i lost my cat away from home and am desperately seeking some advice

[slimmy20]

28 days ago i lost my boy, slim shady or slimmy as i like to call him, at a park about 1 mile away from home. it was his first time outside, was wearing a leash/harness and got completely spooked by some unleashed dogs. he scrambled out of my arms, bolted across the park and jumped into someone's yard. i made a huge mistake and it hurts just typing this.

i asked the neighbor if i could search his yard for my slimmy but he did not allow it. they have all sorts of car parts and cars being repaired so i think they felt uncomfortable with a stranger poking into their business. it was impossible going home. i spent the night sitting by his yard and calling for slimmy.

i did the same the next night. i spoke to the other neighbors who were a bit more helpful and tried to read every single article i could on finding "displaced" cats. it hurt so much that slimmy didnt have a way to find his way home and what if he got tangled or choked by his harness? i overnighted a trail camera and placed it by the neighbors yard.

my city (chino hills, in southern california) is known for its dry weather.. but the two nights that slimmy went missing, it was POURING rain. i wanted to die.

but on day 3 i SAW slimmy on the camera feed at 3:30am. i cried with happiness on the spot. i was able to get ahold of 3 humane traps that i set up with the help of a local pet trapper. the next night, slimmy came out 3:30am again, but did not enter the traps. he sniffed them and disappeared. but his harness and leash were gone!! all he had on was his collar. i was SO relieved.

the next 4-5 days he did not appear on camera. instead i trapped a possum, then a grumpy racoon, then the local black cat, then a grey tomcat.. twice. there is a huge bushy area by this yard where all sorts of critters live. bunnies, birds, voles, possums galore. the bait in the traps must have been attracting them. around this time i started placing coyote repellent lights around the neighborhood.

so the days after this have been a blur of desperation and so many ups and downs. a skunk showed up at that spot, and then a spotted cat who is a slimmy lookalike. by this time i removed the traps. this spotted cat has been showing up to this area daily, to this very day. no sign of slimmy. i have seen a coyote at this spot once. seeing the image of a coyote at that same spot truly gutted me but i tried to focus on the articles explaining that coyote dont kill cats as often as it may seem.

i camped out by the bush area over night, sitting in a chair. i parked my car overnight by his escape point. i walked the neighborhood around 3am, playing his fave toy sounds and lighting up bushes.

ive placed neon signs on all the intersections. ive gone door to door and handed flyers. posted them by the schools nearby, the clinics and shelters. i check the feral cat spots by that area and have networked a bit to get to know which neighbors like feeding stray cats. all of them have been so kind and helpful.. but none have seen slimmy at all.

i even broke apart poop to see if it was coyote scat and if id find cat remains.

my desperation continued and i rented a 50ft endoscope camera to check storm drains. unsuccessful. im at 5 trail cameras now because if it had not been for that one camera, i would never have seen slimmy after that horrible day i lost him! ive snuck 2 cameras into a bordering apartment complex that connects to the bush area. i have one at the main spot. another one i move around potential sighting spots.. and the last one i have in my yard incase he finds his way home by some magic.

every day that goes by i lose more and more hope. i just dont know what to do. ive posted on all the different social medias.. ring, nextdoor, facebook, craigslist, pawboost, petfinder.

i just have a feeling slimmy is either gone ): or he is hiding after getting chased away by a territorial cat or other predators.

slimmy used to be a feral colony cat. i hope everyday that his feral instincts kicked in and he's surviving. he's always been a skittish boy who likes low-level hiding spots. when i saw him on camera those two times he seemed extra cautious and was only there for 2 minutes each time. when i first adopted him, it took him a week to come out from under my bed. once he got used to me he was SO curious and observant. he taught himself how to open doors and would remember where we kept his toys.. even after days. he also LOVED chasing any bug-like toys. i like thinking that he is surviving by eating those bugs he likes and by laying low. ive heard ferals are nocturnal.. and maybe this is why he has never been seen by neighbors yet, despite still being in the area? or maybe he hasnt been seen because he's far away in a different neighborhood because he kept getting chased away by other cats? is he considered a feral cat now? or a stray? would he know to find a colony? would he be able to join one?

