Found missing cat but she ran away

[Worriedaboutscaredycat]

Thanks. I'm in the middle of a suburb, but the lots are relatively large, with many having a lot of bushes, trees, sheds, decks, etc. I've been putting out some flyers, but probably not enough. I've posted on our community facebook and google mailing lists, and handed out flyers door-to-door to most of the people who answered the door within 500 ft of my house. I've been leaving out a baited trap every night -- we have motion security cameras at our house so we can see what's happening and it will wake and alert us. I've seen three cats in the area, her, a Tom we see in the daytime, and one looking similar to her that only came one night. But no cats in the past 5 days or so.

There are just sooo many places she could be hiding, almost all of which is on other people's private property, it's really tricky for me to try to find her.

I hope you get your kitty soon.

Is it possible to search any of your neighborhood properties? I thought most people would be against it but when we asked and explained ourselves they happily let us look around. It may not be nice to hear but she likely nearby just smth scared her. I hoenstly though when we grabbed our cat and she ran off that was it but she stayed in that area, she just took a few days to re-emerge.when we would be out looking for her I saw cats that I didn't see for weeks after wards and then they would just reappear suddenly. They obviously had a hiding spot they felt comfortable in and would just appear at different times lookign for food. Is there anywhere you can hang posters? Good luck in sure she will come home soon!

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I've searched a lot of the nearest properties, but I couldn't find her. Some people have even given me open invitation to come back at night but I know she's going to be seeing the world very differently outside and I really don't want to scare her away. I've not used that permission extensively yet, especially when she was still coming to my place. I had some flyers up, but I was trying to balance not getting people upset at an eyesore while still having flyers out. There are a LOT of people who go on walks, bike, children, etc so it doesn't need to be really flashy for people to see them.

My partner is upset to, but is more focused on trying to lure her back to our property. He doesn't really believe many people would give permission to try to trap on their properties and and my idea of an end-goal that just chases a lot of random tips to eventually find a good one and go trap her will just have me chasing my tail, creating heartache and the failing. The trapping on our property is so crazy intensive, 24/7, with motion activated cameras all the time, which is what he's been helping me with extensively. That's not really possible elsewhere, you have to just set up for a couple hours when predicting when the cat will come and eat. He's working today on getting a better luring station that the raccoons can't eat from. It's hard now that my plans and actions are starting to put some strain on the rest of my life. He probably has the more healthy outlook that some of the outcome here has to depend on her own free will and whether she wants to come back as well.

People are helpful, but so many of the tips are just not useful. Day 1, I got a call from someone happy they'd found my... LOST DOG! I was expecting (and have gotten) plenty of pretty big coloring, etc errors, but I didn't expect a totally different species!

I've ordered a cellular trail camera and I'm thinking of ordering some really cheap non-cell cameras. Maybe I could set some up either in neighbors who give permission, or hidden in some of the neighborhood parks overnight. Our neighborhood is really forested, and full of a lot of people who either have outdoor cats or who literally just feed cats and wildlife. So I have to believe she's still alive and OK, just not in desperate need to come home. The problem is the winters get bitterly cold here and full of snow, and far fewer of the people who are feeding do anything to help keep the feral cats warm. She was actually born only about three miles away, to some of that feral population, so there are a fair number of her cousins out there which means a lot of similar-looking cats.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I guess I've just got to keep responding to tips, continue luring to my property, probably set up some colder-weather shelter in case she comes looking as it cools down, re-hang new flyers and push them out a bit farther now she's been gone longer, and just keep trying.

I hope you get your kitty soon.

 

[Worriedaboutscaredycat]

Just wanted to let you guys know that we got her and she home with us! I'm so happy I can't believe it, and couldn't have done it without your help. Basically the last few days we would go and eitheir bait the trap or leave some food out with us nearby. We would then call her. After a while she began to come out. I would throw a piece of food to her and then set one down nearby so she would slowly come towards me and the trap. Slowly and surely she came closer and closer until she would eat out of my hand. I then started petting her and I think she instantly realised who i was as she began to purr. We would come everyday at the same time and feed and pet her. Eventually she even began to wait for us and would run out at the sound of our voice. During this time she also began to slowly approach the trap and carrier. We left a food trail from just outside to the back of the carrier, with the back of the carrier covered in food. After a while she put her whole body inside the carrier and we just closed the door. She was freaking out , even with a blanket over the cage but stopped the minute we got her home. She currently curled up in my lap purring away. She lost a lot of weight and I feel each part of her spine but she home. I'm feeding her a little bit of wet food every few hours to avoid refeeding syndrome. Strangely I contacted my vet who said not to bring her in unless she stops purring or playing. Only to just monitor her weight. If she hasn't put weight on by next week we should bring her in. Is this normal? The vet wants her to settle first and she is likely not gonna be able to be put in a carrier for a while again, but I'm worried she might have caught smth.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

OMG that is so amazing!!!!! I'm so happy for you.

