Cat lost for over a year :(

[Minoush]

Hi all,
I have been fostering a feral cat in early 2019. She was so shy and around 1 year old.
She was adopted by a family in April 2019. Unfortunately on the first day she was at her new home they kept the window open and she escaped to their garden.
The next day I was there and saw her and tried to catch her but she ran away and never was since again to this date.
I am so in pain about this.
We tried and searched her for a week and also hanged many fliers in the area. after that I stopped searching. Almost 16 months has passed but I am still thinking of her and crying a lot.
What could have happened to her?
Do you think there is still a chance that I will find her?
since last week I have started to search her again. But no success yet.
I do not even know if it makes sense to search the area, can she go so far away after such a long time?
also she was born and raised a feral cat, however do you thinks he forgot her wild behaviour after living three months indoor with me?
I am just so sad that she might have hided so long from fear that she starved herself to death, or she is alive and starving and in very bad health
Does anybody have any same experience?

 

[jefferd18]

I am sorry that she got out of her new home and was separated from her people. I have been through similar situations and it is a haunting experience. You find your imagination going into overdrive whenever you think of them.

As for your little girl, no I don't think she starved to death or forgot to be a feral, in fact, it sounds like some of the feral remained in her, the part that avoids people. Survival instinct is very strong in cats and she will be either hunting, raiding trash cans, or eating an outdoor cat's food.

She could be far away but I doubt it. Female cats, unlike toms, tend to stay closer to their surroundings- they are not roamers. Now my only thought on this matter, is could she have tried to get back to the place that you had originally found her in. I would set up traps in both areas and start up again with the fliers. It also wouldn't hurt to knock on some doors in the area as well as getting your local animal shelters involved.
'

 

[moxiewild]

I am so sorry.

This is among those nagging fears I always have when handing off a foster to a new family (although everyone makes mistakes sometimes).

How socialized was she when she went to her new home? Was she spayed?

It’s really hard to say what happened. Frankly, all possibilities are on the table.

She likely tried to find her old home, and any number of things could have happened along the way, both good and bad.

The good news is, she was far more capable of seeking out shelter and water, and hunting for food, than a pet cat would be. It’s no guarantee of anything and her unfamiliar surroundings would have made that more difficult, but it’s still preferable to a cat whose never had to provide for themselves before.

Was her new home near yours? Or, was it near where she was living before you started fostering her?

I’ve had something somewhat similar happen before, where a property owner wouldn’t allow me to trap a feral i’d been caring for to relocate him to my house. I’d been providing for him for a year, and he also has some sort of medical issue we were wanting to take him to the vet for.

The property owner gave us a few days to trap, and I wasn’t able to get him in time. The property owner refused to give us another day just to spite us (he was pissed because we were feeding the cats and he didn’t want them there! So it was truly just to hurt us).

That was a few years ago, and I still become deeply upset and sad when I think about it.

We managed to trap and relocate the other 3 members of the small, close knit colony.

So he went from having his cat family and people with him, shelter, food and water provided to him, and the next day he had nothing and was completely alone. He was in his familiar territory, but everything else he knew and had was gone.

I’m tearing up right now just thinking back to it. I cried for so long over being forced to leave that cat behind.

So I know how you feel, and you aren’t alone. It’s hard. Especially not knowing what happened to them. It can haunt you

 

[Minoush]

I am sorry that she got out of her new home and was separated from her people. I have been through similar situations and it is a haunting experience. You find your imagination going into overdrive whenever you think of them.

As for your little girl, no I don't think she starved to death or forgot to be a feral, in fact, it sounds like some of the feral remained in her, the part that avoids people. Survival instinct is very strong in cats and she will be either hunting, raiding trash cans, or eating an outdoor cat's food.

