My Cat Has Been Missing 8 Days Now

[aussiekittylover]

My cat Micky went missing on 10th November and for the past week I've been an absolute basket case worrying about him.

He's only a young cat. I'm not sure how old exactly because he was dumped at my place in March this year. At that time he was bone thin, his spine & hip bones were prominent and he was starving hungry. I took him to the vet and they estimated him to about 10 to 12 months old. And since then I'd fed him up & got him healthy again.

I usually let him out during the day because he didn't wander very far (just the house next door) and he's scared of strangers & runs from them, and I'd lock him inside at night. He used to love playing on the backyard lawn in the late afternoon and then he'd follow me inside for his tea. But that afternoon I didn't play with him and he didn't come in as usual.

I left the cat door open & thought "oh well, he'll probably come in when he gets hungry". But he didn't come in all night. The next day I wasn't well (I'm a kidney transplant recipient) and I stayed in bed most of the day. So I didn't realise he still hadn't come till late Sunday afternoon. But I still thought "oh, he'll come in tonight".

It wasn't until Monday morning that I realised he was really missing and I started walking the streets calling & looking for him (or for his body on the side of the road).

I've alerted the local animal shelter and emailed them photos and they said if he comes in they'll contact me. I also contacted my local vet clinic & gave them a description. And I posted his photo in my local Lost & Found group on Facebook.

I'm beside myself with worry and I keep thinking of all the worst possible scenarios. I've hardly been able to eat or sleep for a week, and when I have slept I've had bad dreams. My sister thinks I may need counselling or medication to help me cope (she's a cat lover too but she thinks my reaction to his disappearance isn't normal).

I'm just so worried about him & feeling very guilty

 

[aussiekittylover]

I feel so guilty about it because I hadn't had him desexed so the most likely reason he's gone missing is he's off chasing females.

I've had cats all my life but never had a tomcat before (my mother had one but I was only 5 then so I don't remember him very well but I do remember her burying him under our apple tree in 1971...he was only 4).

I have a built-in veranda and it's like a cat enclosure so I kept Micky in there for awhile but he kept howling to get out & climbing the flywire on my security door, and the neighbour complained about the noise (& I thought she might contact the local Ranger).

So I decided to let Micky outside during the day & lock him inside my house at night. He seemed happy to mostly stay in my yard during the day & come inside the house at night for his dinner & to sleep and that has been his pattern for months now.

He did spray a couple of times near the back door but he hasn't done it for awhile. So I didn't think I had too much to worry about because I kept him inside at night. But I'm guessing he may have gotten the scent of a female on heat and gone after her. I'm in Australia & it's spring here.

During my adult life I've had about 12 cats & I had all of them desexed. But with Micky it was going to be more difficult because these days there's a limit on how many cats we can have here (two), and I already had that many when he was dumped on me.

So I kept putting off getting him desexed because I thought the vet might question me over it. I even thought of going to another vet miles away where they didn't know me or how many cats I have.

My sister has 8 cats (6 of which she's not supposed to have) as she takes in strays & ferals and gets them desexed and puts them in cat enclosures in her backyard. And she told me that her vet doesn't have a problem with it. She reassured me that if I'd taken Micky to my local vet they'd probably be happy to desex & microchip him (even though I already have 2 cats).

Now I wish I'd listened to her as I think I probably could've gotten him desexed & chipped at the vets without them asking too many questions. It's mostly the local Shire who would have a problem it because you have to register cats here & in the town I live you can only have 2 (unless you get a special permit).

I probably shouldn't have kept him in the first place because I'm not supposed to have more than 2, and he doesn't get on with my 2 girls very well (esp. Maggie)..although recently they've been tolerating him a bit better.

I'd really wanted to find him a home myself (because I didn't trust the local shelter/pound). But I couldn't find anyone (a relative or friend) who'd adopt him (someone I could really trust).

But now it's a worse situation because he's escaped & gone missing and not only is there the worry that he might be mating & adding to cat overpopulation. But all the risks there is with a roaming tomcat (killed on the road, getting lost, cat fight injuries, etc).

