Cat trap help

[abby_hum]

Hi guys,

I hope I've posted this in the right topic.
My cat Bella went missing on Friday 13th of May, she is primarily a house cat, occasionally if the weathers nice wondering into our garden (this has been her own choice rather than ours) in the house she is a loving cat who follows me everywhere however when she's out she is quite nervy and is even jumpy when I approach her, recently she has become a bit more confident so has been spending a bit more time outside, especially as the weather has been so nice. She hates the rain as most cats do!
On the night she disappeared I was away so it was my partner who rang me to say at 10:30pm she hadn't come in and he couldn't find her, he had a search around and couldn't find her so went to bed assuming she'd turn up in the morning (personally I would have been up all night searching for her but there we go, it can't be changed now.)
I returned earlier than planned on Sunday to try and find her thinking she might respond to me calling as she is very close to me... I spent the whole of Sunday searching and calling but found and heard nothing. The problem may be as she is so timid even with me calling she would probably not respond. I have been doing some reading up on various sights and have guessed that as she is primarily an indoor cat, the chances are she won't be far from our house so have conducted most of my searches according to this theory.
I have to work unfortunately so my searches in the week have been limited to first thing in the morning, evenings and nights. On the Monday I printed some posters and fliers and went posting them with our neighbours and putting the posters up offering a reward if found. I continued to search whenever I could. On Tuesday whilst in work my partner had a message from a friend of ours saying she'd just seen Bella but when she approached her she ran away, I rang my grandmother who lives with us to go and check the area she was seen running into but she saw nothing. On Wednesday we received another call from a family friend to say that he had also just seen her sitting on his wall but when he again tried to approach her she bolted. We were home this time so we went around to the area (literally a minute walk) but again there was no sign of her. In the 15 minutes we were there I had left my phone at home and another neighbour called to say that she had just seen her but again had runaway! All the locations she has been seen are within 200 meters or so of each other and are approx the same distance from my house. She would literally have to walk past our back gate to get to each location! We have been putting cat food out at these locations and it has gone but without actually watching it could be any cat/bird/Rat I guess! On Thursday I tracked down a cat trap (the First Lady to spot her is a vet nurse and she kindly bought one home with her) we set the trap up in the garden of the second sighting at about 6 o'clock last night and this morning there's been nothing... The weather has been horrendous so I'm not surprised and I'm just praying that it brightens up soon. As it was so rainy last night we went around to all the places we thought she could be hiding but nothing again.
So after all that my questions are... As we haven't actually seen her ourselves can we trust that these sightings are her? All 3 of them say they are convinced it was her but we live in a town so the cat population is quite high however saying that we haven't seen a cat that looks like her, she's quite small and has pretty distinctive markings and they all described to us what she looks like (however they all have fliers with her picture on so I hope they're not just convincing themselves it is her!)
Are we putting the trap in the right place and how long should we leave the trap there before moving it to one of the other locations? In the trap we have put in a used t-shirt of mine, the pad from her cat basket and a bowl with salmon paste.
It has been a week now since she went will she be able to feed herself? She's never caught anything before so do I assume that her natural instincts have kicked in or would someone possibly be feeding her (other than the food we've put out)?
And if these 3 sightings are positive how come she hasn't figured out she is right outside her own garden!
I'm starting to loose hope a little as we haven't actually seen her ourselves. So if anyone can answer the questions above or can give any advice on improving anything we've already done from past experiences then anything will be most welcome.

Thanks for reading.

[Kay]

it sounds as if someone is feeding her, and perhaps offering shelter, in your neighbourhood - the fact that she has not found her way home is not surprising, as cats not used to roaming outside can become very disorientated, and this can make them very nervous even with people they know

I think you need to leaflet all the houses in the area she has been spotted in if you have not already done that - ask for anyone finding her in a shed or garage to shut her in and call you - and try calling her really late at night when it is quiet enough to hear her respond

do you have a cat flap so she could get in if she found her way home? or a shed so you could leave the door open for her, and with something familiar inside?

I would set the trap in the garden of one of the neighbours who has spotted her and who is willing to have it there for a bit, and who is around to check it regularly, and let out anything trapped which isn't her

[Crewella]

I don't have much experience in trapping, but just wanted to wish you luck. As Kay says, cats that don't go out much, or go far, can get very disorientated.

The best times to go out calling for her are late and night and early morning, when it's quiet. You stand a better chance of hearing each other then, and even if you can't see her she might just follow your voice so call for her as you head home rather than away from there.

[Miranda team MDC]

How did you get on with trapping. I really hope that you have Bella back at home, safe and sound.