Losing a cat is incredibly painful – not knowing where they are or what has happened to them leaves you with an unsettling feeling.
You know how you can’t stop hoping because your cat may have disappeared for a long time, and then one day, after years, he or she may suddenly appear on your doorstep. But how long is too long? Is there a right length of time to wait? The general answer is, only you can decide.But here are some tips to help you know when to stop.
How many cats will disappear?
The reality is that cats can be missing for days, months, or even years before reappearing. While it’s not necessarily common for cats to disappear for long periods of time and never be seen again, it is possible, so it can be very hard to give up.
Probably many pet owners still hold out hope even years after their cat went missing, so I want to be clear that there are no hard and fast rules, timeframes or methods to decide when it is time to give up.
Your intuition will tell you more than any article can, and not every opinion counts. If you’ve been trying to find a cat for a long time, you may want to back off a little, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up completely.
There’s only so much you can do to find your cat, and the rest is down to the universe. Below we’ll detail how to find your cat and other valuable information.
Why do cats go missing?
There are many different reasons why cats go missing. Here are some of the situations in which your cat may get lost or not return home:
hunting
Some cats are natural hunters, and when they go outside, they may be engaging in a primitive, instinctual behavior. However, a cat that goes out to hunt may only be outside for a few hours or at most a few days, unless it becomes lost and is unable to return home.
Mating
If your cat hasn’t been spayed or neutered, it may be running away to find a mate or to mate. Most cats that leave the home to mate can be found within 500 metres of the house, but that doesn’t mean they can’t travel farther than that. 1 Again, you may only be missing for a few days unless you have traveled too far and are unable to find your way home.
Living elsewhere
Your cat may have made friends with a neighbor or someone who lives across the street, who may assume your cat is homeless and be willing to adopt him or her as their own.
If your cat leaves the house again, it may come back to you, or it may spend the rest of its life elsewhere, especially if the people it lives with don’t know that your cat is gone.
Wandering
Cats are real adventurers. They can travel far and wide to expand their territory. This is a situation where your cat can be away for just a few days, but also for longer if they can’t find their way home.
Home environment
If you’ve recently moved, your cat may be confused when she goes outside – after all, everything around her is completely new. Some cats that get lost after a move may find their way back to their original home if the move isn’t too far away.
However, if something has changed in your household recently, your cat may not want to come home. Whether you’ve brought in a new family member or gotten a new pet, your cat may not like it and may be absent for quite some time if given the chance.
Injury
Unfortunately, in situations like the ones above, your cat may injure themselves while exploring or searching for a mate. If this happens, your cat may be away for a few days while they recover. Some cats may be able to return home once they are feeling better, but depending on the extent of their injuries, some may never be able to return home again.
6 ways to find a cat
You’ve probably come up with your own methods for searching for your cat. These are some you may have tried, or maybe you haven’t thought of yet. If you’ve tried all of these and still haven’t found anything after a few months, it may be time to move on. But how long you look for your cat is, again, up to you.
1. They have pictures of their cats everywhere
The day you lost your cat, you began a frantic search for her. You probably tried to spread the word by posting on social media and elsewhere. You frantically searched lost pet groups and told friends and family to spread the word. You may have even put up lost pet posters with your cat’s photo and contact information.
2. Leaving your cat’s belongings outside
You may leave your cat’s belongings outside your front door – beds, blankets, litter box, food – so your cat can smell them and find its way home. Cats have a stronger sense of smell than humans. You may even leave your own clothes outside so your cat can smell you and find its way home.
3. I looked it up online
You may have checked the pages of your local animal shelters or rescues to see if someone has found your cat and taken him in. Many shelters that take in new animals are required to hold animals for a certain period of time, such as seven days, before they can be adopted, and they often post animals on social media or on their websites to get the word out.
4. I actually saw it
You’ve spoken to your neighbors, you’ve spoken to the person across the street. Everyone is keeping an eye out for your precious kitty. You’ve asked your neighbors to tell their neighbors. But your cat still hasn’t come back. You might want to go to the animal shelter or rescue center in person and see if your cat is there too. If nothing else, you can put up a missing pet poster and the shelter will contact you if they find your pet.
5. I called the vet’s office.
You can ask around at various veterinarian offices to see if someone has come to report or surrender your pet. Veterinarian offices are not necessarily the most common place to take in a lost pet, but it is possible, especially if someone has found your cat and it was injured, that they may be able to take it to a veterinarian.
6. They relied on microchip databases
If your cat is microchipped, there is a very good chance that someone will find your cat and take it to a vet’s office or shelter to be scanned. Unfortunately, if the microchip doesn’t have all your information up to date, it’s impossible for someone to contact you. This means that even if someone does adopt your cat, they may not have any way to contact the real owner.
Only you can decide what is right
If it feels like too much time has passed, or you have a sneaking suspicion that your cat may never return, it’s up to you to decide when to give up looking. And just because you’ve given up actively searching doesn’t mean you’ve truly given up.
You will probably always hope that you will get some answers as to what happened to your precious kitty.
But there is a limit to how long you can keep trying, and one day your cat may show up at your doorstep looking a little hurt, but still happy to be home.
Conclusion
If you find yourself searching for your cat every day, it may be time to back off a little, but remember that cats can disappear for long periods of time and then reappear, especially if they haven’t been spayed or neutered.
Cats have excellent memories and a keen sense of smell, so even if they are far from home, they can usually find their way back. We are praying for you!
Featured image credits: StockMediaSeller, Shutterstock
