Coco, who's my nearly 1-year-old Abyssinian, has been an inside cat since I got her. About 5 days ago, she discovered the cat-flap and started to venture outside. At first it was only 10 minutes and she'd come back inside, then a bit longer and then in and out most of the day like the other cats. I felt a bit wary about this, Coco is quite a skittish cat and I thought she'd be easily spooked by noises and pretty overwhelmed by all the new sights and sounds. She seemed to be doing well until 2 days ago. All the cats are called in for their dinner at around 5pm and let out again at 7am the next morning. So Coco goes out with the others in the morning (Vegemite is too little to go out) and hasn't come back inside for 2 days and 2 nights.
Now, she's not lost, I hear her bell outside and even her meowing and if I open a door to the outside and she happens to be near it, she runs. I've been calling and calling her, walking around the garden and trying to tempt her with little bits of food - she hasn't eaten for 2 days now. All I get is a glimpse of her running into another part of the garden or next door's garden, as she won't let me get near her.
She's tagged, microchipped and spayed so that if she does 'run away', hopefully she will be found. But the thing is, she's staying right near the house and garden.
I'm not sure whether to put food out for her - if I do, I have no chance of catching her with food, but I don't want her to starve. She's probably drinking, there's a water bowl outside that all the cats drink from.
Coco is usually very loving, will roll over for a tummy rub if you're near, gives the best head-bumps and loves a cuddle, all the while purring like a Mac truck.
Nothing has happened within the house, like a scare, a fight with one of the other cats or a visit to the vet. In fact she'd walk around the house meowing if she couldn't find one of the other cats -they all get along really well.
An idea I had was to hire a humane trap from the council and perhaps try to trap her that way. If I do that, I can't leave food out for her now, as she won't go for the food in the trap.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what's happened in her mind? I've spent two days and been up until 5am each night, calling, wandering and trying to catch her - I'm exhausted and very, very worried.
PS. feel free to move this thread if it's in the wrong place, it just didn't quite seem to fit into the 'lost' or 'feral' category.
Now, she's not lost, I hear her bell outside and even her meowing and if I open a door to the outside and she happens to be near it, she runs. I've been calling and calling her, walking around the garden and trying to tempt her with little bits of food - she hasn't eaten for 2 days now. All I get is a glimpse of her running into another part of the garden or next door's garden, as she won't let me get near her.
She's tagged, microchipped and spayed so that if she does 'run away', hopefully she will be found. But the thing is, she's staying right near the house and garden.
Coco is usually very loving, will roll over for a tummy rub if you're near, gives the best head-bumps and loves a cuddle, all the while purring like a Mac truck.
Nothing has happened within the house, like a scare, a fight with one of the other cats or a visit to the vet. In fact she'd walk around the house meowing if she couldn't find one of the other cats -they all get along really well.
An idea I had was to hire a humane trap from the council and perhaps try to trap her that way. If I do that, I can't leave food out for her now, as she won't go for the food in the trap.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what's happened in her mind? I've spent two days and been up until 5am each night, calling, wandering and trying to catch her - I'm exhausted and very, very worried.
PS. feel free to move this thread if it's in the wrong place, it just didn't quite seem to fit into the 'lost' or 'feral' category.