My lost cat came home!!! (warning - loooooong)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My sweet GaryCat got out of the house on the night of Friday 10/16. I’m not sure how long the door was open before I missed him, maybe half an hour. We have three cats, so I guess I’m lucky he’s the only one that wandered out.

He’d always been an indoor kitty, and so I stupidly never made him wear a collar, because he hated it so. My daughter and I were heartsick with worry. We searched every inch of the house (including our neighbors’ apartments!), and every yard within a block, but couldn’t find him.

The next day, after calling every shelter and vet in three cities, we made 250 flyers. We knocked on every door within a four block radius. When people answered the door, we gave them a flyer, and asked to search their yard. When they didn’t, we stuffed one in their mailbox and searched their yard anyway. (And hey, if you ever want to meet your neighbors, try scoping out their yards with a flashlight. It generally motivates them to come on out and say hello! :wink: ) We hung signs on posts and in every business within a mile. We set up traps in our front and back yards, and our incredibly kind next door neighbor’s yard. We went out and looked for him four times a day, not counting the times we ran out because someone called saying that they thought they saw him scurry under a car six blocks away.

We got to know every other cat for a mile. We named the ones we saw every day. There was Salem and Jesus (the only cats whose actual names we know), NotSalem, Sweetums, Cleo, Bibs, Bigfoot, Mipsy and Minerva (who travel together), Mayhem, and OrangeCat. We trapped OrangeCat three times. That cat is either really stupid or really smart (Hey, I walk into this thing, eat, make a little noise, and the nice lady comes and lets me out!) We got a call about a dead cat nearby, and prayed as we walked over that it wasn’t our Gary. We found a cat with a huge abscess on its neck, and a mangled tail, and caught it only to find that it wasn’t a stray, but a neighbor’s rather spectacularly ill-cared for pet. We found another neighbor’s lost cat. But we couldn’t find OUR cat, despite doing pretty much nothing other than looking for him (seriously, you should see my house, it’s an unholy mess.) Yesterday, Gary had been gone for a week, and we were very discouraged.

Apparently, all I had to do to find him was stop looking for minute.* :slight_smile: I got a job yesterday, and my boyfriend talked me into going out to celebrate. My daughter agreed to stay home in case anyone called, or anything wandered into the trap. I’d been out about an hour when she called to let me know that our next door neighbors found him in front of their house, and he was home. (There is no smiley here that adequately expresses my joy.)

He’s skinny and dehydrated and he has a cold and he’s clearly exhausted, but he’s not hurt. None of the local vets would see him today, so we’re keeping him warm and watered and steaming up the bathroom for him every couple of hours. We’re also keeping him separated from the other cats, both because we’re worried about his health and because they’re hissing at him like crazy. I hope they all work it out soon, because they’re usually bestest friends (although that little one is a troublemaker :wink: ). I’m so happy to have him home, and he’s clearly happy to be here.

I just have to say that people were wonderful this week. All our neighbors were so sweet and helpful, people blocks and blocks away made copies of the flyers and hung more, my mail carrier texted me a picture and location every time she saw a grey cat in the neighborhood. For a week, it was like living in Mayberry. I’m baking batches and batches of cookies today, to take around the neighborhood thanking everyone and letting them know he’s home.

*This is emphatically not true. Never stop looking. Obviously the flyers worked, but what I think worked even better was making sure to talk to all the neighbors in person, and the fact that we were constantly out looking for him, which served not only the purpose of finding him, but the purpose of reminding the neighbors that we were still looking for him. Not that we knocked on doors every day, we didn’t, but people saw us out and about calling him, and it kept him fresh in their minds. If you ever lose a pet, enlist the neighbors. They get surprisingly invested!

Also, COLLARS!!! Make your pets wear tags!!! I’ve ordered them for all three of my boys, and they’re never going to be without them again. A microchip is only useful if the cat gets picked up and brought to a shelter, and most don’t. My town’s Animal Control doesn’t even deal with cats. COLLARS AND TAGS!!! That is all.

2

I am so happy for you! My cat went missing for two weeks when he was just a kitten and I was just heartbroken. Oh, I was so ecstatic when I got him back. I know just how you feel. Give Gary some snuggles for me.

3

i’m so glad he is home. everyone furry and not must be over the moon!

i’m sure you are spoiling him. i hope things go well on the vet visit.

4

Congratulations on getting Gary back. We’ve had quite a few pets missing lately, but most have been taken by a roving band of coyotes that have made their home in the nature preserve next to our subdivision.

