My 6 month male cat is missing for 5 days

[emanuelaj]

Coco went missing on Easter. It’s been 5 days now since and he’s not home yet. We live in a small area with many cats around so I don’t believe coco has gone very far. We were planning on getting him neutered just before he went missing.
Please don’t give me hate, I know the risks and dangers of not getting him neutered soon enough but I’m just shocked he ran away. We’d occasionally let him out a few times and he’d just sit on the shed but Easter night he left out of the blue.
Coco is so affectionate and loving and loved being inside. I don’t know what to do, I’ve tried leaving food outside, his favourite toys, our dirty clothes. His litter too. I’ve also tried sprinkling our urine around our backyard and have been searching him every night, calling his name.
We’ve put up posters too but will try putting them through our neighbours doors as they keep falling down. We keep seeing another black collarless cat but hes too big to be coco. he keeps eating the food we leave for him! But we know this large black cat is not ours!! However Last night on our search we were convinced we saw coco chilling with our neighbours cats, he looked tiny compared to them. My sister managed to get close and flashed her light on him and was convinced it was him. He was scared and ran away. I just hope it is him as he wasn’t far last night.
ive ordered a humane live trap.. I’m not giving up until he is home! Is there anything I can do please let me know

 

[Norachan]

What a beautiful boy!

As he is 6 months old and intact and as there are a lot of other cats in your neighborhood he has probably gone off to look for a mate. I bet that was him that you and your sister saw with your neighbor's cats. Do you know if your neighbour's cats are fixed or not? There could be a female cat there on heat, which is why he's hanging around.

Ask your neighbour if they will allow you to set up your humane trap on on near their property. As there are a lot of cats around you'll have better luck using the bottle and string method, rather than setting the trap. Get a large plastic bottle, fill it with water to weight it and tie a long length of string around it. Use the bottle to prop the trap door open. When your cat goes into the trap pull the string to move the bottle and shut the trap.

Practice a few times first of all, so you know how hard you have to pull the string.

he may well come home on his own once he gets hungry enough, but if he's been hanging around with feral cats he'll need to be seen by a vet right away. Get him checked for injuries, as tom cat fights can be nasty. He'll need to be treated for fleas and worms too and your vet may recommend an FIV and FeLV blood test. And, of course, get him neutered as soon as you can.

Good luck.

 

[di and bob]

It's going to be hard with no distinguishing features! Keep putting your fliers up, someone might call with new information. Make sure you call the local Humane society, they get a lot of calls on cats that show up and those on the road. I would definitely keep going around where he may have been last, especially with a flashlight to see in dark places where he most likely would be, or at night. You might catch that older black cat at night, but they usually don't get caught again after the first time. He needs the person he was most comfortable with to find him, I doubt he will go up to anyone else. Always carry treats in your pocket and throw them one at a time towards him, getting him closer. PS PLEASE keep us posted!

 

[emanuelaj]

What a beautiful boy!

As he is 6 months old and intact and as there are a lot of other cats in your neighborhood he has probably gone off to look for a mate. I bet that was him that you and your sister saw with your neighbor's cats. Do you know if your neighbour's cats are fixed or not? There could be a female cat there on heat, which is why he's hanging around.

Ask your neighbour if they will allow you to set up your humane trap on on near their property. As there are a lot of cats around you'll have better luck using the bottle and string method, rather than setting the trap. Get a large plastic bottle, fill it with water to weight it and tie a long length of string around it. Use the bottle to prop the trap door open. When your cat goes into the trap pull the string to move the bottle and shut the trap.

Practice a few times first of all, so you know how hard you have to pull the string.

he may well come home on his own once he gets hungry enough, but if he's been hanging around with feral cats he'll need to be seen by a vet right away. Get him checked for injuries, as tom cat fights can be nasty. He'll need to be treated for fleas and worms too and your vet may recommend an FIV and FeLV blood test. And, of course, get him neutered as soon as you can.

Good luck.

I’m not sure if the neighbours cats are fixed, I know one of them was a male cat. I’m going to look for him again tonight. I’ll try the bottle trick - will have to watch some YouTube videos on it first haha. Hopefully he comes when he’s ready. We have no clue where he could be staying during the day; If he’s in someone’s home or yard. We’re still hoping and praying though

 

[emanuelaj]

It's going to be hard with no distinguishing features! Keep putting your fliers up, someone might call with new information. Make sure you call the local Humane society, they get a lot of calls on cats that show up and those on the road. I would definitely keep going around where he may have been last, especially with a flashlight to see in dark places where he most likely would be, or at night. You might catch that older black cat at night, but they usually don't get caught again after the first time. He needs the person he was most comfortable with to find him, I doubt he will go up to anyone else. Always carry treats in your pocket and throw them one at a time towards him, getting him closer. PS PLEASE keep us posted!