 

[Worriedaboutscaredycat]

I've searched a lot of the nearest properties, but I couldn't find her. Some people have even given me open invitation to come back at night but I know she's going to be seeing the world very differently outside and I really don't want to scare her away. I've not used that permission extensively yet, especially when she was still coming to my place. I had some flyers up, but I was trying to balance not getting people upset at an eyesore while still having flyers out. There are a LOT of people who go on walks, bike, children, etc so it doesn't need to be really flashy for people to see them.

My partner is upset to, but is more focused on trying to lure her back to our property. He doesn't really believe many people would give permission to try to trap on their properties and and my idea of an end-goal that just chases a lot of random tips to eventually find a good one and go trap her will just have me chasing my tail, creating heartache and the failing. The trapping on our property is so crazy intensive, 24/7, with motion activated cameras all the time, which is what he's been helping me with extensively. That's not really possible elsewhere, you have to just set up for a couple hours when predicting when the cat will come and eat. He's working today on getting a better luring station that the raccoons can't eat from. It's hard now that my plans and actions are starting to put some strain on the rest of my life. He probably has the more healthy outlook that some of the outcome here has to depend on her own free will and whether she wants to come back as well.

People are helpful, but so many of the tips are just not useful. Day 1, I got a call from someone happy they'd found my... LOST DOG! I was expecting (and have gotten) plenty of pretty big coloring, etc errors, but I didn't expect a totally different species!

I've ordered a cellular trail camera and I'm thinking of ordering some really cheap non-cell cameras. Maybe I could set some up either in neighbors who give permission, or hidden in some of the neighborhood parks overnight. Our neighborhood is really forested, and full of a lot of people who either have outdoor cats or who literally just feed cats and wildlife. So I have to believe she's still alive and OK, just not in desperate need to come home. The problem is the winters get bitterly cold here and full of snow, and far fewer of the people who are feeding do anything to help keep the feral cats warm. She was actually born only about three miles away, to some of that feral population, so there are a fair number of her cousins out there which means a lot of similar-looking cats.

When she was coming to your place, did you see the direction she was coming from? It might be that she was set up not too far form your home and was coming directly from her hiding spot. The shitty thing is cat are definitely good hiders, when mine was scared in the bush she would hide so well we couldn't see her.
Your partner sound similar to my boyfriend during this time. It not thta he was not supportive or upset, but my boyfriend steadfastly believed she would come home, as most cats do. Thus, he would discourage me from walking around for hours and searching neighbours properties as he said it just was an open invitation for danger. While false calls can be heartaching it better to look at them as a step closer. Like people are out there looking and seeing cats you don't see, so someone will spot your cat.thougj the person with the lost dog needs their head or eyes examined.
It entirely possible she might come home too so It fantastic you have such a good set up. The predictive while trapping thing was one of my biggest concerns with her. It felt like she would come out of the bush so rarely, how we would even be able to spot her or convince her. But it is true if you come by the spot they're in everyday, and start to leave and monitor food , they do come out and associate you with feeding. Some of the replies in this thread mentioned that and that was the biggest help in our case, so even if she found far from home( which I doubt) it still a possibility to trap.
If she was born 3 miles off she might have returned there? Could that be a possibility? My family has a cat and she was born very close to our house. Once when she got out she returned there and was just hanging out. My dad also had a case where a roommate dumped another roomate cat across the city, thousand of miles away. Two months later, cat just shows up at the doorstep pissed as all hell. So you never know.
During this wholr process the stress of not knowing where she was took a huge toll. Whenever I was at work I was sitting freaked out about how she was. Try to do things you enjoy and realise that you shouldn't panic but just keep up efforts. Take days off when you need too, because you being stressed and tired doesn't help bring her home. I know it diffcult because I was everyday near tears and would literally walk around till i almost passed out from exhaustion. But truly miracles happen.
Is she microchipped? A feeder that only realised food to the microchipped cat might work although I never used them so have no idea how to use them. Is there anything that repels raccoons? I used to spray the area around her home and where she was with feliway and catnip, as well as the trap and carrier. This help attract cats and calm them when the food wasnt out. But if there many stray cat around, maybe don't do this, because you don't want to attract them.
And if possible.i would put up some posters a bit further away from home. It might be. A dead end but it may help. The poster doesn't have to be ugly, you can just use some nice colours and a good picture of her. I had some beautiful blue and green signs that looked very nice and caught people eye. I can email you the link from the site I used, but it all in Dutch.
Cameras are a good idea but in neighbourhood parks where they cannot be seen. You can always ask people nearby if they wouldn't mind, if they giving you permission to search at night then I doubt they mind a camera as long as it not pointed directly at Thier house. One with night vision would be best and a motion detection or a trail camera.

 

[Worriedaboutscaredycat]

OMG that is so amazing!!!!! I'm so happy for you.

