Sorry to post this in the music forum but I wondered if any of you forumites might have some advice for us.

Our 3 year old tabby is now missing for 2 days. He's white with black/grey markings.

He has never been away for so long from home. We last saw him at 5 pm on Monday evening when he went out after having his food. Usually he comes back late at night or first thing next morning but he didn't. I went to work thinking that he's probably just around but then when he hadn't been back all day, we started to get a little worried. We have combed the entire neighbourhood, calling out for him and looked in the bushes. We have informed the vets, put up posters and asked around with the neighbours. I have also posted his details on a couple of missing animal websites. I have also called the local council in case he has been run over and also the RSPCA. He's often seen out with another cat from the neighbourhood, but I have gone and checked and this cat is still at home and he has been hanging around our house.

We have just been out again looking for him. Usually he just comes when we call out for him but he's nowhere to be seen. Not sure what has happened to him, and this is so worrying.

We're all just devastated. It's surprising how hard this has hit us. There is this very intense feeling of loss and helplessness. Our daughter is extremely attached to him and she boards during the week, so we haven't even told her yet as we are worried how she would react and cope without us at school.

Any advice/ suggestions? Is there still any hope for us considering it has been more than 48 hours now? This is just not his usual pattern.

Many years back something similar happened to our cat - I can't remember exactly how long he was missing but it must have been two days or more. One evening I opened the front door and there he was. He'd been (I think) hit by a car (and needed an operation on his leg). We thought he'd probably just had to stay somewhere until he felt strong enough to make his way home.

That probably isn't a great deal of help - but I do hope your cat makes it back to you. Fingers crossed for you.

I really feel for you and know exactly what you are going through - our cat went AWOL for 4 days a few years ago and it was so awful. She is a real home lover so it was very unusual for her not to come home in time for tea and we are all in pieces while she was missing.

You have done all the right things, so fingers crossed that your cat returns home really soon. One of the websites I used was really helpful, I will try and remember which one it was in case they have any more tips. This will sound weird, but they told me to put several items of worn clothing, the smellier the better (we used sons worn socks!) around the end of the garden and property. Couldn't believe it when our cat strolled in 2 hours later, coincidence or otherwise worth a try!

Fingers crossed for you!

First of all, don't panic! I've owned several cats (mostly ginger tabbies) and they've all done a disappearing act for several days.

Just out of interest, has your cat been chipped?

Hi

So sorry to hear about your cat's disappearance.

My advice would be to physically go round all the houses in your neighbourhood and, hopefully, speak with them or, if no reply, put a note through their door. Ask them to check their sheds and garages etc. This is the time of year when folks are gardening and he may just be shut in a shed.

Also, your local Cats Protection will have a Lost and Found person - it's worth contacting them, if you haven't already.

It's a difficult time, when your cat goes missing. I've been through it twice, with different cats. You can't but help imagine the worse but - the worst may not have happened.

Cats have been known to go wandering, some way or another, and turn up after quite long periods, as if nothing had happened.

Yes, it will be an added anxiety regarding your daughter.

You have my best wishes.
from another cat lover

We?ve had cats go missing for days as well, and they?ve always turned up eventually. With the warmer weather, a lot of people are opening sheds and garages for the first time, and cats regularly get locked up for days at a time. Hope he turns up soon - the uncertainty is the worst thing...

Thank you. It's encouraging to hear that some of others have just turned up after a few days.

We're trying very hard to not think about the worst and stay hopeful, but it's becoming more difficult with every passing hour. But, if something like that had happened, perhaps someone would have taken him to a vet or a body would have been found? We have walked around the nearby roads-major and minor -but haven't seen anything on the grass verges.

He has been micro-chipped and I've informed them and also made sure that our details are updated.

Please send your collective thoughts to HARRY. We will be grateful.

My old cat from when I was growing up did roam and stay away for days at a time, but she grew out of it. She only calmed down after she was 5 (we had her since she was a kitten).

It is definitely possible that he will come back- I hope this is what happens.

