[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference misery::feline

Title:	Meower Power - Where Differing Opinions are Respected
Notice:	purrrrr...
Moderator:	JULIET::CORDES_JA

Created:	Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1079
Total number of notes:	28858

1016.0. "Cat disappears for 3 to 10 days" by WRKSYS::MATTSON () Mon Jul 22 1996 07:47

    Anybody have any experience with their cat just disappearing for a few
    days (or more), only to return with no trace of what might have
    happened? One of my cats disappeared 3 times last summer, for about 3
    days each time. This happened after we got 2 new kittens. Noogy did not
    like the new additions and took off. The first time I thought she had
    gotten killed or something. I looked all over the neighborhood for
    hours, to no avail. I even missed a Bonnie Raitt concert ($70 worth of
    tickets down the drain) to look for her. Finally she turned up, a
    little skinnier but none the worse otherwise. Finally the
    disappearances stopped and it seemed that she was adjusting to the new
    cats.
    
    Well, just recently she pulled an even more dramatic disappearing
    stunt. One of the kittens we got last year became a mommy. The kittens
    were isolated for the first few weeks, but as soon as they were loose,
    the mother cat would chase Noogy away. Noogy, not being very
    confrontational, would just hide under the couch. This went on for a
    few days before we were to go on vacation in Maine. She went out one
    morning, 3 days before we were leaving, and did not come back. No
    amount of calling or looking for her yielded any results. We wound
    up going, but we got the girl across the street who was feeding the
    other ones to keep looking and calling for her. The whole time we were
    away, I thought she was gone for good. Talk about finding out how
    attached you are to your pet!! I spent quite a few hours crying. It was
    unbelievably painful, especially not knowing what had happened.
    
    Well, we came back 10 days later. I walked all over the neighborhood,
    down the path through the woods, into another neighborhood about a mile
    away, knocking on doors, with a picture, asking "Have you seen this
    cat?" (I felt like Ace Ventura, pet detective). I started getting some
    leads of where she'd been seen, so I walked all around there calling
    for her. Still no luck. Finally, late that night, my husband looked out
    the door and said "Noogy's back!!"  Sure enough, there she was, skinny
    but not starving. She came in, and I've had her isolated since then.
    She's been content to just sleep and eat. I'm not letting her back out
    till the kittens are gone to their new homes.
    
     I'm just really amazed at how a domestic house cat that's not used to
    surviving on its own, can manage for that long. I don't think anyone
    had been feeding her; I think she just foraged for garbage, mice, or 
    whatever. She looked like she'd been out the whole time. This is a
    nearly 12 year old cat, no kid! She's a really smart one, though.
    I'm so thankful she came back. I am definitely not ready to face losing
    her yet. 
    
    Anybody have any experiences similar to this?
    
