Do cats find their way home?

Dolbert

We started feeding a wild tom kitten last year, and gradually he started to trust us and get more comfortable coming inside. He had always been a bit hesitant, but then he seemed to get a bit sick during the 'big freeze' and we brought him inside for a night to get warm, he was too weak to resist I think.

After that he seemed to trust us completely, became a total lap cat and was really affectionate, always rolling over for tummy rubs! We realised that we had inadvertently adopted him, or the other way around So we decided that we should do the right thing and get him to the vets for his shots, worming etc. We picked up a pet carrier in Tesco and I decided to bring him this evening.

As predicted he freaked out when locked in the carrier, but I hadn't realised that he had somehow loosened one of the clasps on the door with all his clawing. Then when I was carrying him from the car to the vets, he managed to squeeze through the tiny opening at the corner and ran up the road, totally traumatised. I've been up and down the road all evening and there's no sign of him. I feel so bad for putting him through all of that for nothing, and now he's run off in a panic.

I only live a 5 minute walk away from the vets, so I'm just really hoping he manages to find his way back. Does anyone have any experience of a cat finding it's way home after being lost? I feel sick at the thought of him being scared and alone Also, am I right to think that a cat shouldn't be able to 'break out' of a pet carrier that easily, that just screams shoddy to me?

morganafay

If he is fully grown and not neutered then I'd say there's a chance he'll find his way home. How many miles away is the vets? Tom cats wander a lot if they're not neutered. And they're very good at finding their way home if they know the area. If he doesn't recognise the area he might just wander around and hopefully will find somewhere he knows to find the way back. I hope he does come back.

You could leave food outside the vets for a few days and go back and try calling him and stuff. Or you could ask them if they have a cat trap to try to catch him, though they might end up catching another cat.

The exact same thing happened a girl when I was doing work exp. at the vets a few months ago, and she did find the cat 5 days later, just across the road. And the same thing happened our cat when I was a kid (the vets lost her though) and she came back to the vets.

So I really hope your cat does come back.

You could also try putting up lost cat posters with a photo of him if you have one, in local shops. I did that when I lost my kitten and someone found her and called me.

Dolbert

Thanks morganafay. The vet is less than half a mile down the road from us so I'm hoping his sense of direction will take him home. He hasn't been neutered yet and he's already been rambling once or twice so that's giving me hope. I'll call into the vets after work tomorrow and see if they've seen him. I'll keep you updated, thanks for the kind wishes!

morganafay

Oh that's really close, he should know his way home, unless he's very young, hopefully.

IvySlayer

I think it'll be a while before he comes back. Maybe a few days. Also I imagine he won't be active til late, as there would be less people about and less cars. He'll come back when he's hungry.

Maybe leave food out and see if it gets eaten. Squeak his favourite toy. And I would go to Tesco and complain about the bad quality of the pet carrier. If you do see him, don't go running up to him, kneel down and allow him to approach you.

As for the next time you try and get him to the vets, I wonder if there's anyway you could put a cat to sleep by putting something in his food? Just an idea..

Good luck Dolorus, and I hope he returns safe and well

The Sweeper

He will most probably find his way back. Give it a few days. The furthest I know of personally, we had a stray tom, very skinny, hanging around our property, so we caught him and brought him to the no-kill shelter in the next town. He escaped and we brought him back and he escaped again, and this time the rangers brought him back - on both escapes, he came 15km from the shelter back to his territory, across a motorway and a train line. Took him a week to 10 days each time.

We called him Teddy Houdini, and he's now been neutered and renamed and lives with three shift workers who adore him - and who don't let him roam.

Incidentally, when he discovered that the no-kill shelter owner intended to feed him three squares a day to bring up his weight from just over 3kgs up to just over 5kgs - he was *very* skinny - he stopped trying to escape. They'll always come back to who feeds them.

