Expert: KC - 8/7/2007

Question
Hello
    I have an 8 month old female cat and since we live in an apartment it doesn't get much physical activity so sometimes we let it outside. Recently though it has been doing something strange, once every two weeks or so it disappears and then reappears after three or four days but this time it has been gone for eight days & hasn't come back. Can you kindly explain this strange behavior?

Answer
Seeing as how you are living in an apartment now, I would have to wonder if maybe she has found someone in a nearby apartment who is feeding her and at home a lot.  Perhaps someone is letting her inside and keeping her in until she wants back out.  She may have also found another house or apartment where there are a lot of other cats, and food, and it keeps her occupied.  Do you have a tag on her with your information so that another person would know that she has an owner?  This site has some great tags and also an Owner Alert system to get in touch with you should someone find your cat: http://luckypet.com/  She may also be out roaming or trying to hunt in nearby woods, a pasture, etc.  Cats who are alone, as in you don't have other cats or pets, do tend to get bored if you aren't home a lot.  For a younger cat, it's not uncommon that they would want to go exploring.  Cats are intelligent little creatures, if they don't have enough stimulus they'll go roam around looking for something to do, not unlike dogs or people.  I'd just be sure to keep an I.D. tag on her, with a break away "SafeCat" collar to prevent it from choking her should it get caught on something.  Hope this helps...