:frowning:

5

Your story made my day. Thanks for sharing it, and I too know just what you went through (I’ve posted the brief story of our cat-gone-missing several times here, but the bottom line is he was gone for a month and was in our own back yard when we found him again; we had given up all hope).

What really makes me happy is your story about the mailman, and also you baking thank you cookies and spreading your happy news. You’re a peach and I’m so glad your cat is home.

6

I’m so glad to hear your news. What a cool little neighborhood you live in.

BTW, you probably didn’t know, but I was looking for him here too - so if you want to send a batch of cookies my way… :slight_smile:

7

Congratulations. When our cat disapeared we did basically the same thing you did flyers, vets, neighbors, etc. The house next door was vacant, and we went peering in windows just in case he got in somehow.

We went out to dinner, and when we got home a neighbor walked up and handed us our cat. They had been out of town, and when they got back they saw one of our flyers on the telephone pole outside their house, and found him trapped in their house. They have no clue how he got in.

The first thing he did was hit the litter box, and then eat his, and his brothers dinner. He keeps trying to go back outside. Guess the adventure was fun, but we keep him in.

The next day we went for a walk and took down the signs. Got a thank you card, and some fingerprint ink. Had the cat “sign” the card with his paw.

I think the lesson we need to learn from your and my experience is if you can’t find your cat go out to dinner.

-Otanx

8

Glad to hear he’s home!

9

Thanks everyone! Otanx, that’s a great idea about the thank you card, I think I’ll do that. Everyone is gonna have to wait until tomorrow for their cookies though, I’ve been busy all day keeping an eye on Gary and calming the other cats down. Hopefully everyone will be feeling back to normal soon.

10

That’s awesome, DianaG!

To reiterate your admonition about collars and tags, I’ll relate what my sister just went through. She has two indoor-only cats, and a little calico had been showing up at her patio doors and driving her cats crazy. She and her husband were out of town for a few days, and when they came back, they discovered that the kitty had torn up the screen trying to get in to visit with her cats. Her husband was ready to resort to a BB gun.

My tender-hearted sister called all the no-kill shelters, but they weren’t taking cats. Animal control in Las Vegas was no longer loaning Havahart traps, but they would come out and catch the cat and euthanize it, if she wanted. She didn’t want. In tears, she called Best Friends, where she regularly volunteers. The woman at Best Friends calmed her down, advised her to take it one step at a time. “Catch the kitty and see if she has a tag or is microchipped.”

My sister went out and bought a Havahart trap (that had to be assembled – and mechanical things are not my sister’s strong suit). She finally caught the kitty last night, and she (the cat) did have a collar and tag.

My sister went to the kitty’s owners’ house, dealt with a jerk of a husband who was all pissed off that she’d trapped their cat, and a clueless wife who had no idea it was illegal (not merely stupid) to let her cat run loose. My sister pointed out that anyone else probably would have just called animal control, the cat would have been euthanized, and that would have been that. When the woman came to claim the cat, she was at least very apologetic about the damage to the screen and appropriately grateful that my sister had gone to all the trouble.

So good kitty karma all around, I think. Give some extra scritches to GaryCat from me.

11

YAAAAAY!!!
Many Happy Purrings to you and yours!

12

My Siamese got out and he was a pushover type cat. I did not think he could survive overnight without a can of Friskies. I gave up on him but, he came home very thin about 5 or 6 weeks later. Poor 14 needed so much attention and food.
He made it to 21 years old.

13

Yay!!! Getting a kitty back is always a nice surprise, because you always expect the worst.

Our calico had gotten out for a few days just this past summer…snuck out past us and went running off. Thing is, we’d see her around the yard and try to lure her back in, or catch her, and she’d hiss at us and go scampering off again! Finally, we decided to trap her, so we borrowed a live trap from a friend of my dad’s and set it out with a can of tuna. A few hours later, we got her and brought her back in. We figured she’d scuttle out of the trap and hide under my parents’ bed, but nope…she just sort of started sniffing and rubbing against everyone like nothing had happened. It was very strange. It was almost as if she was saying “I just went to the strangest new world…and YOU were there, and YOU were there, and YOU were there…”

Beetle, you strange, strange cat.

14

Chips are good too. Collars are good, but subdermal chips are a great thing.

15

I agree that chips are good, but a collar says to everyone who sees it “pet”. I’m sure there are magical places where people regularly pick up stray cats and bring them to the vet or the shelter, but my neighborhood isn’t one of them. This city is awash in outdoor and stray cats, and Animal Control won’t even pick them up (although they respond to “dead cat in the gutter” calls).