If you have to carry him to the vet in a box, always cover the box with a cloth to reduce the terror - cut a handle-hole in a pillow case and use that to cover the external views from the cage. He'll still be scared, but he might be less frantic.

morgana

I also secure the carrier additionally with a few of those bungy cord thingies as we have a cat who always manages to open the carrier door otherwise (if for no other reason then to show, yes I can :P).

minikin

Do cats find their way home?

tomtom™ cats do

anniehoo

I really hope so, i havent seen my gorgeous cat since wed eve and am gutted

morganafay

One of my cats has been gone for days too . . . but she used to be feral and she gets scared sometimes and goes away for a few days, and they've been cutting grass in the fields behind the house and that kind of thing always scares her away for a while.

lubie76

Don't feel bad Dolorous, you were only trying to help him. He will come home especially from that short distance. He prob will just have the hump for a while.

I moved house last year and spent the first 3 months going back to my old house to collect various members of our cat family. They have an instinctive sense for home and its association with food and warmth - although its not always the correct home

Keep us posted if he turns up!

Dolbert

anniehoo wrote: »

I really hope so, i havent seen my gorgeous cat since wed eve and am gutted

morganafay wrote: »

One of my cats has been gone for days too . . . but she used to be feral and she gets scared sometimes and goes away for a few days, and they've been cutting grass in the fields behind the house and that kind of thing always scares her away for a while.

Aw, I hope they turn up. I've got my fingers crossed for you

lubie76 wrote: »

Don't feel bad Dolorous, you were only trying to help him. He will come home especially from that short distance. He prob will just have the hump for a while.

I moved house last year and spent the first 3 months going back to my old house to collect various members of our cat family. They have an instinctive sense for home and its association with food and warmth - although its not always the correct home

Keep us posted if he turns up!

Thanks It's funny you should mention that, we are probably going to be moving soon and were wondering how to approach it, as the new house will only be down the road! It's a problem I'd love to contend with now, he still hasn't turned up. I've posted his picture for approval (possibly prematurely, more for my peace of mind if anything!), if he hasn't come back by Monday I'll put up some flyers. Beyond that all I can do is wait I guess. Fingers crossed, I'll update here if/ when he comes back

Dolbert

He's back! He was waiting on the windowsill this morning, a bit hungry after his adventure! He's as affectionate as ever and doesn't seem at all traumatised. Needless to say he's got lots of his favourite smoked turkey and lap time Thanks everyone for the assurances, it helped a lot when I was going up the walls with worry!

Rockiemalt

Yey that's great news, glad he arrived home

morganafay

That's great

anniehoo

Dolorous wrote: »

He's back!

Mine too Neighbour was hammering on my window at half 8 this mornin to say he was outside. Im over the moon!! He has a cut on his lip and is missing yet another collar but hes grand.All that worryin i tell ya.....

Dolbert

That's great news! It's such a relief when they come back safe & sound

anniehoo

Has anyone ever seen anything like these here. How perfect would they be to stop the worrying like we've been doing the last few days?

Run_to_da_hills

This whole thread reminds me of this.

morganafay

I'm going to ruin the thread by saying my cat isn't back yet but she has done this before a few times . . . so I haven't given up hope.

morganafay

My cat come home too! She jumped in the window and ate loads of food!

Dolbert

Hurray! It's great to have a happy ending I hate when people never update threads like this and we're left wondering!

april99

Am delighted to hear the 3 cats are home & well ! Love the idea of the GPS for cats ;-)

morgana

YAY all AWOL cats back home safe and sound .

lubie76

Yeah. Don't you just love a happy ending!:)

Thanks for letting us know.

anniehoo

Yeh great to hear. There must of been some cat convention on somewhere that they all decided to head off to last week

Dolbert

Sorry to put a dampener on the thread, but only 2 days after his return the little fecker has gone walkabout again, this time of his own accord... At first I wasn't too worried as unneutered toms will wander, but it's been a week at this stage. In my heart I think he may have come to some harm

Does anyone have any experience of tom cats going rambling for this length of time and still coming back? We're going to knock on doors today and put up flyers tomorrow. The irony is that we were due to get him neutered on the day he vanished! Maybe on some level he knew

april99

Hi again,
am so sorry to hear your tom cat has gone for a wander again. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with tom cats , so hopefully someone else in this forum can be of more assistance.
Keep the chin up, hope he's just charming the ladies :rolleyes:
All the best,
April x