She could be far away but I doubt it. Female cats, unlike toms, tend to stay closer to their surroundings- they are not roamers. Now my only thought on this matter, is could she have tried to get back to the place that you had originally found her in. I would set up traps in both areas and start up again with the fliers. It also wouldn't hurt to knock on some doors in the area as well as getting your local animal shelters involved.
'

Thank you very much, your message gives me hope,

The place where she was born and my friend trapped her is a university, the place where she was adopted and escaped from is just 30 minutes human-walking far from the university. The route is very straight for a human, She just needs to go a bit through the forest to reach there, I was also thinking about this possibility, its perhaps 2 kilometres or so, do you think she is that smart to find the way to her birthplace considering that the new place is unknown to her? I really hope so. Regarding the fliers I will make them for sure in the next days and hang them in with university and the area where she escaped, however setting up a trap is not easy and I don't think I can do it, if I set up a trap then many residents cats will go in it, its a residential area and I have to get permission from the people to go to their backyards which is very hard because people are usually not that cooperative or are not home mostly, Thats what stopped me from searching well last year which I still regret, If that was my own backyard I would search for days intensively and I am sure I would find her, I wish I did that

 

[moxiewild]

Thank you very much, your message gives me hope,

The place where she was born and my friend trapped her is a university, the place where she was adopted and escaped from is just 30 minutes human-walking far from the university. The route is very straight for a human, She just needs to go a bit through the forest to reach there, I was also thinking about this possibility, its perhaps 2 kilometres or so, do you think she is that smart to find the way to her birthplace considering that the new place is unknown to her? I really hope so. Regarding the fliers I will make them for sure in the next days and hang them in with university and the area where she escaped, however setting up a trap is not easy and I don't think I can do it, if I set up a trap then many residents cats will go in it, its a residential area and I have to get permission from the people to go to their backyards which is very hard because people are usually not that cooperative or are not home mostly, Thats what stopped me from searching well last year which I still regret, If that was my own backyard I would search for days intensively and I am sure I would find her, I wish I did that

I would search the area between the home she escaped, and the university.

Being that close is actually pretty good chances she might have found her way back. And a forest generally offers a whole lot of prey and shelter, and sometimes water too!

Look up the best way to make “lost cat” flyers so that they’ll be more visible and catch people’s attention. Lots of tips on google.

Cover the university as much as you can with these flyers. If you get a tip/sighting, then think about trapping.

If it’s near the university, then the university will likely allow you to trap.

It sounds like you’d be able to set up a trap in the forest too?

Many people are sympathetic to lost pets, so don’t be afraid to ask for permission to set up a trap on someone’s property (just assure them you completely understand if they’re not comfortable with that). No harm in asking.

Don’t worry about residential cats. You shouldn’t leave the trap unattended anyway, so if a cat that is not yours is hanging around the trap, then just shoo them away.

If they still somehow get trapped, then just release them, no harm done.

People’s pets walk into my traps all the time, I just let them go immediately. That’s the risk their owners take when they allow their pet to roam freely outdoors, you won’t get in trouble for it.

 

[Minoush]

I am so sorry.

This is among those nagging fears I always have when handing off a foster to a new family (although everyone makes mistakes sometimes).

How socialized was she when she went to her new home? Was she spayed?

It’s really hard to say what happened. Frankly, all possibilities are on the table.

She likely tried to find her old home, and any number of things could have happened along the way, both good and bad.

The good news is, she was far more capable of seeking out shelter and water, and hunting for food, than a pet cat would be. It’s no guarantee of anything and her unfamiliar surroundings would have made that more difficult, but it’s still preferable to a cat whose never had to provide for themselves before.

Was her new home near yours? Or, was it near where she was living before you started fostering her?

I’ve had something somewhat similar happen before, where a property owner wouldn’t allow me to trap a feral i’d been caring for to relocate him to my house. I’d been providing for him for a year, and he also has some sort of medical issue we were wanting to take him to the vet for.

The property owner gave us a few days to trap, and I wasn’t able to get him in time. The property owner refused to give us another day just to spite us (he was pissed because we were feeding the cats and he didn’t want them there! So it was truly just to hurt us).

That was a few years ago, and I still become deeply upset and sad when I think about it.

We managed to trap and relocate the other 3 members of the small, close knit colony.

So he went from having his cat family and people with him, shelter, food and water provided to him, and the next day he had nothing and was completely alone. He was in his familiar territory, but everything else he knew and had was gone.

I’m tearing up right now just thinking back to it. I cried for so long over being forced to leave that cat behind.