If he was quite streetwise then he may just have decided to go roaming - if they are already used to the outside, there's less chance of them being spooked and taking off in the wrong direction (as compared to a totally indoor cat who got out and has never been out before).

I have read that sometimes when they get outside and scared, their instinct is to hide. I have read it suggested that you go outside and call late at night or early in the morning when it is very quiet. If you have a known signal like rattling the biscuit tin (this is what I do), that's the time to do it as well.

I hope he is OK - I know the feeling, when my current cat got out at night for the first time I was dead scared she wouldn't come back.

Fingers crossed for you and for Harry! I know how you must feel.

Seems to me there is a good chance he's got into a shed or outhouse. Keep hopeful!

Our cats have also gone missing a couple of times. Our youngest one would hide in the garden if he had been in a fight and even though we checked behind all the bushes we wouldn't see him so it may be worth checking your garden a few times.

Hope by this time though that Harry has arrived home.

I really feel for you and know exactly what you are going through - our cat went AWOL for 4 days a few years ago and it was so awful. She is a real home lover so it was very unusual for her not to come home in time for tea and we were all in pieces while she was missing.

You have done all the right things, so fingers crossed that your cat returns home really soon. One of the websites I used was really helpful, I will try and remember which one it was in case they have any more tips. This will sound weird, but they told me to put several items of worn clothing, the smellier the better (we used sons worn socks!) around the end of the garden and property. Couldn't believe it when our cat strolled in 2 hours later, coincidence or otherwise worth a try!

Fingers crossed for you!

No news on Harry yet.

We went out late last night at midnight around the neighbourhood with a flashlight calling out for him. No sign of him anywhere. Kept hoping that I'll hear a meow or that he'll emerge out of the bushes. Went out again early this morning with the dog in the opposite direction. He used to just come out of the bushes and follow us around whenever we walked the dog. No idea where he could be.

I also put some worn clothes around the garden last night but perhaps they weren't smelly enough! Also put out food for him and his bed outside but there hasn't been any sign of him at all.

Trying very hard to stay hopeful...

Have you knocked on your neighbour's doors.. even those a few streets away? A monotonous task perhaps but may be worth it.

One of our neighbour's cats went missing and it turned out another neighbour quarter of a mile away had started feeding it then let it into her house. I think it was extremely thoughtless because it looked like a well-fed pet cat so was hardly a 'stray'. (The long term outcome of this was an agreement between the neighbours with the cat going to live with the 'new' home which was a lonely elderly lady.) But it was a relatively innocent thing and apparently quite common with people who find a cat in their garden.

My sister-in-law's cat came home smelling of cigarette smoke so the same thing had happened but at least it came home.

My next door neighbour's cat also disappeared but returned after 4 days unharmed. We live in a rural area so wondered if it had caught and eaten a rabbit and didn't see the need to come home for food despite being a very cuddly home-loving cat.


Good luck. It must be very stressful but do keep hopeful.

Very sorry to hear about Harry. Jenni (Cat 1) went missing for 5 days and turned up - looking perfectly well and fed - at an upstairs window we didn't even think she could reach! Tess (Cat 2) was locked in a neighbour's garage (neighbour was actually 3 streets away but across the gardens it wasn't far) and was only found after a long bank holiday (4 days). So please don't give up hope yet.

Is there a primary school near you? A friend of mine is the headteacher of one and she sometimes gets
pet owners bring in pictures of lost cats to show the children. 250 little detectives on the case can be very useful - but you have to make sure you let the school know when your cat turns up or kids' will keep on catnapping him and bringing him back!

Very best of luck. T.D.M.

Don't give up hope!

I had a ginger Tom who went missing several years ago. Like yours, he never usually ventured outside for long - definitely not more than 24 hours, so I started to worry quite soon after he went missing.

I did the posters, phoning rescue places, council etc no luck.

5 weeks later I got a phone call from a village abour 7 miles from where I lived. They had my Tom - he'd been hanging around their garden for a week, and they decided they were going to keep him so took him to a vet for a check up who scanned his chip and got in touch.

I don't know how he'd got there, but he was in fine health and actually not even too chuffed to see me when I went to pick him up!! But he never went missing again.

