My Cat Has Been Gone For Almost 3 Weeks. What Should I Do?

catsknowme

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I agree with Leomc123 Leomc123 that taking the "bully" to animal control is a death sentence for him. I would try reaching out to TNR groups instead. You could look up your area's rescues through SpayNation. Once a tomcat is neutered and his hormones settle down, there is usually a big improvement in personality.
 
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Carter4321

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Well, he hasn't shown up yet and it's been a month. I'm trying not to think negatively about it and talking about it around mom makes her really sad. I still have hope that he can come back especially after last night. I was out at night calling for me and jiggling a bag of cat treats when I noticed that same stray cat around our area.

I was outside the complex on the side of the street (we live at the edge of the complex and can see the street from our window). This is also where my cat would climb up his favorite tree and so on. If that cat is around that area, he could have been driven away from home during the night at that particular spot which would cause him to cross the street since their weren't any cars at that time.

Any way I can deduce where he might be based on how cats fight over territory? Mom is also worried that he could have been fatally wounded during a cat fight, but I don't know how common or likely that is. I just think that if I had an idea where could have gone, I might be able to find him since I haven't gotten any notices from people around me about seeing him.
 

Leomc123

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Can i ask how did your cat go missing if you live in an apartment complex ? Like was your cat an indoor cat or with your apartment you live on the bottom floor and have a backyard ?.
 

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:think: hmmm.... I like your thinking! when cats are chased out of their familiar territory, they are in search of shelter, food & water but they risk lingering in yet another cat's area or where there are dogs. Sometimes they will be in the periphery of another colony's feeding station - you can try reaching out to your local TNR groups to help you look. Bless you for not giving up! :vibes::vibes::vibes::rock::grouphug2::hearthrob: :redheartpump:
 
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Carter4321

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Can i ask how did your cat go missing if you live in an apartment complex ? Like was your cat an indoor cat or with your apartment you live on the bottom floor and have a backyard ?.
We live on the bottom floor, but my cat is also an indoor-outdoor cat so he should be able to hunt and fend for himself though I still worry about him regardless. He went missing for 2 weeks once a few years ago, but this the longest he's been gone.
 
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Carter4321

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Weren't you going to see about trying to trap either your cat or the stray that is hanging around, and if it is the stray taking it to a no-kill shelter?
We won't be able to attempt that until maybe Wednesday. I'm going to be proactive and continue searching for me myself, but if he doesn't show up before then, I'll have to press mom to borrow a trap at least to take the stray to a TNR. I think that if the stray cat is addressed, my kitty should come home especially since that stray cat is the cat I see the most around my home now.
 

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Sending prayers that your kitty will return soon, i pray that he finds his way back home to you and be brave enough to ignore the other cat to get back to you. I am thinking maybe your kitty smelled a lady kitten around the block and has gone for a romp. If he is an indoor and outdoor cat , he probably had the urge to get frisky. He will return soon.
 
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Carter4321

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My mom checked outside tonight and said she saw two coyotes outside our area. Should I be worried? My cat still hasn't come back and we're hoping the cat in that fight was ours, but it's been over a month and we haven't gotten any leads on any sightings of him. I went out before mom did and didn't see any coyotes and saw one cat roaming around the complex. All the other cats were nowhere to be seen. It just doesn't make sense how he could just vanish with no trance whatsoever. Would there be signs of a struggle if he was attacked by a predator?
 

Leomc123

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:( its possible that the coyotes scared him off ? I hope that isnt the case though. Im sorry that it has been so long. But my sister had a cat that was let out accidentally he was an indoor cat only and was pretty young too, he disappeared for 1 month, we searched every where and thought he would never come back . Then suddenly one day my cat MC was meowing at me and walking to the front tyre and then would walk up to me meowing and would go back to the car tyre again, so i decided to have a look and found my sisters cat sitting there with his front leg stuck in his collar under his arm pit and his neck. So it is still possible that your cat may have been scared off by the coyotes when he ran outside. Dont give up hope, i think all you can do at this point is wait and see if he returns :( You have done alot of searching and pretty much everything so far, but still done give up hope, i know its hard. Some cats disappear overseas and there have been cases where cats go for one year and out of the blue returns home. For all you know maybe he is being looked after by someone and is being treated as an indoor cat only , so your cat hasnt had the chance to run out the door and come back yet . " fingers crossed"
 

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Having coyotes nearby is not a good sign & the community should be looking for ways to "reclaim their territory". When I was a child, our yard dogs kept the coyotes away but it seems that in certain areas of the country, coyotes are becoming bolder.
Still keep up the faith though! Sending my prayers & vibes that your cat returns home safely :vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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Leomc123

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Mamany is right, if there are cats still around, and they are the same cats who hand around frequently then maybe your cat is around as well. Cats can roam a fair distance too, there was a video where they put a GPS tracker on a cat which tracked him all day live on maping software, and the cat went to 3 different neighbours, one was a few houses down, another neighbour was a block down getting fed and at one point roamed out of the suburb for 3 hours and came back home. During the day the cat was staying at a ladys house for 7 hours while the owner was at work. When i saw that video i was in shock cause i always thought cats would just hang around 70 meters around the house, but they roam in kilometers lol
 
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Carter4321

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Well, I did go out today and visited the three most nearby apartment complexes. 2 out of 3 of them accepted flyers from me and the one I didn't get a flyer for was a complex we used to live in so he could be there. I'm trying not to think about how it's been almost 2 months now. If my cat was the one in the fight my mom heard, would he go into hiding again? My mom also said she heard long noises like the cats were slamming into the metal railings. I just hope he didn't get hurt and that he wouldn't have a concussion or other fatal wounds. I also got ready to join the Straydar Facebook today.
 

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oh yes, being in a fight would cause a cat to go into hiding as well as possibly stray off. I had a kitty born among the ferals that is a sole survivor of his family of mom cat & 5 kittens. He disappeared some years ago and I assumed that he was gone for good. A couple of years later, when a mountain lion killed 9 of my ferals, the orphan cat reappeared.He is still timid and prone to getting bullied.
 
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It was 3 weeks after he went missing when the fight occurred and it's been 2 weeks since then. I'm hoping he shows up soon in the following week. I don't see as many stray cats around my apartment anymore so I'm hoping he isn't scared off when he comes back. I'm just concerned after the coyote sighting.
 
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Carter4321

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I noticed that cat that I suspect bullied my cat away from home fighting another cat that showed up around my building when talking out the garbage yesterday morning. It was across from my building and I broke it up when I came to investigate. I'm still missing my kitty, but seeing them still around hopefully means the chances my cat was picked off by the coyotes was slim. I've yet to get any notifications from anyone regarding a sighting of my cat and it's coming up on 2 months now. I just don't know what else to do at this point.
 
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