is very powerful. He or she could be just over the fence 2 feet from you, too scared to make a noise for days and days.

[Moderator Note - link removed due to malware warnings]

2

I guessed this was about him coming to Jesus.

3

Very glad he’s back home safe – and that looks like a hard cat to see in the dark!

I have more than once found cats only because they answered me. Generally they answered my calling out loud, though. – one cat, once found, needed to be very slowly coaxed to me with a combination of a can of tuna and me sitting very quietly on the ground next to the tuna. I had made the mistake of calling out loudly in glee, the first time he appeared after a night out, which brought a housemate running, which degree of commotion scared that particular cat away for the next couple of days. Most of the cats I’ve had wouldn’t have been scared back away like that, but this particular one was very much a scaredy cat.

ETA: I suppose now you have to fix the fence!

4

Glad kitty is home. I’ve had my own scared cat not answering to anything but people tuna. He kept getting up trees. Faking his fear to come down til I got the can opened.

Cats be weird.

5

Cats be smart.

6

Buy an airtag (or analogue); attach to cat collar. Don’t forget to keep changing the battery before it dies completely.

7

This is a great idea if I can ever get him to wear a collar. He won’t tolerate them. Every time I try, no matter how loose or tight the collar is, he manages to get his teeth stuck in it and I’m afraid he’ll break his jaw. (Breakaway collars mostly aren’t really, or aren’t if the cat gets the breakaway part stuck in his mouth.) I wish the microchip was also a tracking device. Maybe in the future they will be.

8

His eyesight also returned!

9

That’s just what Jesus said, sir.

10

I see what you did there.

11

Sometimes they get trapped in someone’s garage. If a cat goes missing, it’s a good idea to ask neighbors to check their garages.

12

I’m very glad. We had a cat appear at the animal shelter 18 days after disappearing.

13

Glad your cat is back. I’ve heard it’s also effective to put their litter box outside so they will follow the familiar smell.

Just a note, I got a warning and “site blocked” notice from Malwarebytes about the site hosting your image for “riskware,” otherwise unspecific.

14

♪I once was lost, but meow I see♫

15

Even if a microchip doesn’t help you find your cat, it means when somebody else finds him they can find you via the microchip and the two of you can be reunited.

16

This happens about every time I post an image to a non-membership image-hosting site. Do you want to report my post and have the link broken? The cat’s slightly past the “Squeeee” stage, truth be told. :slight_smile:

17

I saw the picture (squeee!) but then a malware warning.

Glad your little guy is home!

18

Your cat was not lost.
You were lost.
Just ask your cat. :smiley_cat:

19

Cats are never past the “squeeee” stage.

20

Well I will email a picture if you PM me your address. :slight_smile: This is the second or third time I’ve used a no-register image upload service to post a pic on these boards, and every time they turn out to be malware-y. Anybody have a go-to service where you don’t have to register, but the resultant link is never dodgy?