What I would do is keep phoning the rescue places. The people who'd found Tom had phoned the RSPCA but they never got in touch with me because they thought 7 miles was too far for it to be my cat!!

Our cat has never gone missing though she's a terror and I wouldn't be surprised if she did one day. She has succeeded in getting herself shut in the cloakroom, the cupboard under the stairs and our garage. She nips in at just under the speed of light and so you don't know she's there. The first realisation is either that you haven't seen her in a while, or an odd sound of door scratching!

Of actually missing cats, I know of one who turned up several days later having been locked in a neighbour's shed. We've also had posters up in our area, asking us to check sheds/garages/etc when a cat was missing. I went home and checked our garage immediately, despite the fact it gets opened twice a day anyway (to get my car out, and to put it back away again) - I couldn't handle the fact that it might be me inadvertantly keeping this cat from home

My brother's cat, now she went missing for ages - three weeks, I think it was. Lots of searching, very upset children, really hard. My brother put posters up locally, and leaflets in shops, and even was brave enough to call the council to see if the street cleaners responsible for roadkill removal had picked up any cats. After giving up hope, a leaflet from a far distant newsagent resulted in a phonecall of "I think we've got your cat..." My brother lives in a city and these people were some distance away, so he wasn't hopeful - but they came round, cat sat on the lap of the person in the passenger seat, and it was indeed the missing one! So everybody was delightfully reuinted. The people who had dropped her off...well, they were slightly sheepish university students. The theory was that the cat had wandered to the extent of getting herself a bit lost, and ended up reasonably near her old house...where some students had delighted in taking in the 'stray', and kept her well until they finally saw the missing cat leaflet.

I hope Harry is back with you soon.

Just a thought - have you checked cupboards, wardrobes etc. One of our cats loved them and we used to spend hours looking for him.

I am sending you a big hug because I have been through this several times and I know exactly how ghastly it is. I do hope that Harry has returned or will do so very soon. It sounds to me as if you have done everything you could. Two of mine went missing at an interval of a year and never came back. We never found out what had happened and that is discouraging I know. However, one other who went missing when we lived somewhere else was eventually found a good five miles away and returned to us because he had a collar with his identification - ours are now chipped but that was before the days when chipping was done.

Several other of our cats have gone missing for a few days and then turned up - I imagine they got shut in a barn or garage or something. We live in a rural area where this kind of thing can happen.

I think the independant nature of cats - and some are more independant than others - and their natural curioslity - is something over the years cat lovers have to learn to live with. Our three have a cat flap which is put on "in only" as soon as one of them has come in for their evening meal. If we let them out after they have eaten they don't come back until the early hours of the morning.

Please let us know what happens. All the cat lovers on the forum will be thinking of you.

This is so hard, isn't it? I go from being completely depressed and disheartened to being resolutely optimistic every few minutes. My other half is trying hard to distract himself with work and chores, while I can't think of anything else.

I printed out more fliers earlier today and we both went around in different directions, knocked on some more houses and also handed a few to various postmen and to a pre-school/nursery as well as our local pet shop who said that they would put it up.

I did (with a very heavy heart) chase up our local council and got the number of the organisation that deals with any run-over cats and dogs in our area, and they said that they hadn't had any reports in the last week or so. But then while driving around looking for Harry, I saw a fox that had been run-over on the main road near our house, and so it made me wonder whether Harry had an encounter with the fox sometime during the night. It breaks my heart not to know where he might be, and whether he's scared, injured or hungry. We keep thinking that he's such a gutsy little fella that he would've given the fox a good fight. But, then an aggressive wild tomcat has been reported by several neighbours in our area and we also wonder if Harry got into a fight with him and whether he's lying injured somewhere.

He 's still not here and we are both at home today with our front door wide open in case he ventures back.

If any of you live in South Cheshire/North Staffordshire area, please let me know, and I could send you some details to look out for Harry.

All your wishes mean so much to us.

Fingers crossed that he returns safely, and a hug to keep you going in the meantime.

