Do neutered cats wander?

Wreck

Just a quick query. We have a neutered male cat who is just over a year old. He is very active, and seems to be very happy. He is very much a house cat but will occasionally spend a night outside. He went out at about 2.00 am on Sunday morning and hasn't been back yet (as of Monday 1.00 pm). Normally he would always be around between 7 and 9 in the morning as that is when he is fed. We are all quite worried at this stage.

Do neutered male cats wander and if they do for how long will can we expect him to be gone?


Edit: A second question I forgot to ask, would a fox attack/eat a cat? I've seen a fox around the garden a few times.

carwash_2006

Neutered cats tend to wander less than ones that aren't done. In this situation I would recommend that you do up some sort of flyer telling people about your missing cat and asking them to check their sheds. Sometimes cats get shut in neighbours sheds by mistake.

Try and find out if anyone has just gone on holidays too as they may have a shed that they mostly leave open but closed because they were going away, you will need to see if you can get access to where the shed is and call your cat and hopes he miaows if this is the case.

I would think that most foxes would not bother attacking a cat unless they were threatening young cubs, there are much easier meals out there and foxes are mostly opportunists looking for the easiest meal they can find. Taking on an adult cat would present risks for the fox too.

Hope your kitty turns up.

forestfruits

I have a neutered 3 year old male cat who usually sleeps inside but as soon as the weather is in any way dry he can disappear for a day or two off on his wanders! 9 times out of 10 arriving back with a belly full of bird which he has gracefully thrown up on the mat once or twice!!! ( a detail you could have lived without but i thought id share:D).

Let us know when he shows up! and watch out for the swollen belly!

BlackCat2008

carwash_2006 wrote: »

Neutered cats tend to wander less than ones that aren't done. In this situation I would recommend that you do up some sort of flyer telling people about your missing cat and asking them to check their sheds. Sometimes cats get shut in neighbours sheds by mistake.

Try and find out if anyone has just gone on holidays too as they may have a shed that they mostly leave open but closed because they were going away, you will need to see if you can get access to where the shed is and call your cat and hopes he miaows if this is the case.

I would think that most foxes would not bother attacking a cat unless they were threatening young cubs, there are much easier meals out there and foxes are mostly opportunists looking for the easiest meal they can find. Taking on an adult cat would present risks for the fox too.

Hope your kitty turns up.

Sounds about right a foxes will only go after a cat thats hurt, ill, young or unable to defened it's self they wouldn't go after a healthy one it's to much of a risk to them.

I'd say give the niebghours a knock and have a scoot around the area he may just have found a friend to play with and forgot he's breakfast if he doesn't turn up tomorrow then get some posters up in the area. Don't foget to check all the roads today and give the nearst vets and animal shelter a ring incase he was hit and some one tuck him in.

Wreck

Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately our neighbours found a cat's tail in their garden on Sunday morning which matches his colours. I'm totally devastated. I think it must have been a fox no matter how unlikely.

LisaO

Oh that's awful! Very sorry to hear that. I also would have been very surprised to hear of a fox attacking a cat.

Wreck

I'm back for more advice. At this stage I know its probably a lost cause, but I can't stop thinking about Tiger. Really miss him.

So far there has been no further sign of him other than the tail found by my neighbours. Do foxes bring food back to their den or eat on the spot? How likely is it that he got away from the fox or whatever and ran off? As far as I know he never really roamed more than 500 meters from the house before, so could he have paniced and run and now be lost somewhere? He was a fairly big and active cat, and seemed to have no problem catching mice, rats and birds so if he is not badly injured he is probably quite capable of feeding himself. Finding the tail only seems really strange to me.

We've contacted local vets and put up posters, is there anyone else we could contact?

forestfruits

So sorry to hear that! I was full sure he would show up- still might. contact your local Ispca- often injured cats end up with them sometimes even if they were in vets first, they will be able to advise you if there are any local radio stations you could advertise on etc

good luck

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Wreck wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately our neighbours found a cat's tail in their garden on Sunday morning which matches his colours. I'm totally devastated. I think it must have been a fox no matter how unlikely.

Sorry to hear that but it's very unlikely to have been killed by a Fox. Any time I've see interaction between a fox and a cat (many times) it has always been the cat who got the upper hand. A fox will shy away from an angry cat. If the cat had died the fox may scavange the body but it's unlikely to have killed it.

BlackCat2008

I tuck a cat of the side of the road about a year ago it had ran out onto the road seen a car and ran back in, leaving it's tail behind and multi injuries. If this has happened and he is still alive he's hiding you need to convince all your nieghbours to let you search there back gardens to search for him an injured or ill cat will hide and most likely not answer even the owner they think by hiding they are hiding from the hurt or illness if he has been hit then it is likely a fox could over power him in a weak condition. I hope this is not the case but take the info and work from it. You need to search every shed, bush and even trees don't forget to look up, cars that have been lying for a while or trailers. If your in dublin check with DCU emergancy vets and all shelters if that fails you need to check the local council as to what they have taken of the roads. Even check local vets that my have treated a cat with that description for a customer they could get in contact with them on your behalf. Have you put up posters yet ?

Hope you find him.

Sigma Force

If anyone lets their cat free to wander wether neutered or not the cat is in danger of being attacked by dogs, people or hit by a car etc. So neutered or unnuetered the cat is at risk.
Doubt it would of been foxes though.
Your cat may still be alive fingers crossed keep asking around the area.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Wreck wrote: »

Just a quick query. We have a neutered male cat who is just over a year old. He is very active, and seems to be very happy. He is very much a house cat but will occasionally spend a night outside. He went out at about 2.00 am on Sunday morning and hasn't been back yet (as of Monday 1.00 pm). Normally he would always be around between 7 and 9 in the morning as that is when he is fed. We are all quite worried at this stage.

Do neutered male cats wander and if they do for how long will can we expect him to be gone?


Edit: A second question I forgot to ask, would a fox attack/eat a cat? I've seen a fox around the garden a few times.

This is not intended to frighten you.

But look for him EVERYWHERE... Why?.

Our last cat 'Tigger' was look your lad, but would on occassion for for walkies.

One day he didn't come back by afternoon and just by chance a neighbour heard a cat cry and found Tigger in agony after being knocked down.

Our Vet told us that cats will find a place to hide while they die.

Tigger lived, but died a few weeks later of his injuries.

bunyip123

Hi all, i agree with Mairt. Try your best to look everywhere, it is amazing where cats will hide when they are injured. We found ours a few weeks ago, after being missing all day, hidden in a box in a garage. It took us till 11pm to find him and then a mad dash to UCD vet hospital. He was in shock after being hit by a car. After about a week of being in the vets, and an operation, he recovered fairly well. His legs were broken in 3 places though, but thank god he is in flying form now!

I really hope you find Tiger - will keep everything crossed!


ps - all our cats are neutered and i find the best thing is try your best to establish a real 'routine' with cats. let them out at certain times, call them back, feed them and keep them in for the evening etc. cats are mad for routine and i find once they get into one, they stick with it. also - keeping cats in at night seems to stop the wandering habit kicking in big time.