So I know how you feel, and you aren’t alone. It’s hard. Especially not knowing what happened to them. It can haunt you

Thank you for your message. I agree everybody makes mistake, but based on my experience only very few people have understanding for feral cats, they usually are not patient enough for them, that's why I think its better for them that they stay where they are, If I find a feral cat again in my life and I really want to help him/her I would adopt the cat myself, never I will give an animal to another person, this is because I had bad experiences with people who adopted my foster cats, two died and one escaped that's why I totally stopped fostering. I just can't trust people anymore

I am very sorry for your experience. I totally understand it, Its the worst feeling ever, This happened to me more than a year ago but still I am crying nonstop when I think of her, when I am feeding my cats I always think of him whether he is now hungry looking for food, its just an awful feeling ( and a lot of feeling of guilt comes with it, in fact I fostered this cat for my friend who has a small animal rescue organisation, I wanted to keep her but she told me always I can't keep the foster cats and my apartment is too small for more cats, To be honest the cat was so happy in my apartment, all she wanted was food security and a bit play time, I so regret why I didn't insist to keep her, and when she was lost I mostly relied on the woman who adopted her to search for her, she gave me the impression she is searching her a lot but later I found out she did not care much and even adopted another cat after few weeks Now I sooo much regret why I didn't search her more intensively in the first two weeks, I'm almost sure if I physically searched well the backyards I would find her within first two weeks, too much to regret, now all I can do is to walk at night desperately and search her poor her, she just went from a home to a totally unfamiliar area without any food and human who feed her, at least your cat stayed in his familiar area and wouldn't have to escape or hide in fear, perhaps he found another food station
by the way my cat was spayed, she was a bit tame, she slept every night in bed next to me but did not allow me to touch her or pet her, she ate food from my hand, with my own cats she was ok, she knew how to protect herself against my cats, and they respected her a lot, I wish that would helped her survive the accidents and predators, the new place was not that far from her birth place, about 2 km away, do you think she could have walked that far? the place where she was lost is very quiet nice neighbourhood, mostly houses with backyards and no main road, there are some farms in the near of the place too, but I did not find any food station for outdoor cats, only a person told me that he has a cat too and he puts his cat food outside, considering that he is still shy do you think he would approach a house for food? how would usually cats survive in this relocating situations

 

[Minoush]

I would search the area between the home she escaped, and the university.

Being that close is actually pretty good chances she might have found her way back. And a forest generally offers a whole lot of prey and shelter, and sometimes water too!

Look up the best way to make “lost cat” flyers so that they’ll be more visible and catch people’s attention. Lots of tips on google.

Cover the university as much as you can with these flyers. If you get a tip/sighting, then think about trapping.

If it’s near the university, then the university will likely allow you to trap.

It sounds like you’d be able to set up a trap in the forest too?

Many people are sympathetic to lost pets, so don’t be afraid to ask for permission to set up a trap on someone’s property (just assure them you completely understand if they’re not comfortable with that). No harm in asking.

Don’t worry about residential cats. You shouldn’t leave the trap unattended anyway, so if a cat that is not yours is hanging around the trap, then just shoo them away.

If they still somehow get trapped, then just release them, no harm done.

People’s pets walk into my traps all the time, I just let them go immediately. That’s the risk their owners take when they allow their pet to roam freely outdoors, you won’t get in trouble for it.

Thank you so much for the tips,
If she found her way back to university it would be a great scenario, the university is very safe for her and there are many food stations in which cleaning personel put food for the cats, regarding the trap if we know where she is and somebody reports to see her I will definitely set it up, What I meant is without spotting her I can't just randomly set up trap everywhere, but if she is seen somewhere I will do it for sure,
One question, do you think it is possible that a cat lives in the neighbourhood and is alive but nobody still sees her? so how likely is it that a cat is alive if she is never seen in the area? I mean maybe she is just going out at night that's why the people didn't notice her? I noticed this behaviour in all university cats which are all feral, we trapped many of them, they never came out in the day, only at late night we could see them walking outside, could it be the case for this relocated cat too? I was also thinking if she was death somebody would find and return her body, because her ears are tattooed so most probably she is alive?

