Keep cats indoors. Even if you have a cat that usually has free reign of the outdoors, keep them inside for a few weeks so they can familiarise themselves with being home again.
Submit lost reports to your local animal shelters and animal control agency, and ask if there are other local animal welfare organizations that may have your pet. Depending on where you live, the shelter may only be able to hold a lost cat for as little as 72 hours before placing them for adoption, so don't delay.
The sooner you find your cat the better, so don't wait. It is best you do everything in your plan and find your cat quickly, even if your cat might return home on their own, rather than waiting and risking your cat being lost for longer than absolutely necessary.
It isn't uncommon for cats to go missing for 24 hours, especially if they like spending a lot of time outdoors. In some cases, cats can even stay away from home for up to 10 days at a time. We also know of cats that leave home while their humans are away on holiday, returning soon after the family arrives back.
Bring your cat to the vet.
If you're confident that your cat isn't hurt or sick, give them a little time to acclimate and then head in for a checkup. You don't know what your cat was up to while she was away, and while you can check for injuries yourself, the vet can check for infected wounds or parasites.
Even if you have a cat that usually has free reign of the outdoors, keep them inside for a few weeks so they can familiarise themselves with being home again.
If your cat is gone for more than 12 hours or overnight, it's time to take action. Don't panic. Follow the tips in this article to bring your cat home safely.
While some cats may enjoy their time outside, it is generally safer for cats to be kept inside. Letting cats outside can pose various dangers to your beloved furry family member and the public. Many people don't realize the potential dangers until it's too late.
You do not need to worry if your cat leaves, however, if it has been more than two days, you should consider notifying your local vet and animal warden that your animal has not come back, as they might have been injured, preventing them from coming home.
It's true that cats are solitary beings: they know how to take good care of themselves. This also means that (unlike dogs) they don't necessarily depend on people when it comes to attachment and security. Research has shown that cats don't show signs of separation anxiety when their owner is away.
Hunting & primal behaviour. Hunting is a natural behavior for cats. The fact felines are born with a predatory instinct means that as soon as they sense a bird, a mouse or any other wild prey, the hunt is well and truly on. And it's this thrill of the chase that can lead to them vanishing for hours at a time.
Cats can smell over a mile depending on wind conditions. Then make the scent strip and “Cat Chum” (Described below) trails back in the most direct and safe way to your house and/or traps.
Try vets and shelters, but don't rely on them While searching will most likely be the key to finding your cat, it's still worth calling nearby vets and visiting pounds and shelters every few days, if only to give you some peace of mind that you are doing everything you can.
What are the signs of mourning? When a cat loses a companion, whether animal or human, she most certainly grieves and reacts to the changes in her life. Cats alter their behavior when they mourn much like people do: They may become depressed and listless.
Outside cats mark their territory with urine and rub up against objects to leave behind specific scent markers. It's likely that they use these scent markers to know where they are and where they're going. It's theorized that they can follow their own scent trails all the way back home.
As amazing as it sounds, cats do have a special ability called a homing instinct that helps them find their way back home.
You may have even heard that your cat can smell their dirty litter a mile away. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that a cat can smell their litter box from that far away. More realistically, they might be able to smell it up to a few hundred feet away (depending on wind and weather conditions) and often a lot less.
Territory: fending off another cat that has entered their territory; neighborhood cat drama is real. Food: your neighbor may be feeding your cat. Predation: your cat may have been attacked or killed by a coyote, hawk, etc. Disease: some cats run away to die or acquire disease (parasites), making it difficult to return.
They may sleep in caves or abandoned buildings, under porches and trees, or even in bushes. They will also sleep outside on open ground if no shelter is available. What do cats do at night? Cats are nocturnal, which means they are active at night.
Because of potential infection with diseases such as enteritis or cat flu, your kitten should not be allowed outside until at least a week after it has finished its first course of vaccinations at about 13-14 weeks old (depending on the vaccine). You could then let it explore outside if it is supervised.
Indoor cats generally live from 12-18 years of age. Many may live to be in their early 20s. The oldest reported cat, Creme Puff lived to be an amazing 38 years old.
Anyone simply "present" in their life is someone they may remember, but not associate with any emotion. But as long as you and your cat have shared a pet or two, and as long as you fed them a few of their favorite meals, your cat will remember you as well no matter how long you are gone.
Cats are territorial. When an outdoor-access cat suddenly vanishes, it means that something has happened to that cat to interrupt its normal behavior of coming home. The disappearance could mean that the cat is injured, trapped, or deceased within its territory.
Even cats that constantly fight can grieve the loss of a feuding partner. While no-one will ever know if a cat understands death, they certainly know that a fellow housemate is missing and that something has changed in the house.