Edit - completely forgot to add that one of our much-loved cats went off once and was gone for 3 months. When he came back he was fit and well and well-fed. He strolled in as though nothing had happened, and never did it again!

Don't give up hope - my childhood cat went missing for a week and eventually turned up smelling of oil so he'd obviously got trapped somewhere.

Can you ask all your neighbours to check in their shed and garages? And perhaps go with them calling your cats name? Another cat of mine was trapped in a neighbours garage but wouldn't come out until hearing a familiar voice.

Fingers crossed for you.

So sorry to hear about Harry going missing.

Our beloved cat went missing twice, once for 2 days on an adventure and another time for a week when he just decided that the food tasted better at the lady down the road's. Despite having a phone number on his collar she only phoned a week later to ask if we wanted our cat back. I guess she had been feeding him while we were out at work and he had probably been sleeping outdoors, being a very outdoors kind of cat so maybe she hadn't realised immediately that he had moved in with her either!

I know quite a few people who have acquired cats that they fed once and then never returned to their own homes so maybe Harry has gone to live with someone else and is quite happy?

So sorry to hear that Harry is missing. Our neighbour's cat got 'lost' once and was absent for some days, and then they went out calling for her one evening and heard her calling back from another neighbour's garage. Don't give up hope.

Sending you a hug.
jazzycat

Seems like you have done everything you possibly can, hope you find him very soon

No sign yet.

I've contacted local animal rescue centres and also tried to expand our search area a little bit. It's so difficult though to access every part of our neighbouring fields with thick bushes and undergrowth.

It's becoming more and more difficult to hold on to the hope that he's alive and will return

Sorry to hear Harry isn't back home yet.

Very sorry, a mum. I feel for you all. Keep trying - and praying.

Plato was missing for a fortnight, and just as I thought he was gone for ever neighbours spotted him settling in to a feral colony. He was the same age then as harry is now. Plato is still with us and is approximately 14.

Is Harry a complete male as they are more likely to roam particularly as there are likely to be many queen cats in season at this time of year?

Local vets and animal shelters will tell you if is bad news, but as he is male complete or neutered, up until you know he is dead do not give up hope.

I do feel for you. We were very sad when Plato was missing.

I hope you get him back! We once got our cat back after two months! She had strayed a lot further than we thought possible and had been taken in by members of the Cats Protection League - actually I think she preferred it to our house.

My sister's cat was found after two weeks too... hang in there, a mum!

I keep hoping to see a message to say Harry's come home. I really hope he does soon. Hugs...

what she said xx

Any news yet? I've just seen your thread and quickly skimmed down to the end looking for good news. We've had several cats - one of whom was a "Harry" - and after sad incidents, we now religiously call our cat home early evening and then he does not go out again. We too have a lot of foxes in our area and i want our cat to be in a good routine of eating supper, going out for a walk/some fun, then coming home to bed. I try to encourage him to stay close during the day if possible too and don't let him out at the front if I can help it. I'm glad to hear Harry is chipped, lets hope he comes home very soon, sweet as pie as if nothing has happened.... Thinking of you.

Any news? I just thought I would pop back in to say that foxes are not necessarily a threat. Several posters have expressed worry about cats and foxes. When we lived in London we had foxes who visited the large shared garden of our block of flats and one evening a neighbour telelphoned to tell us to look out of the window. There on the lawn was a vixen and her three cubs playing with one of of our cats - who was at the time a large kitten. They were having a great time together.

My brother has foxes who visit his garden and his two cats have never been harmed. In any case cats can shine up a tree which a fox can't do.

Don't give up hope. Still thinking of you.

We live in a city area with a large fox population and the adult cats and foxes seem to leave each other alone. (Interestingly our pet rabbit sees off the cats, but has had a few close shaves with the foxes....)

I'm watching this thread too, hoping for good news. Our next door neighbour's cats often visit us (when not scared off by the rabbit..) and the young male went missing for a few days recently, but came back safe and sound, so fingers crossed Harry will be back soon too.

Thank you all...but sadly no news yet.

