Author Topic: When is a cat officially missing?  (Read 19851 times)

Offline Ela

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #147 on: July 20, 2009, 08:14:41 AM »
Quote
I worry after my cat has been missing more than 12 hours


Although for many, many years my cats were indoor cats, I remember once when my Tricky was ½ an hour late, I just knew there was a kept going to the bottom of the garden and looking at a greenhouse in a garden the other side of a path at the back of our house and something kept telling me Tricky is in there, the only problem was that there were always 3 aggressive dogs in the garden. There was loads of gardens with sheds,/outhouse doors open but each time I walked down our garden path I was drawn to that greenhouse, my eyes just would go  any further. A little later the dogs when the dogs were not in the garden  I went in the back gate, looked in the greenhouse and there was my Tricky.

I always say to people as soon as you think your cat is missing contact as many people as possible as the sooner you try to find the little one the greater chance you have of getting it back. It never ceases to amaze me how many people wait a week or two before ringing round. AS we all know with some rescues had a cat been in a week and an owner not found what the outcome would be.  :(
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Offline michelle_w

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #146 on: July 19, 2009, 23:37:15 PM »
Just wanted to say thinking of everyone whos cats are missing and am hoping they come home safe soon. I worry after my cat has been missing more than 12 hours so I can not imagine how you all must feel. My friends cat went missing for 3 months and came home. Only a few days ago I saw a story in the paper about a cat who was bought home 3 years later. She was only living 5 streets away, after an old lady thought she was a stray. There are some incredible stories out there. Never give up hope. I always think no news is good news in many ways, as if a cat has been ran over or in an accident and died, someone usually finds it, and calls the owner. Thinking of you all x

Offline Tiggy's Mum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #145 on: July 19, 2009, 23:33:10 PM »
Crikey! Did'nt realise it had been four and a half months already!  :hug:

Me neither  :(  :hug:

Sending positive vibes for Lilly, Ted and Munki to return home  :hug:

Offline munki45

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #144 on: July 19, 2009, 23:15:11 PM »
Sorry to hear that!

It's natural for us to think that we'll never see them again but the more I read on the net, the more amazing stories I read. Cats that go for 6 months to a year then wander back.

I remember when I was little and we used to have a cat that stayed with us for weeks then disappear. This was a regular cycle. Heaven knows who she belonged to but it makes you wonder if thats what our cats are doing!

My Munki has been gone for 2 weeks tomorrow so I know how you feel. Lets just hope they head home soon. xxx

Offline Bazsmum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #143 on: July 19, 2009, 23:00:44 PM »
Crikey! Did'nt realise it had been four and a half months already!  :hug:

Offline Sootyca

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #142 on: July 19, 2009, 22:11:52 PM »
Nope, she is still not home.  4 and a half months and not a day goes by when I don't miss her or think of her.   It's the not knowing what has happened that is the worst.  She is chipped so if she is found and taken to a vets then she will come back to me.

You would think in this day and age that there would be a way to fit a tiny tracking device into the microchip so they can be activated when out and about and located easily!  I love the idea of the ones that go on the collars but it relies on the collar staying on (and I'm not a huge fan of putting a collar on anyway).

Hope Munki, Ted, Lilly and all missing cats all come home safely.  With it being summertime, maybe they have gotten into someone's house or shed who have gone on holiday and when they come back and open up the house/shed/garage again they may come home.  I was out through the night for Lilly - if disorientated they are more likely to come out when it is really quiet (2 or 3am).  It didn't do me much good as she was obviously never found but the number of other cats I saw around was unbelievable!

Welcome to Purrs, Dawn - sorry it has been your missing Ted that has brought you here. 

Take care of yourselves and keep positive - no news is still good news as there is still hope.

Karen
x

« Last Edit: July 19, 2009, 22:14:57 PM by Sootyca »

Offline Dawn3156

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #141 on: July 19, 2009, 21:40:07 PM »
Hi Karen

Any news on your Lilly yet?
I am a new member and know exactly what you are going through, my handsome little cat Ted went missing 2 weeks ago today. I have done everything possible to find him and I truly have the feeling he's not far away. I try to remain hopeful and hope that if he is shut in somewhere he has the strength to make it home. I have good days and bad days - today has been a bad one with several bouts of crying.
Another hour and I will go for my usual walk around the area in the hope he will hear me and I will hear him.

I hope we both have some good news soon.

Dawn

Offline munki45

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #140 on: July 19, 2009, 19:49:42 PM »
Hi Karen,

Just noticed your post. I have the same thread running at the moment - mines been gone for 2 weeks tomorrow!

Like you, we've done everything we can think off. It's soul destroying!

Please keep in touch and let me know the outcome. My thoughts are with you and Lily!!

They're SO in trouble......

Offline Lynds

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #139 on: May 22, 2009, 20:34:31 PM »
Karen,

Any news at all?

Lynds x

Offline MrsR

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #138 on: March 28, 2009, 10:04:02 AM »
Oh huninie  :hug:

Offline tillywilly

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #137 on: March 28, 2009, 09:24:39 AM »
Thinking of you............