i just dont really know what to think or do at this point. part of me wonders if i should be sitting out there at that park at 3:30am every night. but its been almost a month.. is it too late to try that? i miss him so much. he's my only boy. i love him so much and i feel so desperate.

does anyone have any tips or encouragement related to finding a cat that was lost away from home? an ex-feral, timid cat? id really appreciate any sort of input. its been a month now and i feel like he could be anywhere, at the same spot.. or nowhere. i just dont understand how i could have seen him on camera on day 3 and day 4, and then have zero trace of him after that.

if you've read this far thank you <3 i hope you arent in a position where you've also lost your beloved cat.. and if you are, my heart goes out to you because this feeling absolutely hurts. ive read some stories here when i first started searching for slimmy and some of them gave me much needed hope and strength. since i just cant sleep thinking about what could have happened to my boy and what i could be doing to help find him.. i thought it'd be a good idea to reach out here.

i added some photos of slimmy as well as some map doodads. maybe it can help illustrate my situation. thank you all again!

 

[Norachan]

I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through, but touched by how much effort you've but into getting Slimmy back again.

I take care of a large colony of former and semi feral cats. They live in my house and have a huge enclosure, but several times trees have come down and a few of the cats have been able to escape. Usually they find their way back the next day, but I've had them go for up to 2 months at a time So I think there is a very good chance that your cat is out there fending for himself and there is a possibility that you'll get him back.

You don't show your home on the map. How far is it from the place he went missing? Could he get back easily or would he have to cross a busy road? If he comes home is there any way for him to get in, or would you have to actually open a door to let him in?

One thing you could try is repeatedly laying a scent trail from the place you last spotted him back to your house. You need things that smell of you, him and home. People use litter from their cat's litter box, dust from the vacuum cleaner, used towels or pillow cases cut up into tiny pieces. If you're going to do this I suggest you lay the trail in the evening, as cats are more active at dusk and dawn.

Another thing you could try is baiting a humane trap with something that smells of home, rather than food. A blanket he used to sleep on, a favourite toy, anything like that.

A cat in an unfamiliar location will hide and only venture out when they're too hungry to stay hidden any more. As they grow more confident they start to explore in a spiral pattern away from their safe spot, but they tend to return to the same safe place unless there is something that stops them from returning or something better in a new spot they explore. Cats can tell by the smell of other cats poop whether they are being well fed or not. They will tend to follow cats that smell well fed, even if those cats are not friendly. That's why colonies of cats tend to gather together near a food source. Are there any feral cat feeders in the area he went missing?

 

[Kwik]

I'm sooooo sorry but don't give up HOPE,how long have you been together before this happened?Hard to say how long it'll take before he reverts because it will greatly depend on how long he was feral & how long he's been in your home.So I'm not going to guess without more info...

Most every cat will search for their familiar territory,cats are all about familiarity and territory,being displaced as he is there's no way of knowing how far he will travel in search of his territory so don't limit your search,put up posters from your house to the park & all around in every direction.....Did you walk to the park?
I'm praying for you and for Slimmy ,please don't give up,he might very well be hiding all day in that yard full of car parts,ya gotta find a way in there- maybe make a pest of yourself until they realize you just want your cat? Or maybe one of their neighbors will convince them to let you look?
You probably have already thought of those things but I feel sick for you,I know the dread and sinking feeling of losing a beloved pet-I had a very timid little female I adopted along with a little male,both 5wks old,they were inseparable for years and one day a very mean ex husband put them both outside- my boy was sitting by the front door when I got home but not Precious.....my boy & I searched for months ,he kept bringing me right to a house with an outside crawl space underneath it....so what I'm thinking is if you know any hunters with hounds,a good sniff of her scent and they'll track him!I'm spit balling here but why not,never know ?
And yes,he knows how to survive-only we don't want him to have to.....signs,signs everywhere- is he chipped?