It's going to be hard with no distinguishing features! Keep putting your fliers up, someone might call with new information. Make sure you call the local Humane society, they get a lot of calls on cats that show up and those on the road. I would definitely keep going around where he may have been last, especially with a flashlight to see in dark places where he most likely would be, or at night. You might catch that older black cat at night, but they usually don't get caught again after the first time. He needs the person he was most comfortable with to find him, I doubt he will go up to anyone else. Always carry treats in your pocket and throw them one at a time towards him, getting him closer. PS PLEASE keep us posted!

He’s not home yet. We keep the door open and we have the shed open too, we’ve looked in the shed but no sign of him. Coco was very fond of my brother, would always greet him and stay with him. I’ll try to get him to go out too and look for him. We’ve been going around with treats and shaking them. I guess he’s either found a new home or enjoying the outside life too much

 

[emanuelaj]

What a beautiful boy!

As he is 6 months old and intact and as there are a lot of other cats in your neighborhood he has probably gone off to look for a mate. I bet that was him that you and your sister saw with your neighbor's cats. Do you know if your neighbour's cats are fixed or not? There could be a female cat there on heat, which is why he's hanging around.

Ask your neighbour if they will allow you to set up your humane trap on on near their property. As there are a lot of cats around you'll have better luck using the bottle and string method, rather than setting the trap. Get a large plastic bottle, fill it with water to weight it and tie a long length of string around it. Use the bottle to prop the trap door open. When your cat goes into the trap pull the string to move the bottle and shut the trap.

Practice a few times first of all, so you know how hard you have to pull the string.

he may well come home on his own once he gets hungry enough, but if he's been hanging around with feral cats he'll need to be seen by a vet right away. Get him checked for injuries, as tom cat fights can be nasty. He'll need to be treated for fleas and worms too and your vet may recommend an FIV and FeLV blood test. And, of course, get him neutered as soon as you can.

Good luck.

Update: we tried the cat live trap. The large collarless black cat (that keeps eating cocos cat food) was trapped in the cage. Definitely not Coco. I don’t know what to do, I wanted to put this cat a collar on so next time we see him we know for sure it’s not coco but on the other hand if it belongs to one of our neighbours I wouldn’t want to do that to them and confuse them.
Is there anything I can do?

I’m just praying coco will make his mind up and come home asap

 

[Norachan]

The large collarless black cat (that keeps eating cocos cat food) was trapped in the cage.

Once a cat has been trapped they become pretty savvy and won't let themselves get trapped a second time. Not without a lot of effort on the trapper's part, any how.

Coco was very fond of my brother, would always greet him and stay with him

Ask your brother for an old, unwashed t-shirt to put in the trap. Cat's have a very strong sense of smell, he might be more interested in a t-shirt than food.

 

[emanuelaj]

Once a cat has been trapped they become pretty savvy and won't let themselves get trapped a second time. Not without a lot of effort on the trapper's part, any how.



Ask your brother for an old, unwashed t-shirt to put in the trap. Cat's have a very strong sense of smell, he might be more interested in a t-shirt than food.

We’ve tried everything, we’ve left the cat trap in our garden with my brothers shirt covering the step (still no sign) I’m getting so worried. We’ve been out looking every night. I’m scared something has happened to him or he’s either gone far. He’s still a baby I keep praying he’ll return home but nothing is working. It’s been 9 days. I miss him so much.

 

[KittyJ]

I completely understand your situation. He will come home! Cats can find their way back home from 20 miles away. He is probably in the process of finding his way home now. I have heard of cats returning home after being gone for six months. I understand what you are going through. It's so tough.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

GIve all local shelters and rescues a call back. In fact, call them twice a week. Those guys are almost always overworked and frantic, and a note about a call might not get passed on.

 

[emanuelaj]

I completely understand your situation. He will come home! Cats can find their way back home from 20 miles away. He is probably in the process of finding his way home now. I have heard of cats returning home after being gone for six months. I understand what you are going through. It's so tough.

