Keeping a cat indoors after it has been missing

[bagpussarah]

Is it possible to cat proof your garden so that she can't go any further than your property, or if not, could you section off a piece of garden and cat proof that? We have done the latter and it works very well.

[Fiona2]

If you have regular feeding times you could try letting her out an hour before feed time, then she'll be hungry and come home for tea. If she was trapped somewhere she probably isn't keen on repeating the episode and will hopefully be wary. One of mine went missing for about the same amount of time around about the same time of year when he was young (also out of character) but it only happened the once. I can understand your concerns though and it won't do her any harm to stay in for a few days until the New Year shenanigans are over.

[freya1984]

Hi

Thanks for the replies. She is already microchipped, so that's not a problem. I know she knows where she lives, and my concern is not that she won't come home it is her getting trapped again in someone's house, garage, shed etc, as people are bound to be going away again for a few days over New Year, and as we don't know where she spent three days this week, we wouldn't know where to find her.

[fuzziesdad]

sam is right if she wants to go it will not matter how long you keep her in,its a matter of trust,she came home once so she will again.
milly's mum is right too get her chipped as soon as poss.
good luck,
roger.   

[Millys Mum]

I had to keep one of mine on house arrest to see if his tummy was ok and it was nightmare!
If it keeps your mind at rest then a few days isnt going to hurt her although she wont be pleased.

If you havent already then i would suggest getting her microchipped as a back up plan. It cost me £15.50 so isnt expensive.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

To be honest I would let her out if she wants to go out.  When my babies go out they are called back home regularly (usually after about 40 mins to hour).  Once they come home they are given a treat and if they want to go out again then they are free to go again (again being called home after hour). 

Your little girl obviously knows where she lives ... she did come home and if she is used to being allowed out it doesn't seem fair to keep her in.

Just my opinion

[freya1984]

Hi

My cat went missing on Christmas day morning, and we had a traumatic three days trying to find her, as it was really out of character for her to not come home for that long. She turned up yesterday morning, very hungry and tired, but okay in herself. We think she may have got locked in somewhere when people were going away to vist family on Christmas morning, so a garage, house, shed etc. We have decided to keep her indoors for a while as we are worried about her going missing again. Obviously a lot of people may be going away again for New Year, so we don't want the same thing to happen again. She is a cat who loves to be outdoors, so she is not taking very well to being a house cat. It has taken her a day to use her litter tray, as she has been trying to get us to let her out, but she must have had to give in and use it. I just wondered if anyone has been in a similar situation, and how we can make the prospect of being indoors for her easier to bear. I keep trying to entertain her with toys etc, but she keeps crying to go outside.

Any help would be much appreciated.