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My cat Bramble went AWOL on 1st June but has been seen locally by several people. He seems to have become feral, coinciding with the arrival nearby of a newly rehomed ex-feral cat, Geoffrey, whom Bramble seems to have invited round to my house. The two cats have only been seen together once but there has obviously been some connection.

Bramble is a large (34" long) fluffy tabby with a bib but no white on his face. His left eye has an adhesion and his left stifle is slightly stiff. He is microchipped and registered with Ambivet on Lambourne Drive, Wollaton.

He has been seen on Burnwood Drive (home), Field House Close and Belmore Gardens, all areas that he normally visits. If you look at NG8 2DJ on Google maps (satellite view) you will see that Belmore Gardens (to the North) has a copse and the area is bounded to the East by Network Rail land that is heavily wooded. The local cats have created a path here that skirts the housing estate. I have put an RSPCA trap out in my own greenhouse (which abuts my house) but so far only trapped Geoffrey and an unknown tabby cat.

Bramble is very shy and is frightened of traffic noise so will not roam onto busy roads or go near people. This should keep him within his normal range. If anything, he has reduced his range by about 50%. Any advice on further measures to lure him home would be welcome.

If you haven’t already seen Cat Chat’s Lost & Found advice page, the information there might help: http://www.catchat.org/lost.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He's definitely still in the area. I've come to the conclusion that he's frightened to come home, possibly because of a local bully. Before he went missing, he refused for several weeks to use the back door. Even if he was in the back garden, he'd squeeze round the side of the house and come in the front door. I now need help luring him either home or to a neighbour's house where he feels safe. I'm no longer worried about him but it's annoying to hear that he's close and yet won't come home.

Dear Zoe,

Firstly I'm so relieved that you know Bramble is alive and safe(ish) because of his habits and dislike of people and traffic. There are some things you can do to lure him home if he is lost - like hanging out a bag with his cat litter in, or sprinkling the contents from your vacuum cleaner on the ground.n these are more normally used for lost house cats, who may not know how to get home. It does sound like Bramble DOES know, but is frightened, so the trap is probably the best option. After this time he is probably reverting to 'feral' or 'stray' behaviours and he needs to become re-aligned by being kept indoors. But first you have to trap him, and don't be put off if you don't get him at once. Plus keep looking for him, keeping people aware that he's missing, etc. have you tried http://www.animalsearchuk.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ? They are very good and will give you telephone advice or help you to search. You need to actively drive this to get your precious Bramble home.

This is also a really interesting site hosted by people with experience of trapping and reclaiming lost cats like Bramble. It's worth a read :

http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/re ... -behavior/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please keep us up to dat with news, and wishing you every bit of luck to get him home.

Thank you for your advice. He was spotted again a few days ago, probably no more than 200 yards from home.