 

[catsknowme]

Kudos for your outstanding search & rescue efforts! Slimmy is a beautful cat - such unique markings. And phew! What a relief to know he is out of the harness. Either he was smart enough to untangle himself or someone tried to help him and he escaped their grasp.
I am up here in the Eastern Sierra so my rural protocols might not be as easy to use in your area. But here are my thoughts:
Territory - it might help to use your scents to establish that area as your territory. In addition to the EXCELLENT suggestions in the previous posts, consider using your urine especially in the coyote-prone location. If you find coyote calling-cards (scat) pour urine on top of them to tell the coyotes "it's my turf now" plus it will create a buffer zone for Slimmy to feel more confident. I carry the urine in a mayonnaise jar if I need to mark in civilized areas - a small drizzle works.
Advertising - in addition to your outstanding efforts, consider expanding your outreach by putting flyers in the rear winshield of as many cars as possible. Some years ago, a fellow TCSer used that tip to retrieve their inside-only cat who had wandered over 50 miles away. It was months after the cat had escaped. At a family funeral, the member asked relatives to put flyers in their cars. An out-of-area aunt & her husband did so. On their drive back home, they stopped at a Home Depot. 2 ladies exiting the store saw the flyer and recognized the cat as a stray who was using feeders near their apartment complex! The cat was trapped by his family early the next morning and vet check was better than expected - a little underweight, some ear mites. Had the owners given up hope, they wouldn't have continued to hand out the flyer that worked.
Encouragement - keep hoping, praying, trying. As a former feral, Slimmy has street smarts as well as being neutered and vaccinated. Being neutered makes it much easier to be tolerated by other colony cats.
Decades ago, while living at my parents', I kept my friends' 2 inside-only cats for 2 weeks while they went elk hunting in CO. 11 years later, the younger cat, Joshie, showed up on my parents' front porch! She recognized me right away! When my friends had divorced years prior, the cats were given to an elderly neighbor who passed away and no one knew what happened with the cats after that. However, the husband had remarried and returned to our town and I had just moved back home myself. I reconnected with the husband at a church that I was visiting so had his contact information. He was in disbelief but drove out anyway - Joshie and he recognized each other immediately! His little step-daughters were thrilled to have a cat. We were all amazed that Joshie could survive a wilderness trek of 10 miles through desert and river bottomlands in harsh climate amid numerous dangers, especially cougar, owls, coyotes, bears.
Please keep us updated!

 

[DeltapawIV]

So sorry you are going through this loss. Don't give up hope. It is possible someone might have taken slimmy in. I had adopted a feral cat & after a year he slipped out the door when delivery men came in the house. 4 months went by & I had pretty much given up my efforts when one night I saw him peering in the window from the flower box on the window. I opened the window & he went to his bed & acted like nothing had happened. God only knows what he was up to. Good Luck and don't give up!

 

[slimmy20]

I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through, but touched by how much effort you've but into getting Slimmy back again.

I take care of a large colony of former and semi feral cats. They live in my house and have a huge enclosure, but several times trees have come down and a few of the cats have been able to escape. Usually they find their way back the next day, but I've had them go for up to 2 months at a time So I think there is a very good chance that your cat is out there fending for himself and there is a possibility that you'll get him back.

You don't show your home on the map. How far is it from the place he went missing? Could he get back easily or would he have to cross a busy road? If he comes home is there any way for him to get in, or would you have to actually open a door to let him in?

One thing you could try is repeatedly laying a scent trail from the place you last spotted him back to your house. You need things that smell of you, him and home. People use litter from their cat's litter box, dust from the vacuum cleaner, used towels or pillow cases cut up into tiny pieces. If you're going to do this I suggest you lay the trail in the evening, as cats are more active at dusk and dawn.

Another thing you could try is baiting a humane trap with something that smells of home, rather than food. A blanket he used to sleep on, a favourite toy, anything like that.

