Cat-sitting and one's gone missing! - SHE'S HOME! - GONE AGAIN

[Rosella moggy]

Fingers and toes crossed here too 

[Mark]

Hoping the gorgeous girl is back now  - her colouring is so like Alice's - she is lovely 

[maryas]

Just read this Gillian - I'm so sorry - it was bad enough for you last year but this is worse.  I pray she comes home soon safe and sound.  She is adorable bless her.

Mary

A big hug for you   

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Poppy is gorgeous, please come home Poppy 

[Gillian Harvey]

So hard  ....whats her name?

Her name is Poppy - this is her (taken last year)

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So hard  ....whats her name?

[Gillian Harvey]

Is she a vocal cat normally?  I'm still wondering if she might possibly have got stuck in the house somewhere and may respond to owners when things quieten down tonight?  My brother's cat was stuck between the two pull out drawers below divan bed when he went on holiday.  She was there for days whilst everyone frantically searched for her.  Obviously this is more serious due to her age and health probs and say again, I hope she turns up very quickly now    Hope you've told your friends that they must ring you whatever the time of night if she turns up. 

No, she's not vocal at all, I don't think I've ever heard her miaow. Just can't think of anywhere in the house she'd be. Their beds arent divan types - theres nothing underneath them but space (LOL - unlike under my bed where a cat could hide for days amongst all the junk!).

Yes, they have promised to ring (or text depending on the time) - whenever there is any news.

Yes Gill, I'm worried about the lack of meds too - on the other hand she had been a bit 'spaced out' on the phenobarb - could have caused some confusion maybe - but why now, when she's been on them since December? - suppose, like Mark said, confused because her owners werent there - but then again, its nearly a week since they went away - why would she suddenly be confused now? Also, of course, if she is shut in somehwere - lack of food and water 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

i was told by my london vet that foxes are very wary of cats cos if a cat damages a foxes eyes thats ot for the fox.

i am sure she is close and a search of sheds garages and outside hiding places is needed by all neighbours, the problem is her deafness cos she cant hear anyone calling her.

being a cat who gpes outside i would hasve expected her to find her way home but the lack of meds is a real problem i fear 

i do hope that she can be found very very quickly 

[Rosella moggy]

We also have foxes around here (4 miles from centre of Brum) and even saw a fox put his nose thru our catflap when we first moved in but never known of any attacks at all.  My heart goes out to you, owners and of course elderly lady cat and send you the strongest possible come home safe vibes. 

Is she a vocal cat normally?  I'm still wondering if she might possibly have got stuck in the house somewhere and may respond to owners when things quieten down tonight?  My brother's cat was stuck between the two pull out drawers below divan bed when he went on holiday.  She was there for days whilst everyone frantically searched for her.  Obviously this is more serious due to her age and health probs and say again, I hope she turns up very quickly now    Hope you've told your friends that they must ring you whatever the time of night if she turns up. 

[Daisymac]

I doubt a Fox would have taken her Gillian,  we have loads of foxes here and they are not interested in the cats,  too many claws and they hurt !,   as T said the cat would have had to be literally dying or dead for a fox to come near,  we regularly see foxes in the field at one end and the cats at the other and they dont pay any attention to each other.  I hope she is found soon  

[Mark]

I'm hoping she has just wandered as she was confused with her owners being gone. 

[Gillian Harvey]

Thanks Teresa  - so if she had died outside, then the possibility of a fox taking her is more plausible - and also would be why no signs. The not knowing is whats so awful, I'm upset enough, but her owners are distraught. I got it wrong, thought she was 18, but in fact she's 19 - and in all those years, she's never wandered - even with 4 house moves, and now suddenly she's just gone.  Anyway, they will continue the search and I said I'd help if they needed me.

[Teresa Pawcats]

Gillian she would have to be very weak or even dead for a fox to take her, think owners need to ask to go into everyones shed/garage to check,my daughters cat went missing and fell asleep in someones garage behind a deep freeze,people checked garage and said no not in here,a couple of days later they noticed a disturbed bottle of coke,one cat found. Hope she turns up safely soon 

[Gillian Harvey]

Well I put all the posters up and leafletted a few more doors and left copies and some spare leaflets for the owners return. They phoned me when they arrived home and I almost expected her to say Poppy was home, but of course she wasnt  they are just as puzzled as I am about her disappearance - one theory they did come up with is the possibility of a fox getting her while she was outside - would a fox take a cat? thing is, although she's frail she's still pretty feisty, she got quite tempermental with the other cats recently and would really lay into them - so we would be likely to see clumps of fur around if a fox had tried to take her surely? some evidence of a struggle - but they havent found anything.

[Leanne]

Oh no what a worry all round, hope she turns up 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So sorry she has not returned yet and it would  be so great if she just saunter4ed in about 1600 to meet her owners 

[Teresa Pawcats]

Gillian plaster your posters all around within a 200yard radius she wont be far. 

[Gillian Harvey]

Thanks  - she's still not home    . Owners got an earlier flight and will be home by around 4pm.

Sorry Gillian, you must be frantic with worry 

Yes Mark, frantic is the word.

Daft question Gillian, but are you sure she hasn't got somewhere unusual in the house?

Not a daft question Des - but I have had the house upside down LOL! Honestly I even looked up the chimney  and opened cupboards that I knew hadnt even been opened while I've been there! Under the bed, in the bed, in the duvet cover, under the cushions, in the cushion covers  Not to mention the whole garden, under hedges, in the summerhouse, which I know hasnt been opened either!