XX

Offline Bazsmum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #136 on: March 28, 2009, 02:03:12 AM »
 :hug: :hug: :hug:

Offline Tiggy's Mum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #135 on: March 28, 2009, 01:16:24 AM »
 :hug:

I know you must feel like losing hope as time goes on but don't give up, Pinkbear's Tilly was missing for 3 months and was found very close by. Do you have pet insurance? A lot of policies have a lost allowance which you could either pay someone to print and distribute posters/leaflets or offer a large reward.  Worth looking into if she is insured  :hug:

Offline Sootyca

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #134 on: March 27, 2009, 18:20:14 PM »
Nothing I'm afraid.  4 weeks on Sunday with no sight or sound of her.  Still devastated.    :'(

Karen
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Offline Tiggy's Mum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #133 on: March 27, 2009, 17:46:27 PM »
Just wondering if there was any news about Lilly? :hug:

Offline MrsR

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #132 on: March 18, 2009, 12:14:57 PM »
Come home Lilly

Offline Dawn F

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #131 on: March 18, 2009, 08:47:01 AM »
good news about the possible sighting - don't forget Pink Bear's Tilly was only a few gardens away for about 3 months

Offline Bazsmum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #130 on: March 18, 2009, 03:26:46 AM »
Its in "Sam's advice" maybe try sprinkling the contents of your hoover over your garden then if it is her hopefully she will catch the scent!  ;) :hug:

Offline Lynds

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #129 on: March 17, 2009, 22:37:32 PM »
You really do have to keep positive and not give up hope. I would mailshot my ass all over your neighbourhood.


xx

Offline Susanne (urbantigers)

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #128 on: March 17, 2009, 22:18:39 PM »
It's good that other people are keeping an eye out for her.  Fingers crossed it was her in your neighbour's garden on sunday.  If it was, the fact tht she's still in the area is a good sign.

Offline Tiggy's Mum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #127 on: March 17, 2009, 22:05:32 PM »
That's good news about the possible sighting, got everything crossed she is found safe and well  :hug:

Offline Sootyca

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #126 on: March 17, 2009, 20:11:59 PM »
Still nothing - done another sweep of the area, including places she has been seen previously.    Had a phone call from someone about a mile away but nothing came of it (different cat, not as pretty as Lilly apparently!).  And more encouragingly, a phone call from someone about 10 doors away on the other side of the road who thinks she was in their garden on Sunday but she ran off and we have been round daily at different times since then and nothing.  At least people are still looking out for her.

I'm still hoping she will be a miracle cat who returns home after being absent for weeks/months/years or gets picked up and scanned.  All the posters are still dotted around and I have cars acting as moving advertisements for her so the search isn't over......just not very productive.

News on my neighbours cat that went missing at the same time - he had been in an accident, but only dead for 24-48 hours when he was found so not sure where he had been for the 4-5 days he was gone.  At least he wasn't poisoned (which was our big fear). 

I do feel guilty that I have let her down by allowing her her freedom...it's ironic that I always made her stay in overnight to keep her safer and she still goes missing anyway.  I console myself with the knowledge she would have hated to be an indoor cat.  Now I just have to persuade Robbie that he wants to be an only cat - he keeps meowing at himself in the mirror and chatting to neighbourhood cats that he previously ignored!

Karen
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Offline Christine (Blip)

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #125 on: March 17, 2009, 14:49:45 PM »
I have somehow managed to overlook this thread.

A couple of years ago I reunited a cat, Zsa Zsa, with her family after she had been missing from home and living rough for three months.  She just turned up in our garden one day: she'd been living in a little open area nearby, apparently.  She was in perfect health, just a little thinner than when she'd sauntered off.  Her family had given up hope - try not to do that  :hug:

One thing - this little open area was only about 500 yards from Zsa Zsa's home, in a more-or-less straight line, but it was the other side of a churchyard and a warren of back gardens.  So I would say, try to imagine Lilly's possible routes from a cat's point of view, rather than a human one.
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Offline MrsR

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #124 on: March 17, 2009, 13:23:18 PM »
Thinking of you Karen x

Offline MrsR

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #123 on: March 16, 2009, 22:50:08 PM »
Anything hunnie?   How you doing?

Offline Bazsmum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #122 on: March 15, 2009, 12:56:50 PM »
Any news?

Wonder if this should be moved to the "lost & found" sect as it will get more noticed there?  Would hate to think that someone misses this!  ;)

Offline Janeyk

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #121 on: March 14, 2009, 14:08:06 PM »
 :hug: Don't lose hope, you're doing you're best and I know of someone who found her cat after a year so it does happen
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Offline tillywilly

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #120 on: March 14, 2009, 14:03:51 PM »
Keep your chin up, thinking of you..........

Did your neighbour have the post mortem done???

Offline Lynds

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #119 on: March 12, 2009, 16:47:51 PM »
Having had such a close call with Izzy, I can't begin to imagine how you must be feeling now. I was bad enough with 23 tiny hours. I don't think you should ever give up hope and keep the PR exercises going.

