How to catch what may be our lost cat

[kaitie09]

Our cat Rosie went missing over a week ago during a storm. She is a indoor/outdoor cat and does like to hang out in our woods. Once we realized she was missing we put up fliers and posted CL ads. Tonigh, we got a text saying someone may have seen her at the corner of our road and a busy route. It is less than a mile from my house. We drove down there and spotted a cat that looks almost identical to her, including the same swirly pattern on her back. We tried calling her but she retreated further up into the woods, away from the road. I'm thinking she was down there in e first place because there is a small creek that runs under the road and she may have been getting water from it. She has always been skittish of cars, so Im thinking she may not run into the road.

The area she was seen belongs to a farmer so we are going tomorrow to get permission to walk their fields. I'm just wondering what may be the bet way to lure her. I'm assuming she is very scared and jut cannot figure out how close she is to home. Luckily for us, the area we live is known for farm cats, so mot people just leave a cat be.

What would you do in this situation to lure her back home, without scaring her into the major roadway. Also, the farmer is a bit of an *hole and even ripped off our lost cat sign tht we put on the corner stopsign (is it technically on their property)


Eta. Sorry for the horrible spelling, I'm typing from a phone.

 

[franksmom]

Other people probably have better advice but getting a trap from a rescue group is a good idea.

 

[catsallaround]

I would try to spot her but not approach her at all.  Just make a fuss and shake some dry food or pop open a 3 oz can of fancy feast or something stinky.  Set a trap and wait it out.  

Post on craigslist asking if there is a feral cat feeder in your area to contact you as you have lost a cat.  

 

[kaitie09]

Thank you. We have a trap in the garage, we just need to get permission from the farmer, which may not happen. They are the neighbors that have problems with everyone and since we are friends with the people they have the most problems with, they may not help us at all. If they do not agree to help, we are friendly with his neighbor, so he may be able to help us since his property butts up against theirs. As for feral cat feeders, that is pretty much everyone. No one around here thinks twice if a stray cat shows up, am most everyone had outdoor cats here. I live in a very rural area so the farmers all keep at least 2-3 cats in the barns and the ferals always find there way to someone's house.

 

[catsallaround]

I would be setting the trap next to your house or wherever she likes to hang out before all this happened in the meantime.  If she is not spayed do so as soon as you are able to get her home.  

 

[kaitie09]

She is spayed, microchipped, and has all her claws. I believe if she was near our house she would come to us or we we notice her. We have trail cameras set up around our property and she has not been spotted on any of them . I believe we spotted her a little under a mile away, in the woods of a neighbor's sheep field. I know pretty much all of the local cats around here and none look like her.  We also have 7 other cats so if we did set a trap next to our house, we would be out there every 20 minutes letting one or the other out, and probably a few of the chickens too.

 

[kaitie09]

So just a little update. Talked to the farmer and they do not have a grey and white cat, so this definitely could be her. They have not seen the cat we saw, so they can;t really tell us what it looks like. They will allow us to look, however, they are being a bit ridiculous. They will not allow us to trap or go on the property at night. If we go during the day, we can only search the area we saw her in, so no walking around the property and we area we saw her in is a very steep hill with no trails, so we can't really look there.

 

[melesine]

Gosh, I hope you find her or she comes home on her own. Do you have a dog that could track her scent? Our cats occasionally door dash and one of them loves to hide around on our fenced property. I've used our German Shepherd to sniff him out more than once, as she loves the cats and they like her too so they aren't scared of her. 

 

[kaitie09]

We have two labs that we took through the woods a bit, but they were more concerned about the deer trails than finding a cat. they did find a dead mouse, but that was it.   We also end up having a little parade behind us with the other cats, and occasionally the goats if they feel like coming. Because of that, we can't really go very far with them.

Here is pic of what we deal with just taking the dogs out to go to the bathroom. You can't see the two that decided to chase each other in the corn.

293593_1973852268254_1301466115_1598764_1414722707

• kaitie09
• Apr 7, 2012

 

[tammyjane2011]

I hope you find your cat 

 

[feralvr]

I hope the between the dogs and you searching that Rosie will turn up and come home. :cross: Here are some suggestion in this thread http://www.thecatsite.com/t/248019/tips-for-finding-a-lost-cat. Are those other cats on the road yours too? Or the farmer's cats Sending vibes for Rosie and for her safe return.

 

[tammyjane2011]

Any news on the Kitty?