There was a possible sighting yesterday at a farm 3 miles away and we've visited it at night and at 5 am this morning, but it seems like it was a cat that lives nearby rather than Harry. We've been leaving some food there and it's been eaten up but it could be any of the cats from the area. There are quite a few around there. We just need a confirmed sighting to be able to narrow down the area and/or know that he's still alive and well.

Told our daughter last night and it has hit her very very hard. She's trying to be brave and optimistic and so are we...

Sorry to hear Harry is not home yet, I keep checking back here hoping for the good news message. Keep optimistic that you will have him back with you, I know that the worst thing is not knowing where he is. Hugs to your daughter, I remember telling mine and it was horrible. Oh, and keep putting the smelly clothing out in the garden, and someone also suggested dust from the hoover!

Just thought I'd let you know the devastating news. We had a call this morning from a lady who had been walking her dog along the canal. Harry was found floating in the canal. Dead. We went and fished him out and it was indeed him. We're unable to make sense of it all. He never strayed as far as the canal. I keep running it in my head wondering what I could've done to save or protect him.

I think I'm still in shock, and everything in the house reminds me of him. His food bowl under the kitchen counter is empty, the sofa where he used to lie around on, snuggle up next to us as I worked on my computer or watched TV, or sitting next to the door looking at us with his big pleading eyes, meowing and demanding food. i cannot believe that he wouldn't be coming in and I wouldn't be able to hold him again. It isn't fair. He wasn't even four yet.

Very sorry to hear the news, a mum. My sympathies go to you and all your family.

Dear A Mum,

Really sorry to hear your sad news.

Cats are independent, you can't restrict their movements, by keeping them fenced in our gardens like we do with dogs.

Harry must have been out having adventures, and I bet he's having new ones now.

As you say, it's not fair. The grieving process for our pets is horrible, and I really do feel for you.

All the best to you and your family.

Kind Regards,

Nigel

Very very sorry to hear this awful news... My thoughts are with you and your family as you deal with what has happened.

Oh I am so sorry. Like many others, I kept coming back to your thread, hoping there would be good news.
Absolutely devastating. It is painful enough when they die peacefully of old age. What a loss for all of you.

Sorry to hear this - very sad news.

Me too.

I am so very sorry to hear this sad news. You must not in any way blame yourself. As Nigel C says, cats are very independant and we who adore them just have to accept that. I can only surmise that either he went further than usual because something intrigued him or perhaps he was chased. I assume that once in the water he couldn't get out.

One thing which may comfort you however, is that at least you found his body. We have often said that the worst thing about the two toms we lost has been never knowing what happened. But I know exactly how it tears at one's heartstrings to lose an animal that you love.

If I can offer any advice, can you bury him in you garden and put some flowers on his grave? We have done that and after a while it helps to lessen the pain. If that isn't possible can you frame a photo and put it somewhere so that you feel he is still with you in a way? We have done that too.

Can you try to think that Harry was lent to you for a while and that you loved him and made him happy
while he was with you? I can only send you and your family another hug

It is much too soon to think of it, I know, but one day Harry will send you another friend.

I'm so sorry to hear you news, but reasurred that you have had some comfort in getting his body back.

From your posts it sounds like you are a lovely parent and are more than aware that as well as feeling the loss yourself that your daughter will be feeling it too.

This is the time when complete cats are having kittens, so when you are ready, should you want another cat there should be many about.

You must not think of yourselves as bad cat owners because this happened. On the contrary it sounds as if you were excellent owners to Harry. Neither should you think of another cat as a replacement for Harry. Harry was his own cat and special for his own reasons. However, as the owner of two Elderly neutered gentleman cats the thought does cross my mind over what we will do when the inevitable happens and somehow I don't think we will remain cat free for long, and somehow I don't think you will either.

How sad, sorry to hear the news. You should get another one as soon as possible.

Very sorry to hear this, a mum. Aquarelle has said it all, really.

I lost a cat once and never discovered what happened to him - it's awful to lose them but worse not to know what happened.

Harry will be waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge - and, yes, he will send another friend for you to love.

I second all of the above. Awful devastating news, thoughts to you and your family.