cat run away - what can I do

scaryfairy

hi

our kitty, Lily Lilly1.jpg run away this morning. She has been a completely indoor cat since we adopted her, but the window was left open and she is gone from our 2nd floor apartment (in Booterstown, Dublin, behind Radisson).

We have talked to neighbours and have put up flyers all over the estate and beyond with her pic and our details. I have now posted it here in the lost and found section. I tried contacting DSPCA. Due to lack of sleep I don't seem to able to think straight so please can you tell me what else I can do??? I will start calling the pounds tomorrow + DSPCA again + local vets. We are regularly going out, calling her name etc but no luck so far.
She is micro-chipped, and comes from DSPCA originally.

DBB

That's awful op, you must be so worried.
Try also a more widely used lost and found site, http://www.lostandfound.ie. it has a pretty good reunion success rate.
The best of luck, do let us know when she comes back.

aonb

oh you poor thing - it must be desperate not knowing where your beloved pet is - wishing you LOADS of luck, and that your pet will be home with you very soon - sounds like you are doing all the right things - let us know how it goes

scaryfairy

thanks i have now posted it on lostandfound and a few others that came up on google. Thanks really I wouldn't have thought of it myself. We are very worried as she just doesn't know anything about the outside world, at least not since her adoption. I look around at other sites now
thanks again

Pumpkinseeds

It sounds as though you are doing everything possible, hopefully puss will be home soon, it's awful when they go missing.

Alicat

This might sound silly but have you triple checked that she's not hiding in the apartment somewhere? We've had two incidents like that where we thought our indoor cat had escaped through the front door that a guest left open. Panic attacks until we eventually found them hiding in the weirdest places (in the laundry cupboard, and in the spare room, which is always closed off to the cats).

Irish Stones

Get out and call her name late at night, when the traffic noise is much lower and less people around make her more confident.
If she usually gets to you with the sound of dry food shaken in its package, this could be a useful call during the search.

Put posters with her picture on lights poles, waste bins, phone booths, post office windows, supermarkets and any other place where people gather the most.

Hope you find her soon, I know exactly how you feel!

zef

Good luck with finding her. Its a dreadful experience, loosing a cat even temporarily. She has probably got herself lost and is looking for home. If you are on facebook, there are animal lost & founds on that also, often area based. Busstops are a good place to temp stick up a flyer.

scaryfairy

Alicat wrote: »

This might sound silly but have you triple checked that she's not hiding in the apartment somewhere? We've had two incidents like that where we thought our indoor cat had escaped through the front door that a guest left open. Panic attacks until we eventually found them hiding in the weirdest places (in the laundry cupboard, and in the spare room, which is always closed off to the cats).

thanks, no, unfortunately it's not the case. She has her breakfast in the study room where my OH is sleeping nowadays (small baby with me, long story etc), and he forgot to close the window open before giving her her food. It only opens on the balcony but she has been getting quite bold recently, or something from the street scared her and made her jump. Been to the adjacent apartment, where should have sneaked in, but neighbour couldn't find her either. thanks

scaryfairy

thanks for the suggestions, haven't thought of bus stops, will do now + shops etc. I have found a few FB pages, I am thinking of recruiting friends of friends (I don't know that many people in Dublin)...

Pumpkinseeds

You could sent a photo to rescues on FB and ask them to share it with their supporters. I'm always getting share requests for that from rescues in Clare and Limerick.

scaryfairy

so found her! under/in a very thick bush/shrubbery whatever it's called, by the block next to ours. She responded when I was doing one of my rounds. But cannot get her out of there - when I get close to her she just crawls to another one - all ground floor apts are surrounded by these bushes I guess to make them more secure.

so basically cannot get to her. She would need to come out of her own will. How do I convince her to do so??? I have tried the food but she is just watching me. now my OH is there, with her carrier, thinking that as it is familiar she might go for it but normally she is afraid of the carrier. There are still quite a lot of people coming and going but I will need to go and stay with my LO.
on a positive note she seems unhurt.

any tips how to get her out of there?

Vince32

Try to tempt her out with a toy or some food, stay close to it and if she comes out to inspect it, slowly slowly get a hand on her. Good luck

aonb

did you get her out? so great that you found her. she probably panicked when she found herself out in the big bad world, and has been hiding under there too frightenend to move. Update us!

scaryfairy

Im devastated couldn't get her out. We both tried but then by the time I last went down I couldn't see her, but hoped that by morning light I will. She is no longer there. We have been patrolling since 6am, I am convinced she is around, and thus she can hear us calling her, so knows we are looking for her. Very sad and worried.

Karl Stein

I'd beg/borrow/steal one of those loop things and use it to catch her the next time she's about.