 

[jefferd18]

[QUOTE="Minoush, post: 5227934, member: 10052877"
One question, do you think it is possible that a cat lives in the neighbourhood and is alive but nobody still sees her? so how likely is it that a cat is alive if she is never seen in the area? I mean maybe she is just going out at night that's why the people didn't notice her? I noticed this behaviour in all university cats which are all feral, we trapped many of them, they never came out in the day, only at late night we could see them walking outside, could it be the case for this relocated cat too? I was also thinking if she was death somebody would find and return her body, because her ears are tattooed so most probably she is alive?
[/QUOTE]


The drawing of the cat in my avatar is that of my baby girl, Jeff. She was a huge cat, so big in fact, that I thought she was a bobcat when I first laid eyes on her. She also had an exotic looking face which gave her a dangerously wild look. Despite her impressive size nobody in the neighborhood knew who Jeff was, or had even seen a cat like her, whenever I would question them after one of her disappearing acts. She was deathly afraid of people and wanted no part of them. In other words, Jeff wasn't seen because she didn't want to be seen.

I would wager that it is the same way for your kitty.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Take heart, in just three months of living with humans, it wouldn't take any time at all for her feral instincts to kick back in. She may well be doing fine, as feral living goes. And there's an excellent chance that she will be able to make her way back "home." They're VERY good at that! But I do ask again, has she been spayed?

 

[moxiewild]

Thank you for your message. I agree everybody makes mistake, but based on my experience only very few people have understanding for feral cats, they usually are not patient enough for them, that's why I think its better for them that they stay where they are, If I find a feral cat again in my life and I really want to help him/her I would adopt the cat myself, never I will give an animal to another person, this is because I had bad experiences with people who adopted my foster cats, two died and one escaped that's why I totally stopped fostering. I just can't trust people anymore

I am very sorry for your experience. I totally understand it, Its the worst feeling ever, This happened to me more than a year ago but still I am crying nonstop when I think of her, when I am feeding my cats I always think of him whether he is now hungry looking for food, its just an awful feeling ( and a lot of feeling of guilt comes with it, in fact I fostered this cat for my friend who has a small animal rescue organisation, I wanted to keep her but she told me always I can't keep the foster cats and my apartment is too small for more cats, To be honest the cat was so happy in my apartment, all she wanted was food security and a bit play time, I so regret why I didn't insist to keep her, and when she was lost I mostly relied on the woman who adopted her to search for her, she gave me the impression she is searching her a lot but later I found out she did not care much and even adopted another cat after few weeks Now I sooo much regret why I didn't search her more intensively in the first two weeks, I'm almost sure if I physically searched well the backyards I would find her within first two weeks, too much to regret, now all I can do is to walk at night desperately and search her poor her, she just went from a home to a totally unfamiliar area without any food and human who feed her, at least your cat stayed in his familiar area and wouldn't have to escape or hide in fear, perhaps he found another food station
by the way my cat was spayed, she was a bit tame, she slept every night in bed next to me but did not allow me to touch her or pet her, she ate food from my hand, with my own cats she was ok, she knew how to protect herself against my cats, and they respected her a lot, I wish that would helped her survive the accidents and predators, the new place was not that far from her birth place, about 2 km away, do you think she could have walked that far? the place where she was lost is very quiet nice neighbourhood, mostly houses with backyards and no main road, there are some farms in the near of the place too, but I did not find any food station for outdoor cats, only a person told me that he has a cat too and he puts his cat food outside, considering that he is still shy do you think he would approach a house for food? how would usually cats survive in this relocating situations

I am insanely paranoid about the potential adopters I meet as well and have had bad experiences too - I completely understand.

The reason we were moving my colony is because the tenants on the property were harassing them, throwing rocks at them, etc.

Without us there to protect him, they probably ran him off pretty quickly. Any which way, it sucks when our feral friends are left to fend for themselves

I absolutely think she could have walked that far. They will travel long distances trying to get back home. The fact that there was already a feeding station there too just increases the odds even more, as the smell of the food could help guide her at some point.

If she’s feral, she wouldn’t come up to a house asking for food. But if food was already out - like for someone’s pet cat - then she would definitely steal some!

And don’t forget, she knows how to hunt, too!