Thank you so much, I appreciated this greatly!! Good luck with your cat

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thanks for the questions and suggestions! I do think I know which direction she was coming from watching the cameras. We only saw her in our fenced back yard a couple times, most of the time and especially the last few times it was always from the front. Right across the street and down one house is a property where nobody lives right now and with some overgrown bushes. I believe that's where she was hiding, then coming across to check out our property. The week she stopped coming around, that property had some people come by several days in a row and some construction was started. So I think she snuck away. I believe it's all internal construction, so it was just noisy, but my nightmare scenario is somehow she got trapped in their garage or house and now they are gone again she is starving. They weren't unsympathetic, but I was not able to get search permission from them and they obviously aren't regularly there on any kind of schedule.

I have to tell myself it is more likely she just moved away from the noise and movement into one of the other properties that was more quiet at that moment and has just moved a little further. The house right next door to that one has someone who reportedly feeds feral cats, but he refuses to answer the door or talk to me. I think he's just a weird guy but also I heard he does not speak English well so he may just be trying to avoid awkward conversations he doesn't follow well. I did leave a flyer on his door and he did take it in.

We are trying a lot to lure, but our yard isn't very remarkable in having more cover or hiding areas. The deck is higher and more open, and while we do have bushes and vegetation, there are others that are much deeper and thicker elsewhere. We're just doing our best to keep our house as a nice option to her if she decides to come back. While I was out handing flyers door to door this weekend, I noticed a few houses in a row just down the block that hadn't removed the landscaper's flyer from their front door that was passed out last week. So those are probably also vacant right now, or they're on a long vacation, or something. She may be in any one of these quiet properties nearby.

We did wonder if she went back to the area she was born, but the people who trapped her in the first place are there and have been watching. They took a photo of a similar-looking cat a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't her. If she does end up over there, I think she will be seen eventually.

She's microchipped, but I've never heard of a feeder that tries to read that. We have been trying to set a feeder station that requires jumping. Cats can jump easily, raccoons, possums, skunks all are fantastic climbers but they do not jump like cats. She was slinking around carefully on the ground when I saw her, but the longer she is out I am thinking the more willing to jump she will probably be.

I used feliway some of the time, but I actually don't know well how she reacts to it, since I didn't use it much before she left. She didn't react strongly to catnip yet, but she was still not much over a year and I know they get more interested as they become adults. At this point I've already trapped one stray cat and he was very upset and didn't come back to my yard now for over 8 days, so trapping a non target cat is apparently a good way to keep them far away. If I do it again, I have some contacts with local TNR groups so I may end up fixing some of the local strays. I hope the neighbors do not mind the ear-tipping to mark them as fixed, that is the one thing that worries me. I want to have good community good will, and if anyone disapproves of fixing cats, or snipping that tiny tip of the ear like the TNR groups do to mark them, I don't want people to not continue to help me look for my kitty.

The camera I bought already has a cellular option so it will auto-send pictures. I may ask some of the near neighbors to let me set it up in their yards in case she goes by. There are some cheaper ones I would have to check after the fact, and that would let me check a few places at once, including less likely ones.

I'm so very glad you got your kitty. And after so many weeks! I hope I can still get mine too, but the sooner the better. It's so distracting and hard to live with not knowing where she is.

 

[fionasmom]

W Worriedaboutscaredycat that is fantastic news that you have your baby home again! Congratulations! As for what the vet told you, I can see his point about putting her in a carrier right away and bringing her to a place where she is going to get upset. But watch her very carefully for any signs of distress. If you have reason to believe that the contracted something, a careful trip to the vet might be a good idea. When my friend's cat went missing for several days, the vet gave it subQ fluids for dehydration and a broad spectrum antibiotic shot. You must be so relieved.

 

[fionasmom]

M MackerelTabbyStripes welcome to The Cat Site! I just noticed that you joined recently and came to this thread. From reading your posts, it does sound as if your cat might be getting sufficient food as you describe the feeding situation in your area. Do you have the Nextdoor app? nextdoor.com It is one of the quickest ways to stay in touch with your immediate area.

There is a microchipped pet feeder, possibly several on the market, and they do read microchips but something would have to be coordinated between her microchip and the new feeder I am assuming. The microchip company that you already use might be able to tell you if this is something that you can set up on your own if you know her microchip number.

I tend to think that cats run away from noise, which would support your idea that she is not on the property with the construction, but keep expanding your search. I don't think that people mind nice posters put around your area. Yes, you will get the dumb replies which is just so sad and I think sometimes intentional. To many people, a cat or dog, for that matter, is more or less one similar looking animal, cats more so than dogs.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thank you! I appreciate your support. I just joined nextdoor recently, but it seems much less active in my area than our local facebook group. I've been posting on both of them. I'll just have to keep working. I wish she would see my own property as more central to her territory, but given her nature and her unfamiliarity with the outside of my house I can see why this isn't so.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I got a Facebook report at midnight last night that my cat was about 1500 feet north of my house. No photo, just a reported sighting. Unfortunately my phone doesn't forward Facebook replies as notifications so unlike a call or text I didn't see it until I got up at 7.