A cat in an unfamiliar location will hide and only venture out when they're too hungry to stay hidden any more. As they grow more confident they start to explore in a spiral pattern away from their safe spot, but they tend to return to the same safe place unless there is something that stops them from returning or something better in a new spot they explore. Cats can tell by the smell of other cats poop whether they are being well fed or not. They will tend to follow cats that smell well fed, even if those cats are not friendly. That's why colonies of cats tend to gather together near a food source. Are there any feral cat feeders in the area he went missing?

thank you so much for the response!

my home is 0.8 miles away going straight and 1 mile taking the streets.
if he crosses ONE major road he'd be in the same block where i live.. but there are so many dogs on my block. and i think the only time he was ever outside was maybe 4-5 times, but he just sat by our door for 2 minutes and wanted back in. are cats still able to find their way back to a home even if they have never explored outside of it? as for a way for him to get back in.. we'd have to leave a door open but there are two cats that roam around my area.

i'm a bit worried that maybe my scent is repelling him ): the night i laid out the traps and saw him sniff them, i had my tshirts inside of it and he never went inside. what if the day that he got spooked by the dogs and i was holding him, he decided that my scent was one of danger. would he let go of that? should i maybe use clothing items from my parents? slimmy did spend every waking hour with me and he'd sleep with me so i'm really hoping that wouldn't be the case.

will a cat ever return to an old safe spot, even if they've found a better one? i feel like the slimmy lookalike might be deterring slimmy from returning but i've stopped leaving food out in hopes he'll go somewhere else so slimmy can make an appearance. he's a much bigger cat, but neutered i think. the night the lookalike showed up for the first time, i heard a distant "YOWL" on the trail cam. i couldn't see anything but it sounded like a cat dispute.

i had no idea about the cat poop! there are a couple houses and spots i've been told are cat feeding spots. so even if he's been chased away by an unfriendly cat.. he might not be lingering too far and possibly following along?

here's a map to show the distances between everything:

 

[fionasmom]

I am generally familiar with your area, so understand what terrain you are describing. We have a member of TCS outside of Chicago who was able to get her cat (who had been a colony cat) back after about 7 weeks. The cat finally went into a humane trap, so you might want to keep that option open.

Lost Cat Behavior
Lost Pet Statistics - Lost Pet Research and Recovery
Found missing cat but she ran away
This is a lot of reading, but is very comprehensive

 

[slimmy20]

I'm sooooo sorry but don't give up HOPE,how long have you been together before this happened?Hard to say how long it'll take before he reverts because it will greatly depend on how long he was feral & how long he's been in your home.So I'm not going to guess without more info...

Most every cat will search for their familiar territory,cats are all about familiarity and territory,being displaced as he is there's no way of knowing how far he will travel in search of his territory so don't limit your search,put up posters from your house to the park & all around in every direction.....Did you walk to the park?
I'm praying for you and for Slimmy ,please don't give up,he might very well be hiding all day in that yard full of car parts,ya gotta find a way in there- maybe make a pest of yourself until they realize you just want your cat? Or maybe one of their neighbors will convince them to let you look?
You probably have already thought of those things but I feel sick for you,I know the dread and sinking feeling of losing a beloved pet-I had a very timid little female I adopted along with a little male,both 5wks old,they were inseparable for years and one day a very mean ex husband put them both outside- my boy was sitting by the front door when I got home but not Precious.....my boy & I searched for months ,he kept bringing me right to a house with an outside crawl space underneath it....so what I'm thinking is if you know any hunters with hounds,a good sniff of her scent and they'll track him!I'm spit balling here but why not,never know ?
And yes,he knows how to survive-only we don't want him to have to.....signs,signs everywhere- is he chipped?

i'll try my best to hang on! thank you so much for the encouragement. slimmy will be turning 3 in july. i had him for 10 months and before that, he was in a foster home. the only other information i have about his past is that he was a colony cat in santa ana, a very urban city, and that they didn't release him back onto the streets because he was a "friendly." and he is chipped! im just a bit worried that feral cat trappers may not bother trapping him because of his tipped ear :/

trying to look into that yard has been such a challenge.. i can tell the family is annoyed by me. the lady who was helping me set up the traps actually waved the mother down while she was hanging laundry in her yard and asked if we could search for our cat. the mother frowned and just said "NO. NO!" and walked back in. i'm told by neighbors that they might have an unregistered business there, so that's why they're wary. i've thought about asking again but i'm scared that if they get mad at me.. what if they find my cat and hurt him? i dont know. i just wish they would have let me look that first day!! i know slimmy WAS there. i have been placing trail cams in their neighbors yard and the neighbor on the other side is also a pet lover, and has her cameras pointed into the yard.

