My Indoor/outdoor Cat Has Gone Missing And I'm Freaking Out -help!

[ezwriter]

I've had Shuggie for about 3 1/2 years. She was abandoned at our apartment complex and eventually found her way to me.

Because of the time she spent living outdoors, she needed her outside time, to stake out and patrol her turf.

In all that time, she's never roamed, ran away, or gone very far. If I know I'm going to be gone for more thsn 4-5 hours, I don't leave her outside.

Today I left at about 3:30 pm to run some errands. The power in my building was out when I left, some transformer problem left some of the buildings without electricity. I got back about 6pm, and no sign of Shuggie.

She is usually nearby whenever I come home and park my car, and if she doesn't come running up to me when I get home, I usually just have to call out for her, and she comes. Occasionally I have to go looking for her, but I always find her within a few minutes...her "turf" consists of about 3 buildings, and the pool area, she never goes beyond those areas.

Well today when I got home, no Shuggie. I've been all over the entire complex multiple times calling for her, but there's no sign of her. The lights are still out, so that is adding to my distress...it's very dark. It's been 3 hours since I got home, and 5 1/2 hours since I last saw her. She has a collar with a tag, but is not chipped (they were supposed to chip her when I got her spayed, but they didn't.)

I am so upset and scared right now. It's colder than usual (about 46 F) and so dark, and it's so unlike her. I feel sick to my stomach.

Is it too soon to start freaking out? I read that indoor/outdoor cats don't just wander off, so maybe she's just hunkered down somewhere because of the cold?

I know my Shuggie, though, and I just have a bad feeling about this.

Somebody please give me some advice, encouragement, etc.

 

[ArtNJ]

Yeah, its probably fine, fell asleep somewhere. Cats see well in the dark and 46f is not remotely too cold - you are the one of the two that is stressed. Check every hour or so until you need to go to bed, maybe leave out food if not back. Nothing else you can or should do at this point.

 

[ezwriter]

LOL, as soon as I posted this, I went outside to look for her again, and she appeared out of nowhere!

So, Shuggie is safe and sound, inside with her family.

I feel like an idiot, but when you can't find your cat and there's no electricity so there's nothing to distract you, this is what happens.

She is getting chipped next week, no excuses! And maybe a GPS collar!

 

[Merlin77]

Yup, cats like to disappear. Today Snake was away hunting, but I bet she'll be back soon and proud of her catches (puffed out chest and nose in the air).

Yay for Shuggie coming back!

 

[jjc1140]

Cats are notorious for hiding when they get scared or spooked and oftentimes than not will not come out when you call even if you are very near. It depends a little upon the personality of the cat. If she is more of a cautious, I get spooked easy kind of car then she will hide longer and be less likely to come out when you call and I will stop writing now because I see you have found her!!!

 

[jjc1140]

I bet she her something was going on with the lights and power trucks and what not. Maybe the noise. Maybe they disturbed a spot she likes to hang around and waited for things to calm down. Im so glad you found her and so quickly though even a few hours or a night or anything out of their "norm" gets me absolutely panicking.

 

[miagi's_mommy]

I’m glad you found her!

 

[ezwriter]

I bet she her something was going on with the lights and power trucks and what not. Maybe the noise. Maybe they disturbed a spot she likes to hang around and waited for things to calm down. Im so glad you found her and so quickly though even a few hours or a night or anything out of their "norm" gets me absolutely panicking.

Yes, I think it was the repair trucks that threw her off. When I got home, there were two big repair trucks, plus a couple of vans in the corner of the parking lot outside of my unit, making noise. When I saw them, I even thought to myself "Shuggie won't like this". She's not overly fearful, but I've noticed that if there's a lot of noisy activity outside, she will want to come inside...like on the days the gardeners come with the leaf blowers. But I assumed that the trucks would make it easy to find her and bring her inside..instead, they probably made her hide away somewhere.

 

[Kieka]

It probably was the repair trucks. I am so glad to hear she came home safe and sound.

To answer your question. I also have indoor/outdoor cats and it is never too early to say "this doesn't feel right". My girl is usually in within five minutes, my Mom's usually comes before I finish calling, my boy.... Sigh. He likes to freak me out. Usually he is within five minutes, sometimes as much as fifteen. It does depend on the time of year and if I call late he takes longer.

But there was one time he didn't come in those fifteen minutes it felt wrong. I freaked out. I called. I walked the neighborhood. I panicked. He eventually came home four days later with a broken leg. I got him a radio frequency tracker but after six months he lost it too far away. So now he had a GPS collar, here is my thread about it Pod3 Tracker.

This thread has a referral link to get it at a discount Trackers

Now is the time. No monthly fees, a discount coupon, and it has a 30 return period. I say go for it.

 

[Dacatchair]

I am so glad your kitty came home! I understand your worry when a cat isn’t where they normally are... In a way it is a good thing if noise and stuff she is not used to causes her to feel scared and hide for a bit, as that caution will help keep her safe.

 

[jjc1140]

Yes, I think it was the repair trucks that threw her off. When I got home, there were two big repair trucks, plus a couple of vans in the corner of the parking lot outside of my unit, making noise. When I saw them, I even thought to myself "Shuggie won't like this". She's not overly fearful, but I've noticed that if there's a lot of noisy activity outside, she will want to come inside...like on the days the gardeners come with the leaf blowers. But I assumed that the trucks would make it easy to find her and bring her inside..instead, they probably made her hide away somewhere.

I'm so glad you found her! I need to really invest in one of those trackers as someone commented. One of mine went missing for nearly over a week once and I about had a heart attack. I found her like 2 blocks away hiding under a vacant shed all scruffed up and skinny. She likes to go far though and adventure ugh so I'm constantly out yelling, calling and looking for her lol. My neighbors think I'm crazy. I keep a tighter leash on her now though where she cant run off like she used to and if I could get away with it I wouldn't let her out period but she would never allow it. Constantly sneaking out and even bit a tiny hole in the screen and fit out of it lol. Crazy. My other cat barely leaves the porch and will only go out if I'm with her. Thank Goodness... But a tracker on My crazy baby would be both relieving and most likely interesting. Well anyhow. I'm so glad you found her. She must have hid and went away from the noise until she felt like it was okay to come out. I never believed that they would hide for any length of time but they do. Like Aria literally hid for a week instead of coming home. Even though she was quite a little far I'm nearly positive she knew how to get back so I dont know why they do that. I guess natural instincts kick in. I bet you are relieved! So happy for you .

 

[Cat_mediator]

I am glad that she is back. It can be very stressful when your cat is missing. It has happened to me before. And yes, get a GPS and a chip, and try not to let her out at night. Cats tend to wander farther at night. They are nocturnal animal.