Maiira, it must have been so frustrating to see your kitty and not be able to catch her! We didn’t see Gary at all until last night. I don’t know where he’s been (lord, I wish he could tell me!), but it sure wasn’t my yard. We had traps in the front and back yards, but I suspect that he was hunkered down somewhere scared of the neighborhood cats. I think he got in a little scrape at some point, there’s a tiny scab on his nose.

Gary let us know a few hours ago that he was ready to come out of my daughter’s room, so we locked the other cats up in my room for a couple of hours so that he could reacquaint himself with the place in relative peace. All three were out together for an hour or so, but the little one (Bit) just started hissing, so we separated them again. The black cat (Mischief) hissed at Gary once or twice this morning, but during the hour or so they were together, he was wary of him for a few minutes, then approached him, sniffed him a few times, made some noises of disapproval, and started grooming him. Those two will be fine, they’re BFFs from way back. I’m a little worried about Bit right now though. He’s much more aggressive than either Gary or Mischief, and while normally Gary would just swat him off, he just doesn’t have the strength right now, and he’s still scared. If anyone has any suggestions about reintegrating my formerly happy kitty family, I’d be grateful.

16

I got a brand new dog yesterday. It was a warm day and as usual on warmer days I left the front door open and screen door closed.

About an hour later I was working at my computer and thought: It is too quiet, where’s Casey?

I yelled and whislted - no Casey. Panic! What kind of dog owner am I if I can’t even keep her a full day?

I go outside and yell and whistle. No Casey. I throw on some shoes and run around the hose yelling. No Casey.

I run to the top of the drive way yelling and whistling. Here she comes wattling *up *(She’s a bit chubby, we are both going to work on losing weight) the driveway - I’m not sure from where. Somewhere in the yard I guess…

She’s a pretty good girl actually. Doesn’t stray too far from me. We’re going for our first run together as soon as it gets light.

17

So glad to hear your kitty’s safe, DianaG. Fortunately every time our Olive has been missing we’ve found her hiding in the Room Where Cats Shall Not Enter Upon Pain of Baths (the bedroom).

18

Congratulations! It’s always worrying when a pet goes missing. We have three cats and live in an apartment. When one of ours went missing we tore the place apart looking for her. She wasn’t in any of her usual hiding places, nor anywhere else. There are times when she manages to slip past our legs when we come in the door, but we usually catch that, so we thought maybe that happened again. The worrying thing was that it had been a good three hours since we came in that night.

I looked out in the hall but saw nothing. I walked down to one end of the hall but she was nowhere in sight. I checked the stairwell but didn’t see anything there. Went back into the hall and went to the other end; nothing. Ditto that stairwell. On the way back I saw her. She was beside one of the elevator doors, just sitting there, facing into the corner of the wall. She must have been a bit freaked, so I brought her back in and all was well again. But for a while I worried that maybe she got into the elevator and went on a trip, or went down the stairwell when someone opened the door. She could have been anywhere in those three hours.

Now we check the hall when we come in – just to make sure she didn’t run out.

19

I’m going to be a voice of caution about collars - cats crawl into, under and through everything. The only collars safe on a cat are breakaways, or collars big enough to come off - either are useless for identification if the cat loses it. It doesn’t sound like a collar would have helped your kitty at all. Everyone, consider chipping your cats, please. (And get 'em fixed, too, while you are at it!)

Glad your kitty came back - there are too few ‘returning kitty’ stories to balance out the ‘lost kitty’ stories! Scritches from this house!

20

Oh, I can imagine what it must have been like for you. We narrowly avoided going through something similar on Oct 4.

We were vacationing at the beach with the dogs, at the house of friends who aren’t quite so pet-minded. Sunday morning I got up and was wandering around while everyone sleepily made breakfast, folded towels, and so on. I noticed my little shadow Simone wasn’t underfoot. Normally that means she’s conned someone into letting her climb up into a lap. I went into the other room to ask who had her and the sliding door was wide open.

She’d been running on the beach with me the night before and had showed every sign of being inclined to run for miles on the sand. I went flying out the door. About 400 feet down the beach, some woman was lying out in a beach chair, catching some early rays, and Simone was trying to make friends with her.

If I’d taken 15 more minutes to notice, she could have been an enormous distance away…and she likes to run up to cars (because people always get out of them).

We’re very lucky to be imagining your agonies and not sharing them. Glad you got your baby back.