Cat Chat Feline Forum

I am keen to know how many of you have lost your cats and how long until they returned. I am trying to find some inspiration and enthusiasm until our little boy returns. It has been 6 weeks now and whilst we have lost a cat before for 6 weeks and he returned fine, I am starting to get a little pesimistic for Chamaille's return. We have exhausted all the options for finding him and are just at the waiting game now.

I may be stating the obvious but have you tried Facebook? When one of ours went awol we found a local Facebook page that was very helpful. In the end our little wanderer returned after 3 days, looking very thin. Good luck with your searching and I hope you get good news.

Yes we have thanks. We have a pet alert on Facebook in France for every area and we are registered on there and update it every week. I am concerned he may of been taken by someone, not sure why. I have done posters, leaflets theough doors, notified animal charities, vets, he is microchipped so have notified them, asked neighbours, told the mayor, as well as posted the leaflets and been out in the evening on our bikes. I am sure he has not been run over as we are deep in the countryside and have checked all the roads. There is very little traffic, although I am very aware he may of been hit and made it to shelter and died. It is so frustrating and eats away at you. You spend all day waiting for the cat flap to go. His sister seems fine now but we so want him back.

The one problem with microchips is that someone has to catch the cat and get them scanned in order to find out who they belong to. It can often take quite a while for people to realise that the cat they've started to see hanging around might not belong to anyone and might need some help, and often that's not until the cat is starting to lose a bit of condition - all of that takes time. Our rescue currently has a cat up for rehoming that turned up after four years, though in this case, sadly, the owners now cannot take him back. We have now had him neutered, so hopefully he will no longer feel the need to go awandering.

Sadly, most of the cats we get handed in are not chipped, but it does happen fairly regularly that we find a chip and are able to reunite a cat with its owners after weeks, months or even years of being missing. Don't lose heart.

Well chipped is still good as even if they are deceased, malnourished or injured they can find the owners which is always a good thing. Many here aren't unfortunately. He is neutered too, so whilst they do stray we have done all we can to prevent unwanted pregnancies, him straying (although not this time) and being able to be found by means of microchipping. I would feel very guilty if he wasn't chipped and went missing. Luckily when we rescue they are all chipped, vaccinated and neutered before rehoming. Unfortunately the mindset of the french isn't the same as many other places. This makes the search harder.

Oh gosh yes, I wasn't meaning to imply that chipping wasn't good in any way - it gives them a chance!

Hi Emma. As I posted on your other thread, my old Misty was missing for 9 weeks before he was found. It was a poster at the local vets that got him recognized - the people whose house he had taken up residence in went there to inquire what to do about a strange cat and saw his wanted poster on the wall! As I discovered, when siting posters, you have to think where people who have seen your cat might actually walk, rather than go by car. There was one of Misty's missing posters at the end of the road he had taken up residence in, but the neighbors feeding the other cat (and Misty) apparently did not walk down there and see it in all the 9 weeks he was missing.
Cats have certainly been found after longer periods away than Misty - 6 months or more. If you go to the animal finders website and look on their pets reunited page, you will see how long some have been missing for before being found.

Thanks. I have notified the vets and one other but have now forwarded them a poster to print off. Whether they will or not I don't know. Anyway can do no more.Yes, you ehar cats returning after months or years so we need to remain positive and is so great you found yours. We are on pet alertsetc and have done all we can. Now is just the waiting game.

My sister knows of someone who lost their cat and found him a few months later. It turned out he was 5 miles from home (cats can easily take short cuts across fields etc). What happened was an elderly couple had taken him in, and not knowing about microchips didn’t bother to get the cat checked until he had a cut on his leg and they took him to the vet. When they were telling the vet about him the vet checked for a chip. So it can often take a while. Someone I know recently had their cat go AWOL and he just returned 8 weeks later. Also, the cat we have now was straying and I took her to check for a chip, she’d been missing 6 months! and lived fairly near to me! That’s another story but it just shows how long cats can be missing and be found. Don’t give up hope emmab, hopefully your cat will be soon home.

Oh god I hope so Janey. That does give us hope. I hate closing the shutters at night and looking across the fields knowing he is out there somewhere. It's like a needle in a haystack scenario!!! Thank you

How disgraceful. I had notified my vet some weeks back of our cats disapearance, however they still sent me a vaccination renewal some weeks later for him. OK, benefit of the doubt they probably assumed he was back. However I have sent them two emails at different times with a poster attached to put up in the surgery and no response from either? It seems OK to email us when they want our money for vaccinations etc, but when it comes to the welfare of one of their patients, our adorable boy they couldn't give a toss! Time to find a vet that actually cares me thinks!!! One very angry amd upset cat owner.

Hi Emma, I had a cat that returned home after a month. It had gone all skinny and weak but we nourished it back to health. So do not lose hope, be positive that the cat will return.

Hmm, it's hard but thanks. It has been 10 weeks now and nothing. I am on a pet notification website and not one person has replied to my many posters and flyers through doors. I cannot believe none of the neighbours have seen him or at least a showing of a black cat even if it isn't him. Problem is, here in France they aren't as proactive with looking for pets or even worry as much about their pets as we do. Makes the search very difficult indeed. The worse thing is not knowing. If he has died I can cope with that but it is getting harder atm especially as years ago another of our cat went for 6 weeks and came back during the night fit and well. I am half expecting this one to do the same so I am waking up at every moment thinking he is coming in the catflap. I am glad yours came back eventually. They can pick up very quickly on their return. I am hoping no news is good news and that he is lost.

I was just reading your posts about your cat that went missing. Did you ever get him back? I am aware it was a number of years ago now but your story sounds so similar to mine. My cat Mish went almost 6 weeks ago. He was an indoor outdoor cat but was locked in From dawn to dusk everyday. Like you I have tried everything I can think of to get him home but to no avail. Inside I am freaking out everyday.

Just wondering if you were one of the lucky ones in the end?