I've gotten several reports of a cat that looks like her about 1500 feet south of me. She's definitely not in both places, just one at most (she could still be in neither place). There are a lot more people in the south, the north site has fewer houses and a kind of "edge of neighborhood" feel. That might explain why I have heard more about the south cat. I even have a tiny slice of security camera video of south-cat, which does look remarkably like her BUT which may have a bit too much white sock on one back leg. Her sock doesn't even cover the whole back foot, while this looked like it went beyond the joint. It is very hard to say from that tiny bit of video taken at a distance, but I worry it's not her. Of course I have no picture at all from the north. I also started to get the reported sightings of south-cat later on the same day I saw her on camera on my property, so she would have had to move quickly to that location and then stay put. Which is possible because I recall the house I thought she was hiding at started having a bunch of noise on that day. However her suspected hiding spot was directly north of my house though quite close, so she'd just have had to go in that same direction a bit more to get to this other location.

I'm getting a cellular trail camera delivered today. I know a couple people would let me set it up in the south in their yards to get a really close up camera picture. We both have been encouraged by the people offering feeding / trapping spots in that area along with the tips and sightings. But now I'm wondering if I should set the camera in that north area, especially since that is the more dangerous area for her to be in. That southern area is in the middle of the neighborhood and lots of cover and people feeding in the area, she'd probably be fine for awhile I think. But I don't have any solid contacts on anyone who would let me place the camera in the north area yet. I am working today so I can't start knocking on doors right this moment. In any case, that is a bit further than I'd put any flyers and had been depending on my facebook and other postings to get that far. I definitely need to change that and get some postings up in that area. I really do hope if that is where she is, she'll stay put or turn around. There's a somewhat large road and a railroad track that direction, and then some parking lots and wide mowed park area with no cover on the other side of the road.

She could still be closer than I think, regardless of these reported sightings a bit further away. I know there are look-a-likes in the area, and I also know just how loose people are with cat descriptions when they are calling in tips. She's a small brown/black/tan Mackerel Tabby with very prominent stripings, a white bib and four white socks. But I've gotten many reports of the mostly-solid yellow tabby Tom cat living in the area who moves around a lot more in the day and isn't as nocturnal as I expect she is.

I think I should buy some cheap non-cellular trail cameras so I can set up in more places even if I can only check later once I pick up the camera whether it caught anything. My nice fat-cat Tru-catch trap has arrived finally, so I can return my borrowed traps this weekend.

The raccoon also figured out how to climb the tall table after a couple hours last night. My partner is going out to get some sheet metal to remove the ability for it to grab on to the horizontal bar, so I'm hoping that will be fixed up by this evening. We haven't seen cats in our yard for many days now, but we're still trying. I put out some valerian root tea last night to see if that would attract her (or any cat, really! I don't know why none are coming anymore!!)

 

[fionasmom]

It is good news that you are getting support from the neighborhood. That does not always happen and I would take advantage of all of it. Since you are not quite ready to try the north side, start with the south and then make some contacts on the other side. Even one residence might be helpful. Additional trail cams will help.

It is hard to identify cats, even for those who are really trying to be helpful. At least you know where cats have been seen which could be a lead.

I would try to get some contacts on the north side though since that is the more dangerous one.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thank you! I spent time after work today picking up my latest printed flyers and canvassing & putting up a couple flyers in the north area she may have been seen. I also bought the SD card and batteries my trail cam needs. My partner finished covering our table's legs with the sheet metal, so I think that's finally been fully raccoon proofed (if she ever comes back, which I'm not sure she will.)

My current focus area, the North location, is the edge of the neighborhood. There's a park and a railroad, beyond which are a large road and then a commercial area. The park has a lot of vegetation on the side near the road, but there's a chain-link fence and limited vegetation on the side between the fence and the road. While she would be capable of jumping it, I see no reason why she would. That leaves the section of rail, which has a wooded / brush area between the track and the last houses in the neighborhood. The other side of the railroad is mostly clear for a few dozen feet, then there's some thick vegetation behind a couple commercial buildings and then two large roads. Unless she was chased, I think she would have rebounded off this area and gone back into the neighborhood. I sure hope so!

I met several people in the area who were really kind, several of them already knew me from my Facebook postings. I learned which house posted the tip, but they weren't home when I went by. At least now I have several loose connections to the area and if more sightings show up I can maybe build on some of those or just try to make more. I think my community is unusually plugged in via Facebook, but then not everyone is (I wasn't until I joined to look for Luna). So I'm glad I got a couple flyers up in the area and a few more handouts given out.

One person I met had already been looking regularly at their Ring doorbell, but hadn't seen her yet. They were aware of a black feral cat who had been in the area since before they moved in, four years ago. So that's yet more confirmation on how livable the area is as long as Luna doesn't run into any of the predictable dangers like cars / dogs / locked in garages /etc, and she figures out where the feral cats pass the winter and can join their community to do so. I don't know what living inside for a year does on her ability to join up with other cats, or her outdoor survival skills. But I do know she is still young, has very sharp and healthy teeth and claws, and she and her brother have spent a great deal of time chasing and tussling with each other so she has plenty of "play" practice in chase/pounce/fight skills if she happens to need any of that. I'm glad she was born outside and had those early months of practice with her feral mother. I miss her terribly, but given how much food gets put out in my neighborhood, plus all those mice I see on the security cameras, not to mention the chipmunks and rabbits, she's probably doing just fine at the moment.