Ever since I posted on my local Lost & Found group, several people have commented that they volunteer at the shelter and said they don't put them down, they adopt them out. Well, now they tell me. I had to hear it from several different people before I really believed it.

I feel wracked with guilt because something bad may have happened to him & he could be dead. My sister told me I'm not the bad person in all this...the person who dumped Micky & starved him is. She said I shouldn't be punished because I took in a skinny starving dumped cat & fed him.

Yeah but not getting him desexed and letting him outside was a really huge mistake. I thought if I just locked him up at night he'd be ok but he must've run off in the late afternoon or early evening (sunset's about 8pm here right now).

I don't really hold out much hope of him coming back but if he does, the first thing I'll do is get him desexed & chipped. And I should also surrender him to the animal shelter.

I know it would be difficult because I've really fallen in love with him....but it'd be better for both of us in the long run because 1) I'm not allowed to have 3 cats, and 2) he doesn't get on with my other two.

Ever since I was a child I've been a huge animal lover (so was my mother) and almost all the cats I've had have been strays we've taken in (& had desexed). And harming an animal or letting it suffer is the last thing I'd ever want to do.

But this time I've made one of the biggest mistakes in my life and I feel tormented by guilt that these mistakes I made with Micky have lead (or will lead) to his death. I just hope & pray he comes back but after 8 days I'm not holding out much hope

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm so srry you're going through this. All I can tell you is that some lost cats DO return home or are found weeks, even months or years later. One of mine got out of the house when i was on vacation and I had finally given up all hope when we discovered her under the deck of the house next door. It had been at least 6 weeks that she was gone, and I went out early in the mornings and late at night when cats are most active and never saw her at all until that day when she finally meowed at me. So I would say there is still hope that Mickey may come home.

I'm not sure if you've seen this thread, but it has some tips on what to do when a cat is lost: Tips for finding a lost cat

 

[aussiekittylover]

Thank you for your reply mrsgreenjeens. Sadly Micky still hasn't come home and it will be 12 days today so I'm fearing the worst. Because he's an intact male & it's spring here, I think he's most likely gone after a female in heat. But I'm not sure how long tomcats can be away for.

I'm hoping that maybe somebody is feeding him but because he has no collar or microchip, then they may think he's a stray & keep him. I just need to know he's okay because this not knowing if he's dead or alive is really eating me up.

All I've been doing is reading forums about missing cats, and how some cats were found after weeks or months & even years. Since 1992 I've had 3 cats go missing (not including Micky) and none of those were ever found so I seem to have a poor record with getting them back.

I checked with my local Shire & they said no deceased cats had been picked up off the road in my area. They told me to just keep checking with the local animal shelter in case he comes in. I have health problems but I managed to put a few flyers in mailboxes in my area but so many people either don't have a mailbox or they have a "no junk mail" sign on it (& I guess a flyer would be considered "junk mail"). And I feel a bit reluctant to put up posters in case they get torn down.

My birthday is on Friday & it won't be much of a happy day without Micky

 

[aussiekittylover]

Well, I finally seem to have found out what happened to Micky and sadly it's not good news. It seems he was killed on the road on the weekend of 10th-11th Nov. This morning I put some flyers in neighbourhood mailboxes and a lady across the road has rung to tell me she saw a cat who looked like the cat in the flyer photo dead on the road on 11th Nov. At first she thought it was her cat which is why she went & had a closer look. Her cat looks a lot like mine. But when she saw the cat close up, she realised it wasn't hers. I don't know who disposed of the body. I'm feeling absolutely gutted by this news as he was only a young cat. But at least I have closure

 

[Suru]

Sorry to hear. Micky is now in kitty heaven with all the chicken gizzards he could eat, and all the catnip he could ever want to roll in. I'm glad you got some form of closure in the end...

Why are you only allowed to have two cats? Is it some sort of law?