 :hug:

Offline Sootyca

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #118 on: March 12, 2009, 14:35:17 PM »
I have literally tried everything I can think of to find her (and got numerous scars and bruises from going through undergrowth that grown women shouldn't go through!) but am accepting that I probably won't see her again.  I still hope she will return but I think it's a forlorn hope.  There has just been no sightings of her at all.  I'm praying for a nice weekend with lots of sheds being opened  but if she isn't home after this weekend then I think there is little else I can do other than hope and pray for her safe return.

It's heartbreaking but I have to be realistic - she is chipped so if she is picked up by anyone as a stray she should make her way back to me.  Who knows - in a few weeks/months/years time there may be a miracle story about her turning up!

Karen
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Offline Sam (Fussy_Furball)

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #117 on: March 12, 2009, 10:55:25 AM »
Sorry to hear she's still not home  :hug:  you are dong all the right things hun.  Just have to hope and pray that she will make her way home.

Have you tried the visualisation techniques ... worth a go! http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,14171.0.html
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Offline Sootyca

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #116 on: March 09, 2009, 16:17:48 PM »
I'll never give up hoping she'll return. If she is stuck in a shed or garage then sooner or later I'm sure it will have to be opened - just hope she survives long enough to be strong enough to get home.  If she is straying and gets picked up then she is chipped so should make her way back to me.  Just ordered some leaflets for another leafleting campaign.  Going to put her picture up on Facebook on my hometown page so that may get a few more people looking!  Also putting a posted in my car 'cos you never know who may see it and recognise her.

From the communication, the only places that we could think that of where she may be don't exist any more so back to square one. 

I just have to trust that she has got herself into this and she will get herself out of it and find her way home!  It's the risk I took when allowing her to be an outdoor cat (not that wild horses would have kept her inside!).

There'll always be hope unless evidence appears to the contrary. 

Karen
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Offline Bazsmum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #115 on: March 09, 2009, 03:06:48 AM »
I feel like a stuck record cos Ive mentioned this a few times but.....

When my Baz went missing (he was a cat who never stayed away for even a couple of hours), He was found through the leaflet method 13 days later in a lock up/work garage type thingy.....He had lived on spiders and dew for the time he spent locked up!  :sick:

The lock up I passed approx 2 to 3 times a day as it was litterally about 50 yards away from the house, I never heard him cry/meoww! And was really suprised that he was only that short distance from me...

Dont rule out somewhere if it looks in good repair, Baz had dropped in via the roof and could'nt get back up to get out! Sometimes they are not as far away as you think!

Good Luck again.....x

Offline MrsR

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #114 on: March 08, 2009, 22:18:43 PM »
Dont give up hunnie

Offline Tiggy's Mum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #113 on: March 08, 2009, 20:06:01 PM »
I'm so glad the neighbour let you in, at least that's one big 'what-if' off the list.  What was the weather like with you this weekend?  Am thinking along the lines of people going back into sheds/garages.  If it's been rubbish maybe you could do another set of flyers asking people to please open their sheds and garages to check she's not in there.  :hug:

Offline Sootyca

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #112 on: March 08, 2009, 16:38:03 PM »
That confidence was coming from Lilly though not the communicator!  The communication was quite specific about where she was but I can't for the life of me think where it may be.  There are a couple of possibilities which will need to wait until tomorrow before going to them. 

A couple of the questions asked:

How are you physically?  ...... Weary of not being at home; bored but patient.  I know I’ll be found.
And mentally, how are you?  ......  I’m waiting; cats can wait a long time, you know. I need to be found but it will be when the time is right.  I can endure it longer though.

Another response to a question was:

I will wait here. I will be found [& she ‘smiles’].

If there is anything in all of this she is so confident that she will be found but I haven't a clue as to where she is.  The only thing that I can hope at the moment is that someone opens the shed door she is supposedly in and she finds the strength and confidence to escape that way.

Karen
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Offline JackSpratt

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #111 on: March 08, 2009, 15:26:57 PM »
and she did think that Lilly was still alive but trapped somewhere - and the overwhelming feeling that I will find her. 

But there was an overwhelming feeling that you'd find her - that's got to be good. :hug:




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Offline Topsy Turvey

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #110 on: March 08, 2009, 15:08:36 PM »
 :hug: keep positive honey.

It may be worth putting another advert in the paper and asking the radio station to run another for you.

Offline Sootyca

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #109 on: March 08, 2009, 15:03:28 PM »
Well, I'm back. The neighbour was perfectly friendly and more than happy for me to explore the garden.  I *really* thought I would find her body in the garden but there was absolutely nothing there.  I've done yet another wander round with leaflets but no joy whatsoever. 

I'm waiting for a write-up from the communicator - I spoke to her briefly and she did think that Lilly was still alive but trapped somewhere - and the overwhelming feeling that I will find her.  As harsh as it sounds, at this moment I think I would almost have preferred to hear that she had died than believe she is trapped alive somewhere but that I can't find her.  But where there may be life there may be hope.

So, no real news either way and I don't know how much longer I can go on.

Karen
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Offline Bazsmum

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Re: When is a cat officially missing?
« Reply #108 on: March 08, 2009, 14:03:34 PM »
"Good Luck" and fingers crossed for a positive result!  :Luv: :hug: :hug:

 


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