did you end up finding your cat in the crawl space? that's amazing her buddy helped you track her. every time i say hello to a new cat around the neighborhoods i try to ask them to look out for slimmy and to be friends! if they sniff me, maybe i smell somewhat like slimmy and they'll feel more comfortable with him?

i searched for scent-tracking dog handlers but unfortunately there aren't any near my area ):

will be heading out today to place more signs/neon signs. i'll try areas even further away, just incase.

 

[slimmy20]

Kudos for your outstanding search & rescue efforts! Slimmy is a beautful cat - such unique markings. And phew! What a relief to know he is out of the harness. Either he was smart enough to untangle himself or someone tried to help him and he escaped their grasp.
I am up here in the Eastern Sierra so my rural protocols might not be as easy to use in your area. But here are my thoughts:
Territory - it might help to use your scents to establish that area as your territory. In addition to the EXCELLENT suggestions in the previous posts, consider using your urine especially in the coyote-prone location. If you find coyote calling-cards (scat) pour urine on top of them to tell the coyotes "it's my turf now" plus it will create a buffer zone for Slimmy to feel more confident. I carry the urine in a mayonnaise jar if I need to mark in civilized areas - a small drizzle works.
Advertising - in addition to your outstanding efforts, consider expanding your outreach by putting flyers in the rear winshield of as many cars as possible. Some years ago, a fellow TCSer used that tip to retrieve their inside-only cat who had wandered over 50 miles away. It was months after the cat had escaped. At a family funeral, the member asked relatives to put flyers in their cars. An out-of-area aunt & her husband did so. On their drive back home, they stopped at a Home Depot. 2 ladies exiting the store saw the flyer and recognized the cat as a stray who was using feeders near their apartment complex! The cat was trapped by his family early the next morning and vet check was better than expected - a little underweight, some ear mites. Had the owners given up hope, they wouldn't have continued to hand out the flyer that worked.
Encouragement - keep hoping, praying, trying. As a former feral, Slimmy has street smarts as well as being neutered and vaccinated. Being neutered makes it much easier to be tolerated by other colony cats.
Decades ago, while living at my parents', I kept my friends' 2 inside-only cats for 2 weeks while they went elk hunting in CO. 11 years later, the younger cat, Joshie, showed up on my parents' front porch! She recognized me right away! When my friends had divorced years prior, the cats were given to an elderly neighbor who passed away and no one knew what happened with the cats after that. However, the husband had remarried and returned to our town and I had just moved back home myself. I reconnected with the husband at a church that I was visiting so had his contact information. He was in disbelief but drove out anyway - Joshie and he recognized each other immediately! His little step-daughters were thrilled to have a cat. We were all amazed that Joshie could survive a wilderness trek of 10 miles through desert and river bottomlands in harsh climate amid numerous dangers, especially cougar, owls, coyotes, bears.
Please keep us updated!

i can do that?? that's amazing. will that also help deter territorial cats and raccoons?
luckily the area where slimmy was seen on camera is right behind the houses on a very bushy hillside. im pretty sure im the only one who goes up there, so it definitely sounds doable (the jar method lol). would that scent be recognizable to slimmy as a non-threat? or would it mainly work to help keep the coyotes at bay for him?

thank you for the windshield idea! that home depot story is incredible and reminds me that i need to keep trying everything. i am praying for that chance encounter or chance sighting. will definitely keep at it with the fliers and posters.

joshie's story gives me much needed hope! though my area is a pretty classic rural suburb, there are many trails and valleys.. and so so many stories about hawks and coyotes coming into yards during the daytime and snatching pets away.

will definitely be back with updates. thank you so much.