Thank you so much for the tips,
If she found her way back to university it would be a great scenario, the university is very safe for her and there are many food stations in which cleaning personel put food for the cats, regarding the trap if we know where she is and somebody reports to see her I will definitely set it up, What I meant is without spotting her I can't just randomly set up trap everywhere, but if she is seen somewhere I will do it for sure,
One question, do you think it is possible that a cat lives in the neighbourhood and is alive but nobody still sees her? so how likely is it that a cat is alive if she is never seen in the area? I mean maybe she is just going out at night that's why the people didn't notice her? I noticed this behaviour in all university cats which are all feral, we trapped many of them, they never came out in the day, only at late night we could see them walking outside, could it be the case for this relocated cat too? I was also thinking if she was death somebody would find and return her body, because her ears are tattooed so most probably she is alive?

It’s absolutely possible that she could be alive but no one sees her.

The only way I see my colony of 12-16 ferals is by camera. I see about 4 of them through a window from time to time, but the others i only know exist because we have cameras at the feeding stations.

The only time I’ve ever seen any of them in person is when I’ve trapped them for TNR. Otherwise, they remain very well hidden. And yes, it’s because they usually only come out at night!

So that’s certainly a possibility with your cat.

If she died, it doesn’t mean someone necessarily found her, or if they did, that they’d search for the owners somehow. It’s not uncommon for a deceased cat to become part of the circle of life, if you know what I mean :/

 

[Minoush]

Take heart, in just three months of living with humans, it wouldn't take any time at all for her feral instincts to kick back in. She may well be doing fine, as feral living goes. And there's an excellent chance that she will be able to make her way back "home." They're VERY good at that! But I do ask again, has she been spayed?

Yes she is spayed, you think after about 3-4 months of living indoors she could still remember the area in university where she was born?

 

[Minoush]

I am insanely paranoid about the potential adopters I meet as well and have had bad experiences too - I completely understand.

The reason we were moving my colony is because the tenants on the property were harassing them, throwing rocks at them, etc.

Without us there to protect him, they probably ran him off pretty quickly. Any which way, it sucks when our feral friends are left to fend for themselves

I absolutely think she could have walked that far. They will travel long distances trying to get back home. The fact that there was already a feeding station there too just increases the odds even more, as the smell of the food could help guide her at some point.

If she’s feral, she wouldn’t come up to a house asking for food. But if food was already out - like for someone’s pet cat - then she would definitely steal some!

And don’t forget, she knows how to hunt, too!



It’s absolutely possible that she could be alive but no one sees her.

The only way I see my colony of 12-16 ferals is by camera. I see about 4 of them through a window from time to time, but the others i only know exist because we have cameras at the feeding stations.

The only time I’ve ever seen any of them in person is when I’ve trapped them for TNR. Otherwise, they remain very well hidden. And yes, it’s because they usually only come out at night!

So that’s certainly a possibility with your cat.

If she died, it doesn’t mean someone necessarily found her, or if they did, that they’d search for the owners somehow. It’s not uncommon for a deceased cat to become part of the circle of life, if you know what I mean :/

So you think she is still familiar with the area she was born after 3 months living indoors?

 

[Norachan]

So you think she is still familiar with the area she was born after 3 months living indoors?

Yes, absolutely. Cats have excellent memories. I used to have a cat that lived with me while I was at university and then came home to my parents house every summer and winter vacation. She new exactly where she was, even though it was months in one place and then the other.

I'm sure she's probably still close to the area she escaped from, of has joined another feral colony between that house and her old home at the university.

Have you seen this?

Catnapped Feral Cat Colony Finds Its Way Home – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Minoush]

Yes, absolutely. Cats have excellent memories. I used to have a cat that lived with me while I was at university and then came home to my parents house every summer and winter vacation. She new exactly where she was, even though it was months in one place and then the other.

I'm sure she's probably still close to the area she escaped from, of has joined another feral colony between that house and her old home at the university.

Have you seen this?

Catnapped Feral Cat Colony Finds Its Way Home – TheCatSite Articles

Wow that's such a great story, I just wish my cat found her way back to university, I will hang fliers and ask the cleaning ladies if they saw her

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Yes she is spayed, you think after about 3-4 months of living indoors she could still remember the area in university where she was born?

Absolutely, she could, and almost certainly will. Territory is vital to cats, and they have a positive genius for finding their way back to their accustomed stomping grounds. I've known cats who traveled over 100 miles, some far more than that. The current record holder is a cat named Sugar, who traveled 1500 miles to get home.