    Anne

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1016.1	Nicky weathers the storm	ASDG::NJACKSON		`Mon Jul 22 1996 09:23`	15
	I remember one winter about three years ago Nicky snuck out the door when I opened it to get the mail. The worst storm of that year was beginning to take place. It lasted three days and nights. After the storm and many tears from me, Nicky finally showed up at the door. I didn't know whether to be happy to see him or mad that he made me worry so much! He is neutered so I am convinced it wasn't because he was in heat. I never figured out why he stayed out so long to the point where the storm met blizzard conditions. I understand his hiding during the storm but I don't understand why he stayed away when the storm was just beginning and the wind and snow were much calmer. Nancy
1016.2		PADC::KOLLING	Karen	`Mon Jul 22 1996 11:03`	8
	Re: .0 What you're describing is normal behavior for a cat under those circumstances. You're really lucky he came back, and the only apparent damage was temporary starvation, although he may have contracted feline leukemia or FIV from another cat while he was outside. Can you keep him inside permanently?
1016.3	Cats are Weird Creatures	WRKSYS::MATTSON		`Mon Jul 22 1996 11:19`	21
	re .2 That's normal?? The other cat (her brother) adjusted really well. But she has always been kind of antisocial. I just thought that if we kept giving her plenty of love and attention, she'd adjust. How do cats live when they do that? Don't they realize, "Hey! I might not like those little doofuses, but this eating out of garbage cans is the pits!" I mean, isn't survival much more difficult? I always have to remind myself that they are not human. I'm so close to them that I think of them as people, but then they do something that reminds me that they're wild, in a way--they go out and do Cat Things---who knows what they do, where they go, how the world looks from 10 inches off the ground. They're strange, alien creatures. As far as keeping her in, after 12 years, I think she'd be miserable. She loves going out. I'll just keep her in until the kittens are gone, then I'll see how things go for a while before I let her out. Fortunately she's up to date on all her shots, including FeLV/FIV immunization.
1016.4		PADC::KOLLING	Karen	`Mon Jul 22 1996 11:21`	6
	Re: Fortunately she's up to date on all her shots, including FeLV/FIV immunization. There is no vaccination against FIV, and the FeLV vaccine is only about 80% effective.
1016.5	Re: .3 - I wish...	ASDG::NJACKSON		`Mon Jul 22 1996 12:03`	10
	Re: .3 I don't understand it either, Anne. They disappear for days then return like nothing happened. I wish I could have been a flea on Nicky when he left those three days. It would have been interesting to see how he ate and slept (if at all), and what those "cat things" are that they do when they disappear! Nancy
1016.6		MARIN::WANNOOR		`Thu Jul 25 1996 23:41`	2
	I bet they sleep, hunt to eat, and sleep some more!
1016.7		WRKSYS::MACKAY_E		`Tue Jul 30 1996 06:37`	12
	Our older cats used to do that off and on. They would take off for a few days in the summer, go into the woods and come home like nothing happened. I am pretty sure they caught all sorts of yummy wild animals for food. Sometimes, they did that because they were mad at us - they are Siamese, kind of emotionally sensitive; other times, we couldn't figure out why. Our younger cat hasn't done that yet, she is used to sleeping with my daughter and we haven't found too many things that can upset her. Eva
1016.8	Rebellious Cats	WRKSYS::MATTSON		`Tue Jul 30 1996 15:31`	16
	She definitely seems to do it when she's mad. I would even take it further and say that she chooses times when she's not just mad, she wants to GET EVEN by screwing up our plans. Logically, how could she know that one time she made us miss a Bonnie Raitt concert ($70 down the drain) or that this time, she put a serious dent in our whole vacation? Cats must be psychic, is all I can figure! Speaking of rebellious cats, (it was either this same one or her brother) about 9 years ago, I had a boyfriend the cats did NOT LIKE, at all. Hey, I could barely stand him! One time, one of the cats left a calling card right in the middle of the rug, outside the bedroom door. This was the only time this had ever happened. Sure enough, the boyfriend from hell came out, first thing in the morning, and--splat! Stepped right in it. I thought the cat was a genius! Needless to say, the boyfriend was gone soon after. Since then, I've always trusted my cats' judgement about people. It's been known to be better than mine!
1016.9	Pooh Escapes 15 Minutes Before 3 Week Vacation	MARLIN::PEDERSON		`Wed Jul 31 1996 12:04`	27
	Hi Anne, I just thought I'd add this note that kind of relates. 15 Minutes before the limo was to pick me (and my boyfriend) up to scoot us away for our 3 week European vacation, one of my cats sneaked out the door. I sat on the stairs and cried. I knew that she would not come no matter how much I called (tho' we spent the rest of the time before the limo got there calling her). She had NEVER spent the night outdoors -- I always get her in before I go to bed. She is also shy of strangers. It takes her weeks seeing someone constantly before she will come out of hiding. Boy, did I feel like I was in a pickle -- and so was she!!! I felt like she just didn't know what she was getting into. I thought of changing our flight!! I was so desperate. Anyways, I ran over to one of my neighbors, and told her the situation. She offered to put out food for her, and keep an eye on her. Since, Pooh, the cat, hung around in her yard most of the time anyways, I was a bit relieved -- what else could I do, but take off in the limo. Twice, I called from Europe, to check on Pooh. She seemed to be (luckily) staying in the neighbor's yard, and eating the food. The cat sitter that I had hired tried to get her in, but they also had no luck. It was one week, of me fretting in Europe (and I realized how much I cared for this cat then) before Pooh let the neighbor get close enough to pick her up and bring her home. Thank goodness she stayed around -- but even in the yard, you never know what might happen. Valerie