 

[fionasmom]

Can you try to get these neighbors on your good side so that they will at least contact you if they see Slimmy? Give you a call? They may call for every cat they see, but at least they will be on the look out.

 

[slimmy20]

So sorry you are going through this loss. Don't give up hope. It is possible someone might have taken slimmy in. I had adopted a feral cat & after a year he slipped out the door when delivery men came in the house. 4 months went by & I had pretty much given up my efforts when one night I saw him peering in the window from the flower box on the window. I opened the window & he went to his bed & acted like nothing had happened. God only knows what he was up to. Good Luck and don't give up!

thank you for the kind words. 4 months must have felt like forever! its great to know that feral kitties can make their way around and come home safe and sound. thinking of him outside, hungry and lost is gut-wrenching. i am hoping a fellow cat ally took him in

 

[slimmy20]

Can you try to get these neighbors on your good side so that they will at least contact you if they see Slimmy? Give you a call? They may call for every cat they see, but at least they will be on the look out.

i'm a bit afraid of reaching out to them.. but your message is making me think it might be ok to just give them a call. when i was over there with the lady helping me place traps, she had asked them again if we could search their yard and they seemed a bit angry. luckily the neighbors on either side of the house have been very cooperative. i know for a fact that one of them will keep a close lookout. she is a cat lover and is fostering some kittens. im just afraid of pushing them over the edge since i've been doing so much poking around ): our neighborhood can tend to lean on the "mind your business" side of things due to cultural differences, though many neighbors have also been extremely kind and understanding.

and thank you for the articles in the previous message! do you think i should continue placing traps even though i have not seen slimmy on camera yet? last time i had placed them, a skunk almost went into one so i decided to put them away for the time being. am very new to trapping so im a bit wary of leaving them out and having other critters or housecats get in them..

 

[fionasmom]

Like you, I have caught a lot of other animals in traps and it is one of the risks of having to leave a trap set for an indefinite period of time. Baiting with popular treats like KFC only guarantees that another animal will become interested, but it also might attract Slimmy. The other cat I mentioned did ultimately go into a trap, actually quite near her house.

Former colony cats can be odd in that they still have that memory of living outside and avoiding people, so often revert to that mindset if they get out, even if they do want to go back home.

 

[Kwik]

i'll try my best to hang on! thank you so much for the encouragement. slimmy will be turning 3 in july. i had him for 10 months and before that, he was in a foster home. the only other information i have about his past is that he was a colony cat in santa ana, a very urban city, and that they didn't release him back onto the streets because he was a "friendly." and he is chipped! im just a bit worried that feral cat trappers may not bother trapping him because of his tipped ear :/

trying to look into that yard has been such a challenge.. i can tell the family is annoyed by me. the lady who was helping me set up the traps actually waved the mother down while she was hanging laundry in her yard and asked if we could search for our cat. the mother frowned and just said "NO. NO!" and walked back in. i'm told by neighbors that they might have an unregistered business there, so that's why they're wary. i've thought about asking again but i'm scared that if they get mad at me.. what if they find my cat and hurt him? i dont know. i just wish they would have let me look that first day!! i know slimmy WAS there. i have been placing trail cams in their neighbors yard and the neighbor on the other side is also a pet lover, and has her cameras pointed into the yard.

did you end up finding your cat in the crawl space? that's amazing her buddy helped you track her. every time i say hello to a new cat around the neighborhoods i try to ask them to look out for slimmy and to be friends! if they sniff me, maybe i smell somewhat like slimmy and they'll feel more comfortable with him?

i searched for scent-tracking dog handlers but unfortunately there aren't any near my area ):

will be heading out today to place more signs/neon signs. i'll try areas even further away, just incase.

My Graycie was a TNR,she ended up dropped of at my Vets office by someone who found her who knows where.....she was so shy but sweet they put her in a cage and I showed up.....don't count anything out,try not to let fear overcome your Faith and Hope,I'm praying for you and for Slimmy

 

[slimmy20]

Like you, I have caught a lot of other animals in traps and it is one of the risks of having to leave a trap set for an indefinite period of time. Baiting with popular treats like KFC only guarantees that another animal will become interested, but it also might attract Slimmy. The other cat I mentioned did ultimately go into a trap, actually quite near her house.