I phoned round all the vets yesterday to see if she'd been taken in, but no, so she is on their lost and found registers now. I'm going back at lunchtime to put leaflets with a photo of her on them, and I've got a poster made up to put in the vets windows.

Trigger, yes that had occurred to me too - but somehow it doestn fit - I left her on Sat eve, having eaten her tea and settled on the bed - all as normal as can be. I just can't imagine her going away such a distance away from the house and garden, but I may be wrong.

Rosella, yes I did the clapping yesterday and this again morning - I stood and listened at garages etc - prob going to be arrested for loitering!

[tab]

I hope shes turned up now
 
love
Tab

[Mark]

Sorry Gillian, you must be frantic with worry 

I hope she has turned up by now.

[Rosella moggy]

When Dingle went deaf she also went very loud so I assume you would hear her if she was stuck somewhere? 

I don't know how deaf she is but wonder if you've tried clapping your hands Gillian.  I do so hope she turns up quickly 

[clarenmax]

Hope she's turned up for her breakfast today 

[Desley (booktigger)]

Daft question Gillian, but are you sure she hasn't got somewhere unusual in the house? Is there anywhere round the bed she could have got stuck? I Wouldnt rely too much on the neighbours word, I have taken in a few tabbies that were torties and vice versa

[Kay and Penny]

no-one wants to say it, but it is natural for an old and sick cat to go off somewhere alone and hidden

I hope that isn't what has happened, but it would be no-one's fault, and try as we might we can't thwart the natural cycle of things for ever

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I do hope she is all right but afraid I dont have a good feeling either 

I worry so much about Franta and as far as I know he is not going outside at all but cant shut him in cos of Sasa, soooooo scarey and know that stress does bring on a seizure in him cos it happened after being at the vets when they wrapped him in a towel to try and give him a pill.....he was sooooooo upset and I should never have let them try 

[Gillian Harvey]

That is so worrying Gillian and I dont blame them for rushing back......the danger is that without her meds she will have a seizure and not know where she is or it could even be more dangerous than that.

I would be beside myself with worry as I am sure you are and can see you have only just posted so you must be at home now 

Yes, I'm home now, but I went back again after the teatime visit, about 8 ish - still no sign, and I went round the garden with a torch. No use calling her because she is deaf. I will go round tomorrow morning hoping against hope she is there - but I just have such a bad feeling about this - she just wouldnt miss her meals.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Have everything crossed for a positive update tomorrow morning 

[Gillian Harvey]

Her nose is probably put out of joint if her owners are away,

But she's never done this before Helen.  - and she's never missed her meals....

Yes, there is a cat flap (they come and go as they please). I'm not absolutely convinced this woman who said she saw a tortoishell cat, did actually see this cat. As I was pulling into the road I saw a tabby and white cat coming from the direction she said she saw missing cat, I'm wondering if that was the cat she saw (you know how some people get their tabbies and torties mixed up?)

I have a funny feeling that when they shell out for new flights and race back she'll pop back wondering what all the fuss is about 

I do hope so!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

That is so worrying Gillian and I dont blame them for rushing back......the danger is that without her meds she will have a seizure and not know where she is or it could even be more dangerous than that.

I would be beside myself with worry as I am sure you are and can see you have only just posted so you must be at home now 

[Tiggy's Mum]

What a worry 

It's positive that the neighbour saw her in the afternoon, that means that when you checked back on them in the evning she hadn't been missing all day if she had been seen just a few hours earlier. Do they have a cat flap for her to get back in?

Her nose is probably put out of joint if her owners are away, I have a funny feeling that when they shell out for new flights and race back she'll pop back wondering what all the fuss is about 

[Gillian Harvey]

I've looked after these 4 cats for 2 yrs or so now and I've got to know them really well and they are like my extra cat family  . You may remember last year one of them went missing for a few days - he's a young cat and real hunter - I was very worried, but he was back one morning when I went to feed them - as if he'd never been away, little monster! He hasnt done it since and the others are always there ready for the food, so I've never had to worry about them - until now.

They have an elderly cat (she's 19) who, just before christmas started having fits (there was a thread about it in Health) . She was put on phenobarbitol and hasnt had a fit since being on meds, but she hasnt been 100% recently and certainly looks more frail than when I last saw her. I've been looking after them since last Tuesday - this morning when I got there she wasnt there (I was shocked not to see her on the bed - cos, she eats her food, goes out for about 5 mins for the necessary - then sleeps on the bed - and thats pretty much where she always is) I looked all round the garden, no sign. I fed the others and then made a proper search of the whole property inside and out, I walked up and down the roads, talked to a few people, knocked on a few doors.

I decided to go back at lunchtime, just in case she might be there, she wasnt. Went round as usual at teatime, still not there. I knocked on a few more doors and one lady said she'd seen a tortoishell cat sitting opposite her house in the sun that afternoon, but there was no sign of her then.

Thing is, this is so out of character and so worrying because she hasnt had her meds for a whole day now - anyway, the owners wanted me to tell them if anything happened with this cat (because of her illness) so I've been in contact with them and although they were due back Tuesday, they are trying to get a flight back tomorrow. Everything was normal when I left them Saturday night - this cat was on the bed when I left, she'd eaten and she'd had her pill and I'd given her some Temptations treats just before I left. How can she just disappear into thin air?