I only put up a couple posters in that area and came home. I'm trying to be careful to keep note of where I put up the flyers and go back and remove / replace them before they make a mess, as my community has quite a "put together" aesthetic overall and I want to maintain goodwill. That was also why I've been erring on fewer flyers overall, especially back when I had a general idea of where she might be. But now, since I don't know where she is for sure, I'm trying to increase the flyers without making it an eye-sore.

At this point I'm going to let the southern area play out a bit more-- the leads there are a bit less fresh but more consistent and stable, and there are people putting out some food and watching already. If I can, I am going to go to the North location myself tonight and set out some food. It's a question of how exhausted I am going to be at 11 when she was possibly seen last night, and the park may "close" at dark anyway. It's not gated or anything, but I'm probably not "supposed" to be there. Again, I'm really not even sure if she's up there! Since I don't have a good location for my trail camera right now, I'm going to wait for tomorrow to set it up.

I have some pretty bad social anxiety in general so I'm having trouble navigating helpful people without feeling like I'm pushing so much people will stop wanting to help. I went back to one of the most helpful houses later (the one with the ring) with some cat food, thinking I might ask for the favor of them putting some out tonight in front of the camera. I know it's a long-shot so I would have been totally fine with a "no," but she wasn't there. Hope she doesn't think I'm a total pushy weirdo when she sees her ring video later....

I'm also trying, psychologically, to prepare for the possibility I don't get her back. It's three weeks today that she's been outside, and I've had no conclusively confirmed sightings after the first 10 days. I obviously will keep trying, but I also have to be mentally ready if I fail. I've already fallen apart to the extent I am straining other parts of my life, which really needs to stop.

This weekend I'll post again on the missing pets page in my state (this page is generally just an ocean of pain, I feel so bad for all the lost pets and only rarely is there one found or re-united), and contact local vets & shelters again.

 

[fionasmom]

You are doing a great job of logically and systematically searching for Luna. As for a couple of your points:

I have found that if you are low key and polite, people will generally want to be helpful. You may encounter a few who are not, but don't let that deter you.
Keeping the area maintained is also a good idea and you will be admired for that.
I have seen cats who live outdoors form all sorts of odd friendships and bonds so Luna may have made some kitty friends, not that you want her to, but she may be safe with those of her kind.
The part about the park was a little unclear to me. We always tell people not to take chances, so don't go alone, don't go if it is known to be unsafe.
Let us know what your trail cams show.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thank you! It helps that my plan and actions make sense to someone who is a bit more removed from the situation.

I am really thankful of the community I live in, how helpful they are, and in general how kind they seem to be to the feral cat population. I got another picture last night, but it was a tabby without any white pointing like Luna has. Still, it was helpful people are looking, and I'm really glad to have gotten the photo so I can be sure it wasn't her. Another person reported a black cat that apparently has a set prowling cycle near her house. No photo there, but I am assuming that a "black cat" isn't my brown/black mackerel tabby with white paws & bib. But who knows! This afternoon I got another call on a cat that looks like her near where she was born and trapped originally. No photo, and that's very near the area where a previous photo looked remarkably like her, but with a bit more tan / calico face. I'm not getting my hopes up given the confirmed look-a-like, and the fact that's the furthest sighting at roughly a mile from my house. Possible she moved that far, but I doubt it.

I learned there is at least one person in the area who doesn't just have shelters and food out, but actively traps, neuters and releases the wild ones. I'm still working on getting contact info, but it does seem like there's a lot of care, and a lot of eyes out there looking.

Sorry about being unclear on the park -- I feel quite secure everywhere in my neighborhood, but that section is so close to a large road, a railroad, and then commercial buildings I worry about Luna being there. If she was near that boundary and unexpectedly startled by something, she might dash in a direction that leaves her further away from good cover, abundant food, and much closer to many vehicles and other dangers. If that happens, she's also likely to move into other neighborhoods where I will feel less safe searching at night alone, and where fewer people know about her or would be motivated to look.

I went to the park / rail area twice today. The first time was near lunch, and the park was very full of children, dogs, and people. Presumably it must have smelled very well-used even if she went through late at night, and it doesn't seem likely to be a place she would stay for long. But I am glad I put a poster up near there yesterday, since it'll likely get plenty of visibility for people who might be out and see her. The second time, I searched as thoroughly as I could the edge of the railroad between the rails and the nearest houses / fences, and then on the other side of the railroad behind the commercial buildings. My conclusion is I don't think these areas are thick enough and large enough cover that she would pick them over the many options she has behind sheds / decks / bushes around low-use houses. Plus, even if the traffic is less at night, those roads can't have been that quiet. So I'm hopeful she's remained somewhere inside my community where people are looking for her and where there is more food available and less chance of being hit by traffic.