 

[aussiekittylover]

I'm an ex-christian turned agnostic so I don't really know if there's a kitty heaven or a Rainbow Bridge or not but it's a nice thought so thank you. I do hope he's up there somewhere having a lovely time & that I'll be reunited with him again. But I can't help feeling he should be here on Earth instead

Yes it's the law here. I'm in the state of Victoria, Australia and in most shires in Victoria we're only allowed 2 cats unless we apply for a permit to keep more (which entails paying a fee & passing an inspection). In my town, we can only have 2 cats... unless we live out of town on a farm (then we can have 6).

And all cats over 3 months of age have to registered with our local shire and also have to be desexed & microchipped. They brought compulsory cat registration in about 1996, and I'm not sure when they brought in compulsory microchipping but in 2012 I had to get my current female cats (Maggie & Anastasia) desexed, chipped & registered.

And since 2002 there's been a 24 hour cat curfew here, which means they have to stay on the owner's property at all times. As all cat owners know it's impossible to stop cats from jumping the fence... so the only way out is to lock them inside your home or inside a cat enclosure in the backyard.

My cats go crazy whenever they get locked in. They howl & climb the wire or security door and rip at it, which ends up bringing complaints from neighbours or passersby about the noise. My cat Maggie is especially sensitive to being locked in. One time she was howling when she was locked inside my house, and a lady called the RSPCA but thankfully the RSPCA inspectors found nothing wrong...but it was a very stressful situation.

So I don't lock my cats in anywhere but thankfully my 2 girls don't wander far or go on the road. They're happy to stick to my house & yard (as long as they know they're not locked in). I had been looking into getting Cat Netting which would keep them in my yard but allow them the freedom of almost the whole yard but it'd be expensive for a pensioner like me but worth it. But sadly it came too late for dear little Micky
Donna.

 

[aussiekittylover]

For some reason stray & dumped cats always end up at my place and I end up having to deal with them even though I live on my own & I'm not in the best of health (dialysis & a kidney transplant in the past 13 yrs). Thankfully until Micky got dumped here, I hadn't had to deal with one for a few years.

I guess they gravitate to me because they come to where the food is (where I'm feeding my own 2 cats). Plus they must know I'm a sucker & would never turn away a needy cat .

If the cat isn't too feral to handle, I usually end up finding a home for him/her with a relative...someone I really trust. But sadly most of my relatives have their quota of cats now so it's harder to find people to take any new strays I find. Taking them to the animal shelter is a last resort unless I'm 100% sure it's no-kill.

I've heard of Trap-Neuter-Release but that must mainly be an American thing. I haven't heard of it being practiced in Australia. I guess all trapped ferals/strays here end up at the pound.

One of my nieces lives in a town where she's allowed 4 cats. So when a dumped pregnant cat had kittens in my place in 2011, I gave my niece 3 of the kittens & she keeps them in a cat enclosure. And I kept 2 of the kittens who are now over 7 yrs old (& thankfully don't wander or go on the road).

My eldest sister has 8 cats in enclosures in her backyard (2 of her own, and 6 strays/ferals she's taken in) and shes breaking the law by having so many but thankfully her neighbours don't complain & the RSPCA are okay with it (I guess it's only her local shire that would have the problem).

 

[Suru]

Yes it's the law here. I'm in the state of Victoria, Australia and in most shires in Victoria we're only allowed 2 cats unless we apply for a permit to keep more (which entails paying a fee & passing an inspection).

Oh wow I never knew that. I'm actually Australian too (North Shore, NSW), but I've been living in the USA for the past ten years. Our neighbour had an outdoor/indoor cat and so did some other family friends, for some reason I had always assumed that since cats were often kept semi-wild, they didn't require permits. I never had cats or dogs back in Australia, but thinking back, it makes a lot of sense, especially with the loss of native animals due to ferals To be honest, I think all ferals are culled... There definitely won't be any TNR in Australia as the problem lies in the hunting of wildlife, so it's probably just Trap and Kill.

But geez, having a curfew makes it really hard for cat owners who already own cats. Aussie cats really enjoy their outdoor time!