Former colony cats can be odd in that they still have that memory of living outside and avoiding people, so often revert to that mindset if they get out, even if they do want to go back home.

kfc sounds like the perfect bait for slimmy. i had used hot canned mackarel when i tried to trap him.. but he's definitely a chicken cat. darn.. i should have used that instead.

if he hasnt been seen on camera in 3 weeks would you say theres a possibility he's still lurking around? there is a stray cat that frequents that spot. when i set a trap i am pretty sure he'll be the first cat to go in. if i release him then and there, will he just start avoiding the traps and that area?

the catsite thread you posted mentioned seeing their cat as well as several others, where they had placed their traps. even a tomcat. im hoping this means cats dont get entirely chased away from food areas even when territorial cats are around.

thank you for the advice and the quick responses. really appreciated

 

[slimmy20]

My Graycie was a TNR,she ended up dropped of at my Vets office by someone who found her who knows where.....she was so shy but sweet they put her in a cage and I showed up.....don't count anything out,try not to let fear overcome your Faith and Hope,I'm praying for you and for Slimmy

happy to know there are people like that! thank goodness for graycie
and thank you very much

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I say this so often, but it is true. We have had many cats show up months after being lost, some in severe weather. My own cat from my childhood disappeared for just short of a year, then turned up very little the worse for wear, and acting as if he had never been gone. Don't give up. And you're doing a wonderful job of searching.

 

[cmshap]

I say this so often, but it is true. We have had many cats show up months after being lost, some in severe weather.

When I was a kid, we never had cats. But we had neighbors with cats, and I was tasked with feeding them while they were on vacation. So I got to know them.

They were all strictly indoor, but one day, one of them got spooked by another neighbor's dog (the dog was basically let loose in the neighborhood and went on everyone's properties), and the cat bolted out the door and into the woods.

I helped look for her but she was gone. And she was gone for over six months. And then one day, she strolled back into the house like nothing ever happened.

I heard after that that she needed flea treatment, and was a little underweight, but otherwise was healthy.

 

[maggie101]

Join the next door app!

 

[Norachan]

i'm a bit worried that maybe my scent is repelling him ): the night i laid out the traps and saw him sniff them, i had my tshirts inside of it and he never went inside. what if the day that he got spooked by the dogs and i was holding him, he decided that my scent was one of danger. would he let go of that? should i maybe use clothing items from my parents?

I think all the good memories he has of you are going to outweigh that one bad experience. If you want to attract animals to a spot where you have a camera, but don't want to leave bait, you can try Asian Fish sauce. (Nam pla) It's made of fermented anchovies so the smell is really strong. You can dilute it with water, put it into a spray bottle and spray the grass or trees near where you've set up a camera. Almost everything comes to check it out. I've caught deer and wild boar on my trail camera, as well as cats, raccoons and foxes.

will a cat ever return to an old safe spot, even if they've found a better one?

Yes, they do. They tend to have different spots that they favour at different times of day, depending on how sunny/shady the area is, how noisy it is, how many other cats are around etc. Cats that don't get along together tend to work out a schedule so they can both occupy the same territory without running into each other.

there are a couple houses and spots i've been told are cat feeding spots. so even if he's been chased away by an unfriendly cat.. he might not be lingering too far and possibly following along

Have you made Lost Cat posters? Maybe you could put them in the mail boxes of any houses near the feeding spots so cat lovers know to look out for him.

You need to make an e-mail account just for putting on your posters, so you don't get spammed or harassed. Put REWARD (in huge letters) for any information leading to the recovery of lost cat, then a photo of Slimmy. You don't have to specify how much the reward is. Most animal lovers are happy just to help a lost pet find their home again.

One lady who had been feeding one of my lost cats for over a month refused to take anything except for a gift wrapped box of cookies I had to practically force on her

i searched for scent-tracking dog handlers but unfortunately there aren't any near my area ):

Have you googled Pet Detectives?

Lost Pet Recovery Specialists in California