I am glad you've seen cats form all sorts of odd bonds and friendships. Although I want her back inside and playing with her brother and building her relationship to my older cat, as long as she is outside I want her to have the best chances she can have. Joining up with other cats who know the area, know where to stay sheltered and secure, where to get food, etc is unquestionably safest and best for her. If she can make friends or join some loose colony that has winter shelters, she has good chances on her own for basically as long as any natural feral cat can live, and they don't seem to have bad lives around here. I doubt she's made good friends in the three weeks she's been out so far, but she might have acquaintances at the moment, to be upgraded in time if I don't get her back.

I have my trail camera account set up now, but I'm still figuring out the settings. I think I need to set it up in the corner of my own yard tonight just so I can make sure it's working properly. It's going to be lightly raining most of the next few nights which will likely make her even less predictable, and make food baiting more tricky. It also makes asking for people to help me with places to set it out trickier, too, since they'd likely have to leave it more days to accommodate the weather adjusting her schedule, and also rig something up to keep the food dry. It might be a little while before I get good trail cam pics away from my property.

We modified the camera set up around our house to have less redundancy on the traps, and have a camera in the very back corner of our yard. And that far-back camera did see a cat last night, the first on our property in days! It's the same yellow cat we've seen before, and it didn't come up near the house or get caught on any of the other cameras, so I'm glad we spread them out to get better insight. Tonight I'm going to keep up the food lure and monitoring but I'm going to move down to just a single set trap. We caught possums 3 times last night (two separate possums, one caught twice). It's dramatically affecting our sleep, which is one reason why I was not able to go out to the park area near midnight last night. My partner, correctly, insisted that I needed sleep to function. He also handled all of the trapped animals, though I was of course woken up just by the fact they were trapped.

Even though I still have two cats, the house feels very empty without her. She had a strange little "Squeeee" instead of a meow, and sometimes she didn't even say anything she just scrunched up her face to make the motion of a meow with no noise. She took awhile to warm up, and her trust was hard-won, but once she gave it she gave completely and totally. She was an incredible fixture, insistent on being near, touching, in my way, in my space, saying her little "squee," asking for food, asking for petting, rubbing my hair, curling up in my lap, chasing her brother, all in just a symphony of motion and happiness. My 15 year old is a really good girl, I've had her almost her whole adult life through many life-changes and I love her dearly. She does call-and-response-meow conversations, she has her little rituals she loves, and she likes sitting in the sun 3 feet from my work chair. Today she even decided to sit on my laptop, but overall she is much less in-my-face than my little Luna. Her brother is definitely my partner's little guy. He loves me too, but he really loves cuddling on my partners lap or spending time with him while I'm working. And without a playmate, he's a little less rambunctious and less active himself even though we try to make up the gap. He also tries to get my old girl to play with him too, but she's not such a fan of that much energy. I've never met a cat like Luna, and doubt I'll meet another, and can't believe that five months might be all I get with her. It was a wonderful five months, and if I do get more I'll feel tremendously blessed. Of course, I think every cat I've had is pretty unique, but Luna is very special and stands out. I'm struggling to accept that I might not get her back. I'm also struggling to really believe she's doing OK for herself, even though she probably is right now. She certainly has a lot more work now and less room for carefree play, fun, and comfort in her life at the moment. I hope she does make another kitty friend, she deserves to have someone to cuddle again soon.

 

[fionasmom]

You are doing so many of the things that are recommended on most lost pet sites that you don't need to reread their suggestions. Are there any other lost pet sites you can use like PawBoost or TabbyTracker? There are a lot of them, most free, a few that I think charge a fee. It could be possible that some people follow one or the other but not other social media sources. I would try to talk to the person who does TNR and they certainly should be receptive to a discussion given their work with cats.

A vet years ago told me that he had read a study, which I have never found, which said that cats left to form their own friendships often grouped themselves by coat color. He was a very well informed man and the odd thing is that I have found this to be true. Right now I have two b/w ferals who were not from the same litter or age who are tightly bonded. Years ago, same with two orange males, one brighter and one dilute. Two solid blacks, two tabby grays, orange male to calico (of course his mom was probably calico or tortie). Watch the similar cats in case Luna is with them.

I am glad that your neighborhood is so supportive and I agree that Luna is more likely to be someplace she feels safe and covered. How did she escape?

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

I will try PawBoost. I wasn't sure if it was legit, or if it was one of those semi-scam offerings. But there is a free version, and maybe some of the boosting even is legitimate? I was considering doing printed flyers I leave on every doorknob, or even every door direct delivery, but that is actually a lot of work on my part and not a regular service and I am reaching the end of my capacity. I put up several more flyers today in public places, and replaced some of the older ones that had gotten damaged in the weather. I know of people doing TNR, but I don't know the names of the ones closer to me. I learned today of yet more people making shelters for outdoor cats in winter, and fixing or adopting some of them. But these people are working over a mile south of me, so far that I really don't think Luna could possibly have gotten down there.