It’s been 10 days which a lot of people are saying it’s normal. But he’s not neutered and I’ve read that unfixed cats don’t return in some cases. Which put me in the worst mood

 

[emanuelaj]

GIve all local shelters and rescues a call back. In fact, call them twice a week. Those guys are almost always overworked and frantic, and a note about a call might not get passed on.

I’ve called local vets a few times but yes I’ll try our local shelters too! He’s quite hard to catch and his claws are deadly for a kitten! If someone were to pick him up they’d immediately let go as he digs his sharp nails very deep into the skin ...unless he’s invited himself in someone house. I don’t know

 

[Norachan]

Are there a lot of cats in your neighbourhood? If the female cats are on heat he may have got in a fight and been chased off by larger males. When cats run off in a panic like that they often forget where they live, or are too scared to go back the way they came.

Cats tend to congregate together, so if there are any places where feral cats get fed he may end up there.

They can be a bit expensive, but a trail camera would help you keep an eye out for him.

One of my girls was gone for two months last year, but eventually found her way back home. Don't give up. Keep looking for him and make sure everyone in your local area knows he is still outside.

 

[emanuelaj]

Are there a lot of cats in your neighbourhood? If the female cats are on heat he may have got in a fight and been chased off by larger males. When cats run off in a panic like that they often forget where they live, or are too scared to go back the way they came.

Cats tend to congregate together, so if there are any places where feral cats get fed he may end up there.

They can be a bit expensive, but a trail camera would help you keep an eye out for him.

One of my girls was gone for two months last year, but eventually found her way back home. Don't give up. Keep looking for him and make sure everyone in your local area knows he is still outside.

A lot of our neighbours have cats, we spotted him a few days hanging out with a couple of them. Unfortunately he ran away from us but haven’t seen any of them recently. I don’t know if he’s still around the neighbourhood or if he’s gone far. I keep thinking well If he’s near why isn’t he coming home? I’ve kept food out everyday and our dirty clothes. We’re still going to be searching every night though

 

[Norachan]

I keep thinking well If he’s near why isn’t he coming home?

It's spring. It's warm. There are a lot of female cats around. It's easy for him to find food either from other cat's bowls or by hunting. He doesn't realise that you are worried about him and, even though he has a loving home, if he is getting everything he needs outside he won't be in such a hurry to return.

Does the food you leave out get eaten? Could he be coming back to eat without you seeing him?

 

[emanuelaj]

It's spring. It's warm. There are a lot of female cats around. It's easy for him to find food either from other cat's bowls or by hunting. He doesn't realise that you are worried about him and, even though he has a loving home, if he is getting everything he needs outside he won't be in such a hurry to return.

Does the food you leave out get eaten? Could he be coming back to eat without you seeing him?

No it never gets eaten, I don’t believe he’s even tried jumping over our garden gate once. We leave food in the cat trap outside every night

 

[Norachan]

Don't leave the trap set though. If an animal gets trapped you need to be there to cover the trap or release them straight away. Animals freak out when they are trapped and can injure themselves badly. Also, if you trap a raccoon it will probably rip the plate out of the bottom of your trap so it won't work any more.

A camera trap/trail camera is much safer.

The best trail cameras in 2021: for wildlife photography and nature watching

 

[emanuelaj]

We’ve always been near the cat trap so we can hear it shut. We’ve only trapped another black cat, luckily he was okay. We let him free immediately once we identified that it wasn’t Coco. He hasn’t approached the trap since.
We’ve done everything we can but I will consider the trail / trap camera

 

[KittyJ]

It’s been 10 days which a lot of people are saying it’s normal. But he’s not neutered and I’ve read that unfixed cats don’t return in some cases. Which put me in the worst mood

Yes, it is completely normal for an intact male to go off responding to an in-heat females' mating calls. Some don't return for six months so don't give up hope! Yes, sadly, some intact males never return. Stay optimistic!

 

[emanuelaj]

Yes, it is completely normal for an intact male to go off responding to an in-heat females' mating calls. Some don't return for six months so don't give up hope! Yes, sadly, some intact males never return. Stay optimistic!

It’s been 2 weeks today since he went missing. Yesterday, I got a call from two of my neighbours literally at the same time saying they spotted a small black cat running around our neighbourhood. We went out to look but couldn’t see him anywhere.....I am so grateful for our neighbours helping us. I just don’t know what to do. There’s been a few times now where we feel like we’re so close to catching him and finally bringing him home and then all of a sudden he runs away. No where to be seen.