Help, cat keeps running away :(
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:05 pm
Hello,
I'm hoping someone will be able to offer some advice on this predicament. Myself, partner, 2 year old son and 9 year old cat (female, tabby) all live together in a 1 bedroom flat. Until 2 months ago, this living arrangement has not been a problem. It's a fairly decent size flat and has a back garden, which our cat 'Mabel' is able to access as she pleases through the micro-chip cat flap. Mabel and my 2 year old son, although not best buddies, aren't too interested in each other (My son is a typical 2 year old in terms of noise, but at this stage is yet to chase the cat around or torment her in any way!!).
Mabel has always seemed fairly happy and relaxed and has never ventured too far out of the backgarden (we live in a terraced victorian basement flat, so the gardens form an enclosed network in which she was not able to get to the front of the house and we did not allow her out of the front door).
The problem started approximately 2 months ago when Mabel worked out how to get to the front - we're not sure how, but started spotting her and she ended up on a couple of occasions meowing at the front door to be let in. At this stage, she could still find her way back to our garden and return to the house through her catflap.
To cut a long story short, we gave in disuading her from the front and the arrangement worked ok for a couple of weeks, but for some reason in the last few weeks she refuses to come back in the house through her catflap (so she goes out through it into the back garden, but won't some back in through the garden and always ends up meowing at the front of the flat at some ungodly hour of the morning). We are not sure if her access route back into the garden is now blocked, or if it is a territorial issue with another cat. Worse than that she is now regularly spending all night outside in the rain and turning up all over the block in neighbours houses. We've taken two calls now from vets and pet rescue to advise of a missing cat (Mabel) who is in their house, being fed etc.
The last occasion, this morning, the lady who brought Mabel home to me, said that her good friend would love to rehome Mabel (they thought she was homeless and had even posted on Facebook to see if anyone knew whether she had a home). Nb: Mabel is microchoipped but does not wear a collar.
We're not sure what to do as there doesn't seem to be a solution. We've tried locking her in and bought a litter tray, but she is going nuts as wants to go out, but we know if we let her out through the catflap, the next time we hear/ see her will likely be another call from pet rescue or someone down the road thinking she's homeless again.
We love our cat and had no problems 8 weeks ago, but this is quickly turning into a nightmare. We do not want to re-home her, but we also want what is best for her. It is hard to tell if she is choosing to spend time in other people's homes because she is unhappy, or simply because she cannot find her way back to her catflap.
We will actually be moving to a different town, but this will not be for another 3 months at least. The new house is a 3 bedroom semi detached with a large garden, so we hope she would be very happy there.
Is anyone able to offer any advice on how we should proceed? Is it fair to lock her in our one bedroom flat for the next 3 months? Perhaps her relationship with our toddler son is causing her more stress than we think (although as I type this she seems very contented curled up on the sofa and doesn't seem to be exhibiting any other signs of stress).
Any advice on the situation would be greatly appreciated,
Many thanks
I'm hoping someone will be able to offer some advice on this predicament. Myself, partner, 2 year old son and 9 year old cat (female, tabby) all live together in a 1 bedroom flat. Until 2 months ago, this living arrangement has not been a problem. It's a fairly decent size flat and has a back garden, which our cat 'Mabel' is able to access as she pleases through the micro-chip cat flap. Mabel and my 2 year old son, although not best buddies, aren't too interested in each other (My son is a typical 2 year old in terms of noise, but at this stage is yet to chase the cat around or torment her in any way!!).
Mabel has always seemed fairly happy and relaxed and has never ventured too far out of the backgarden (we live in a terraced victorian basement flat, so the gardens form an enclosed network in which she was not able to get to the front of the house and we did not allow her out of the front door).
The problem started approximately 2 months ago when Mabel worked out how to get to the front - we're not sure how, but started spotting her and she ended up on a couple of occasions meowing at the front door to be let in. At this stage, she could still find her way back to our garden and return to the house through her catflap.
To cut a long story short, we gave in disuading her from the front and the arrangement worked ok for a couple of weeks, but for some reason in the last few weeks she refuses to come back in the house through her catflap (so she goes out through it into the back garden, but won't some back in through the garden and always ends up meowing at the front of the flat at some ungodly hour of the morning). We are not sure if her access route back into the garden is now blocked, or if it is a territorial issue with another cat. Worse than that she is now regularly spending all night outside in the rain and turning up all over the block in neighbours houses. We've taken two calls now from vets and pet rescue to advise of a missing cat (Mabel) who is in their house, being fed etc.
The last occasion, this morning, the lady who brought Mabel home to me, said that her good friend would love to rehome Mabel (they thought she was homeless and had even posted on Facebook to see if anyone knew whether she had a home). Nb: Mabel is microchoipped but does not wear a collar.
We're not sure what to do as there doesn't seem to be a solution. We've tried locking her in and bought a litter tray, but she is going nuts as wants to go out, but we know if we let her out through the catflap, the next time we hear/ see her will likely be another call from pet rescue or someone down the road thinking she's homeless again.
We love our cat and had no problems 8 weeks ago, but this is quickly turning into a nightmare. We do not want to re-home her, but we also want what is best for her. It is hard to tell if she is choosing to spend time in other people's homes because she is unhappy, or simply because she cannot find her way back to her catflap.
We will actually be moving to a different town, but this will not be for another 3 months at least. The new house is a 3 bedroom semi detached with a large garden, so we hope she would be very happy there.
Is anyone able to offer any advice on how we should proceed? Is it fair to lock her in our one bedroom flat for the next 3 months? Perhaps her relationship with our toddler son is causing her more stress than we think (although as I type this she seems very contented curled up on the sofa and doesn't seem to be exhibiting any other signs of stress).
Any advice on the situation would be greatly appreciated,
Many thanks