I had a couple close calls today while driving that scared me and my partner. I have been working too hard, and not sleeping enough, and it's taking a toll. I need to learn to live without her. I apologized, but this is not the kind of thing you can just apologize to a partner for. It is dangerous and it is risking other disasters happening. I need to "apologize" with the kind of actions that show that I can live without Luna. I will prioritize sleeping this evening and all night, doing the minimum bait / luring activities to night, and sign up for PawBoost / Tabby Tracker / etc tomorrow. I know I put her on a bunch early on, but there are so many of these services and I'm not sure which ones automatically cross-post.

If ferals associate by color, I'm glad there are a number of look a likes and other brown/black tabbies in the area! It also may be good that she was born nearby, and that some of these cats really likely are her distant family members. There was another missing cat post on our community facebook page today, and I was able to offer everything I've learned since this started for me. Not sure if they will do all of it, and their kitty is quite old and with diabetes, so they have a much more unforgiving clock. I should accept that she's likely doing OK on her own right now, and it could be much worse, but it still really hurts. If Luna doesn't get back inside, there is no way she would live through even the beginnings of diabetes or get close to the age of that cat in the first place.

Luna escaped while I was trying to leash-train her and give her a taste of the outside in a controlled way. I really feel awful about the way it happened, and incredibly guilty. I trained my 15 year old kitty to go outside with just a collar and leash, years ago, the first time I had an apartment that opened out on the ground floor. It took a lot of patience but overall it was really very easy. She was motivated to go out, and every time she pulled on the collar or tested the boundary of the leash, we went right back inside to try again 10 minutes later. She was very capable of getting out of that collar, but she figured out the rules within days. When we moved into our first house with a yard last year she absolutely adored going out. It's a fenced yard, and while she's capable of jumping it, she again quickly learned the rules and generally followed them very well. She would leap and bound around with the energy of a cat less than half her age, and loved chasing any rabbits or squirrels that got in. I needed to supervise, as very occasionally she would test the bounds or see something enticing on the other side, but it was very very rare.

Once we got the kittens, I was trying to give my older kitty more time and space on her own, and it has been gorgeous weather, so she was going out with me fairly frequently. Of course this eventually got the interest of the young ones, and I also wanted to let them know what our yard looked like just in case they ever escaped on their own. I had a harness I had been using for my new cats, but it was just for a general small animal not specifically a cat. I could maintain control if she got worried about the sound of me walking through leaves behind her. I didn't think too much of it when after I brought her inside one evening, while holding her weird squirming body in an uncommon angle, she slipped out of it. I wish I had just tossed the harness at that moment, but I didn't.

The evening she got out, I was a bit distracted and was trying to sneak out with my older kitty without them seeing and asking to go. Luna caught me, though, begged with her big silent meow. And then her brother came up and asked too, but Luna was first, so I set her up and brought her out with me and my older cat, closing the door behind us to keep her brother in. I wish I'd had a rule for only one kitty, because I brought Luna down off the deck to the patio to help me keep an eye on what my older girl was doing, so I'd know if she was trying anything dumb. And then disaster struck -- the neighbors came home and Luna heard their car driving on the edge of their property. It was behind bushes, and it didn't register for me at first, but objectively their driveway wasn't very far from where we were on our patio, and she spooked. I tried to maintain control, which I shouldn't have -- I should have just tried to get her back inside first thing. She got loose from her harness and BOLTED to the door, slamming into it. I really think if I'd just had the screen door closed instead of the sliding glass door, she'd be inside right now, and safe. When that didn't work, she raced around to the front of the house and leaped up into the first story windows. She'd NEVER used those as entrance or exit, but we sometimes had them open to screens so they were able to smell and watch outside sometimes. But that day it was warm enough we had AC on so all-glass, no screens, and so again she had no luck. That's when she bolted out of my yard and down a few properties to where I lost sight of her. I'm very glad of the cameras catching video of her after this, so I could see her calm and cautious and exploring again. But that may well be my last physical sight of her, flying away in fear after she believed something dangerous was going on and considered her access to safety and security cut off from her.

I feel so stupid, not having listened to her skittish, excitable nature and kept her in much longer to calm down and mature more before working with her. It had only been a couple months since I trained her to let me pick her up and carry her around!! She really leaned into that once she figured out it always led to good things, purring happily, but objectively it was not long at all! I also feel guilty for not having trashed the harness the first indication it might not work for her. For not having read how to acclimate a cat to go inside / outside unsupervised. I'd not thought I was ever going to have one of those, so I never read best practices. But if I had, I'd have known that her spooking outside would result in her wanting to run back inside. Then I would have made sure her brother was secured internal to the house and still leaving her that access path. Or if I had only focused on one of them outside at a given time, I would have let her go at her own pace still on the deck, where she would have been much closer to the sliding door and much further from the edge of our property and the neighbor's driveway.