Leave some food in the place where she was hiding maybe?

Dubl07

What do you feed her or treat her with? Try rattling a box of dry food or treats. Or try tempting her with some chicken.

scaryfairy

Cathal Cloch wrote: »

I'd beg/borrow/steal one of those loop things and use it to catch her the next time she's about.

Leave some food in the place where she was hiding maybe?

Is it what they use for cathing feral cats? I will try to ring this local cat charity.

scaryfairy

Dubl07 wrote: »

What do you feed her or treat her with? Try rattling a box of dry food or treats. Or try tempting her with some chicken.

Thanks that's what we have been trying. She is on RC sensitivity, that's all she eats, and we carry this around in the cup we rattle when she gets fed. Problem is it's a massive area to cover ( quite bit of woodland, a biggish field, trillions of bushes) so difficult to tempt her to any specific places. She would be scared to come closer to our home as these are apt blocks, with people constantly coming and going. My husband is downstairs now going around.
The only good thing about the location is that there is hardly any traffic and any busy road is relativley far and cannot see why she would wander in those directions.

Mariegallagher

hi - if she is around there she will probably stay there. First try and find her again. Get some really smelly food - a pouch of whiskas fish or something, or a tin of makeral/tuna or sardines. leave it with her - you need somthing very tasty to get her to come out.

option - if she is staying fairly still lie down on the ground and try to edge towards her - wear long sleeves and forget about getting wrecked from undergrowth. This may take ages but if she stays still and you can get to her once she is letting you pet her then if she is small enough grab her really tightly - slowly get her front and back legs held together so she cannot push against you and get away. be prepared to be scratched/bitten - BUT DO NOT LET GO. or if in the lying position get a light blanket and try and get it over her and slowly wrap it around her and basically catch her in it like a stork carrying baby cartoon. if you do not have a firm hold of her she will run again.

option - as mentioned earlier - get once of those loop things but you will still have to spand lots of time crawling in to get to her - i have never used one of these

option - dont feed her at all - find where she is and set a cat trap. cat charities use these to catch feral cats. you set it near where she is - in the bushes and put really smelly food in a trail into trap. you could leave this over night and hope she there in the morning. cat charity would tell you where to get one.

you have to decide that if you want to catch her you have to not worry about upsetting her by this ordeal. it will upset her and you, or your OH to hold her v tight or wrap her in a blanket. forget about carrier - she will not want to see it and will not go in easily if she is upset. If you manage to get her into your arms have the carrier or open box near by if its a loong walk back to your apt - she will try and jump out of your arms regardless. Do not loosen your grip/hold on her untill you have her inside your door.

remember not to think of her as your normal loving cat - she will not react the way she normally would so try to imagine you are catching a wild animal and be prepared as I say for sone scratching. if your OH has time to spand ages crawling into the hedges etc then she may stay calm and it may go smoothly.

Cats can manage for days and days without food so dont worry about her being hungry. v best of luck x

Mariegallagher

one other thing I just thought of - if you are looking in the dark use a tourch and you may find her by the light of the tourch catching her eyes

lubie76

Ya, as other poster said try TNR trap borrowed from SPCA or vet. When you find her location or think she may be nearby, put some really strong smelling food in the trap preferably at night when nobody around and leave. Maybe put one of her blankets in there so it smells familiar. Hunger will eventually bring her out and the trap will shut behind her.

I know of a cat that was lost in the middle of the countryside for days recently and eventually returned to the area it was familiar with and got captured this way. Good luck!

Mariegallagher

how did you get on? Any luck catching her?

scaryfairy

Mariegallagher wrote: »

how did you get on? Any luck catching her?

no, no sign of her since last Thursday. Breaks my heart to think of her all alone. She doesn't know a thing about living outdoors and there are foxes around, kids setting off firework (OK, only 2 last night but must have been so terrifying), some cats etc. Foxes look very young, and she can be quite fierce so hoping that she would be a match for them but sitll. She was a rescue cat and look - we lose her. So bad.

We leave every day some of her usual dry food + water at the spot where we last saw her. The food always disappears but it may well be another cat. I have looked at every bush around there and cannot see where she could be. Don't know.

We also left a smelly type of food in one area where we suspect she may be and so far it has remained untouched. Don't know. I will put up some fresh posters tomorrow. We have been doing regular rounds calling her every day from about 6am to 11pm.

I haven't been reporting back as I had no good news and just feel very down. I will def. let you know once we get her back!

Dave_Power

You should try borrow one of those cat traps from a charity, dont leave it out of your sight though or it could get robbed. a trail of strong smelling fish meat into the trap and lots of patience. warm up the food for an extra waft of aroma
good luck