Expert: Jessica - 10/8/2010

Question
Dear Jessica,

Smeagol, my cat of three years has escaped out of the house this past Wednesday, and I've been frantically trying to search for him since.

He is almost 4 years old now, and was the runt of the litter. He's a black and lanky, but healthy cat. He's best described as a cautious cat. Runs away when someone new comes, but will come around to check things out after a few hours. I always try and cuddle with him, and he'll sometimes cuddle back, and sometimes not.

The first complete day of his disappearance (Thursday) in the morning (7:40am) before I left for work, I saw him eating from a cat dish down the street. I approached, and he ran away into a drainage ditch. Then, this morning at 6am, I went outside to check the food I had left out and it was gone. Hopefully he had eaten it. I walked further up my yard, and I saw him on my neighbors yard. Again, as I approached, he ran away into the darkness.

I've gone as far putting fliers around the neighborhood asking them to contact me if anyone manages to catch him. I've called the local animal control/shelter (and will keep calling them) in case he gets picked up. I've also put up a Craigslist in case. I plan on buying a humane cat trap after work and trying that this evening. Also going to leave my garage door slightly open in case he needs shelter.

Aside from all that, I can't think of anything else to do. Have I overlooked anything I need to do? How typical is it for indoor cats to be missing and will they come back? Any tips for a higher success rate of trapping him? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

- Billy

Answer
Hi Billy,

I'm so sorry to hear about Smeagol!  You are doing everything that I would suggest.  The only other advice I have is that you may want to consider downloading Sherlock Bones' eBook from www.sherlockbones.com.  He is a pet detective who has put together a book that will give you tips on how to locate and catch your own missing pet.  

Indoor-only cats are the ones most likely to go missing when they do get outside because they behave so erratically.  They tend to go into hiding, even if they don’t wander far from home, and they become withdrawn from their owners due to fear.  While they may seem to be “missing”, they are often just staying out of sight.  But because they lack hunting and strong self-defense skills, long-term survival can be difficult.  This is why I find setting a trap to be so important.  Normally, I don’t like to leave a trap set overnight because you can catch wild animals.  So if you are seeing him during the day, set the trap where you’re seeing him, using a very aromatic food such as tuna as the bait.  

If you’re not seeing him much during the day, though, he might only wander out under the safety of darkness, like my Bengal did when she used to escape.  In her case, I had no choice but to set up the trap overnight, as I knew by her cries this was the only time she was active.  Indeed, the trap went empty for days, and the several times she escaped, I caught her around 4 a.m. every time.  

Although they can become confused and lost, most indoor cats are too afraid to wander very far, and they stay nearby their property.  It’s usually a matter of locating and catching them.  I think it’s great news that you have at least seen him, so there is a lot of hope in your case!  

I would keep leaving him out food so that he does establish your yard as his home base, but you should try to withhold at least one meal before setting up the trap, so he’ll be hungry enough to go for the bait.

Best of luck!

Jessica