I see how much my older cat has been begging these last few weeks to go out, and I realize that even if that night had gone well, I was unknowingly probably on a collision course to just this kind of outcome. I loved Luna deeply for all of her weird, crazy, over-the-top traits. Traits probably partly related to her being at the edge of her socialization window when trapped as a kitten from outside. But I was not realizing the risks those same traits presented. I was stupidly being "fair" to her in working with her the same way as my other cats, in ways that were contrary and dangerous to her nature. If only I had happened to use the screen door, so I would have learned my lesson and gotten my cue to change, to research more about cat behavior before losing her. Or if one of those early trapping attempts had worked after she was out, or if I had figured out how to lure her back into the house through the door/window at night. We got terribly close with the traps twice before she moved on, very little would have needed to be different to have her back already.

I've not taken either of my other cats out since the day it happened, and while my older kitty loves to look out and still asks to go, she can be redirected to other activities pretty easily. I didn't need to be taking those risks.

Thanks for reading, thanks for the suggestions and the support.

 

[fionasmom]

PawBoost is legit and the one I am referring to here is definitely free. It has an odd mediocre design which I think is off putting to some people. There are a number of lost cat online resources online but you probably don't need to add that many as you have done a very good job of researching this yourself.

I completely understand that you have to return to a center of gravity for yourself and cannot put yourself or others in danger. Given everything that you have done, it is probably the best thing to try to calm yourself, take care of yourself, and continue on. Luna may turn up and you have laid enough of the groundwork for her to be sighted and reported that it probably does not need to continue in the same way.

It sounds as if Luna was still living in a gray area between the feral and domesticated world. The leash episode may have only highlighted that and you should not blame yourself for it. I think that she may be living her life in the general area as a feral and that this may play out over a long time. That is another reason for trying to relax and take care of yourself and resume your regular life. You can't live on the edge indefinitely as you are seeing.

 

[MackerelTabbyStripes]

Thank you, I always appreciate your replies.

I ended up sleeping off and on for about 16 hours yesterday afternoon and all night. I was clearly far beyond what I could reasonably sustain.

Today I posted Luna on PawBoost. I did go for some of the limited paid - boosting, which seems to simply be facebook ads targeted to a geographic area. It might help if for some reason she did move out of my neighborhood, as the target radius is a bit wider than my flyers would reach on their own.

It seems that my community facebook postings, comments, handouts, flyers, etc have started to take a bit of a life of their own. I met a couple kids and a parent who were coming by my house last night specifically to go on a walk to look for Luna. Children have been sharing her story among themselves, and some have taken it as a "detective/campaign" sort of activity. Some of the retired people in the area are watching out for her while they sit at their windows or on decks. I'm really grateful to have that kind of support. I will need to figure out how to honor the community and what they've done, if this story goes on longer than people generally expect. I think I may simply share some statistics and expectations on feral kitties, underline that she is young and strong, and that I am not going to be giving up hope for a very long time. We aren't there yet, but if I don't get her back quickly and the children have been looking for weeks, I need to help give them a narrative that is both true, and will help them not worry too much about what they cannot control.

I think you are very right that Luna is now living her life as a feral kitty, probably remarkably close to me. But for whatever reason, my property doesn't have the right mix of shelter, security, cover, food, quiet, proximity to whatever else attractive she has found, that it is no longer in her regular "prowl radius."

Things may change slowly, if at all from now. I put away the traps, but we will maintain the feeding station that has now been wildlife-proofed, and the video monitoring. I'll make sure the flyers I have up in the neighborhood are replaced when weathered or torn. I'll keep making sure the craigslist posting is renewed, and keep checking with local vets and shelters on a regular basis.

I am sorry I didn't fully understand her background, and didn't know what it meant. In retrospect, she was still partly traveling that line between feral and domestic, fully enjoying her indoor life but with a lot of the fears and instincts of a cat relying on its own capacities. I wish I'd been able to keep her long enough she would have shed all of that and become more confident, secure, people-oriented cat. Given what I have read about socializing ferals and the speed with which she learned to actively enjoy me picking her up and carrying her, I am confident we would have gotten quite far in time. But that may also just underline how adaptable she is, which will be a good thing for her dealing with what she has to right now to get by outside.

I will keep trying to find out who has shelters and food stations for cats. Just today coming back from a run with my partner, I saw some neighbors with their cat out on the porch in a big safety crate to enjoy the sun & air, so I chatted with them. Turns out they also have a feral cat shelter, and had been feeding an "orange" cat for about 9 months before it moved on. If it's the same one as the yellow we've been seeing everywhere, it seems like he has a crazy number of shelters and food stations to pick from. Hopefully Luna will find the same, and someday will start to come out during times that people might see her and let me know.

It's also only barely been beyond 3 weeks for me, and " W Worriedaboutscaredycat ," who's thread I've basically stolen, had to wait six weeks for a reliable sighting to be reported, and had a successful reunion after that! I am so very glad that it ended well for them

I just need to be patient, and figure out a way to keep going in a sustainable way.