Lost Cat

[PhoenixGate]

My thirteen year old cat, my oldest one, clawed his way past the ac unit and escaped. It's been fifteen days today. He's always come back before when he's escaped, but he's thirteen this time. I'm scared, I've been freaking out since it happened and I can't sleep.

I'd give anything for a tracking dog right now. The nearest pet detective is a little south of Seattle, and I can't afford a pet detective anyway.

I don't mean to post this where it's not supposed to go, I just needed to vent. I've had Asher since I was fourteen. If he never comes back I'll never forgive myself.

[Albert Clark]

Does the cat have a license on his collar? Cats are pretty independent and can take care of themselves pretty good. I think it will return soon. Hope this helps.

[pbyeerts]

Buy the largest banner that you can afford at Staples, and hang it at the nearest intersection where he went lost. Our Barnabas was gone for 54 days, and we got him back because someone called me. Cats don't roam very far - only a mile or so.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PhoenixGate]

He's been an inside/outside cat for about half his life. He hasn't been out the last three years or so, and he's never been out before in the location he was lost in. He has a microchip that's updated, and I'm calling today to get my email information right because I never got a notification from them for that. All the neighbors in a half mile radius know he's lost and that I'm looking for him. I'm making up posters today and walking around today and tomorrow to talk to everybody in a two to three mile radius. I'm not sure how far he got, and I've spotted at least two cats within a mile radius. One is a new orange tom cat that I think was brought here after he got out. So he could have been pushed out of the area.

I live in Chelan, Washington, and we've had bad fires the past couple weeks. He got out the night the power went out. The fire had passed from our immediate area by then but we've had bad smoke in the air off and on, plus helicopters and planes overhead.

I'm doing everything I can, but he's still not back so it feels like its not enough. I do okay during the day, but at night I have trouble sleeping, get super depressed and start to feel desperate. Night time has always been one of my favorite times, but it's also been a source of exaggerated feelings for me. If I'm upset during the day it's magnified at night. Both the people I usually text were asleep at that point. Thank you so much for the replies, even though I didn't get them until this morning. Sometimes when you need to scream at the universe, all you can do is post on the internet and hope somebody else answers.

[nightwolfsnow]

I feel for you. My sister left the upstairs window open when she took the ac unit out and my youngest cat got out. She was only around two years old, small for her age, always an inside cat. I walked my neighborhood and the woods with a flashlight every night for a month. Around 2-4am is supposed to be the best time to look. Try leaving some of your old clothes out on your porch, near the door, try some of his cat litter. Ask neighbors to check their sheds and garages. Go outside and shake some dry cat food or something that sounds similar like a box of rice or pasta. Post on craigslist, social media. Go to the local shelters, animal controls, and vets with fliers, make sure to include a good picture. I never found my Baby Kitty . I still cry and feel terrible that I wasn't there to protect her. I saw foxes and she wouldn't have known any better to be afraid of them. Not even a month after I stopped looking, my oldest cat that I had had since I was ten died unexpectedly. I really hope you find him .

[PhoenixGate]

So far I still haven't found him. I've been posting everywhere, calling the shelter every few days. I usually go looking for him in the evening, around seven or so. He's been an outdoor access cat most of his life. I trust him to take care of himself, and he's always come back before.

At the same time, he hasn't been outside for a couple years. Even though he hasn't been acting at all like an old cat (he's thirteen years old) I worry that he overestimated his abilities when he decided to take himself out for a vacation. It's been a month since he escaped now.

I've had him since I was fourteen. I really hoped I'd be able to keep him around for a few more years.

[nightwolfsnow]

I hope he comes home to you soon.

[PhoenixGate]

I hope he comes home to you soon.

Thank you. I have this really horrible feeling I'm never going to see him again. I live in an area where it freezes during the winter and we're only a month and a half away from that happening.

I've had Asher since I was fourteen. I don't want to give up on him, but he's never been out this long. He hasn't turned up at the local shelter and no one has responded to my advertisements.

It doubly hurts that my mom died in March. I had a complicated relationship with her, and it wasn't all good. Still, she was my mom and I'm still feeling the echos of that loss. Really the last two years have been just loss after loss. I'm tired, I'm broken and I fought long and hard to be able to keep my cats through several emergency moves (one included being in a homeless shelter for three months). After all that, and he just runs away. It's not fair. It hurts. The worst part is I can't properly grieve, because there's a chance Asher might be out there and alive somehow.

[nightwolfsnow]

Thank you. I have this really horrible feeling I'm never going to see him again. I live in an area where it freezes during the winter and we're only a month and a half away from that happening.

I've had Asher since I was fourteen. I don't want to give up on him, but he's never been out this long. He hasn't turned up at the local shelter and no one has responded to my advertisements.

It doubly hurts that my mom died in March. I had a complicated relationship with her, and it wasn't all good. Still, she was my mom and I'm still feeling the echos of that loss. Really the last two years have been just loss after loss. I'm tired, I'm broken and I fought long and hard to be able to keep my cats through several emergency moves (one included being in a homeless shelter for three months). After all that, and he just runs away. It's not fair. It hurts. The worst part is I can't properly grieve, because there's a chance Asher might be out there and alive somehow.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom. Unfortunately the losses do seem to come together.

It sounds like you're doing all you can to find him, and we can only do what we can do. I know exactly what you mean about not being able to properly grieve. My first cat died shortly after my youngest went missing. Its two completely different set of emotions. The death is very raw and everything just kind of comes out at once. But when they're missing it keeps you up at night, never really leaves your thoughts, and its a really empty feeling.

[CloudtheBoa]

I'm so sorry to hear your cat is gone.

My (then) 6 year old cat went missing over 2 years ago, I never found her. I asked everyone within 5 blocks in any direction, put up posters everywhere, put up ads on Craigslist, and everything. I didn't learn about the smell thing until after she'd been gone for a year. I'm starting to think my roommate got rid of her because my mom told me he complained all day about her meowing when she went missing, and he's gotten rid of our pets before.

I really hope you find him soon, it's hard losing a pet.