Have you ever had a displaced pet?

United States
September 29, 2012 12:03am CST
Life just seems to keep getting frustrating. We recently moved into a new place. We live in a townhouse. The move was crazy and stressful. Just last night our cat must have ran outside when we came in the house. It was completely dark and I didn't realize this until today. When I started wondering where he was at because I hadn't seen him. So we searched all over the house and he is no where to be found.So I'm pretty sure he ran outside. He is strictly an indoor cat so I think he would be outside somewhere close. Another thing that makes me even more stressed out is that this morning they were spraying weed killer around the apartments and townhouses. So not only is my cat scared outside somewhere but he shouldn't be on the grass or in these bushes, and he might have been sprayed if he's hiding. I know that when we were staying with family he found a good hiding spot and hide for a day. So I'm hoping that he will come out of hiding and that I will be able to get him. I just got done trying to look in our bushes and I wasn't able to find him. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try and look in our neighbors and I hope that I can find him. I put some water and cat food out by the door that he ran out of. Have you ever had anything like that happen to your pet?
8 responses
@deazil (4730)
• United States
29 Sep 12
Over the years mine have gotten out a few times but never got far. I live in a 1 family house and they didn't even get off the property. We always caught them pretty quick. Once, though, I thought one got out and was gone. My grandkids had been over and they were in and out the back door playing in the yard. After they left we couldn't find Miss Abigail. I went all over the house shaking a box of macaroni to wake her up in case she was asleep somewhere. We were outside calling her up and down the street, around the block even. I started crying and went in the bathroom, sat down crying and saying her name to myself. I looked up and there she was walking into the bathroom. She looked half asleep. Not liking my grandkids she must have found a good place to hide and sleep til they left. I never was so happy to see a cat in my life. Hopefully yours will come back unharmed. Maybe you could put a little catnip out. I got one of my down from a tree that way. Good luck. I hope he comes home soon.
1 person likes this
• United States
29 Sep 12
Yeah I will have to get some cat nip and I hope that helps. I'm so happy that your cat was still in the house and that she was ok. I know I will be so happy to see him when we find him. A lot of the stuff I have read says that he should be close around the house but hiding since he is scared and in a different territory.
• United States
2 Oct 12
We found our cat. Unfortunately though he was injured during his outside experience. He climbed under someone's car and got his paws and some of his skin on his side burned pretty badly. We are happy that he is now home and we hope that he will not have anymore desire to dash outside in the late evenings again. He has been laying around every since he got home since his paws are very sore right now.
@deazil (4730)
• United States
29 Sep 12
Yes, its a strange area to him and the poor little guy is scared. The relief of finding a lost companion is unbelievable. Please get back and let us know the outcome. And thanks for commenting. There doesn't seem to be much of that in here these days (newbies). I appreciate it. Good luck again with Mr. Kitty.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
29 Sep 12
hi Dominique, That is sad hope your cat will find way home or you will find him/her When we moved out I took my cats with me put them on a cage until 1 week I let them out but I make sure they can't escape until they will get use to be in the new place. hope you will find your cat soon. happy mylotting
• United States
29 Sep 12
Yeah I hope that we find him soon. He was doing so good. We have been at the place for two weeks. And he must have just had the urge to rush outside when we were coming home in the evening. We didn't have the porch light on so we didn't even see him run out the door. We will keep looking and hopefully he will come out of hiding. My husband is out now looking for him.
• Philippines
2 Oct 12
wow really? This is your cat?Glad that you find him hope he will be better soon
• United States
2 Oct 12
We were able to find our cat. Unfortunately though he was hurt while he was out. He climbed under someone's car and got his paws and his side burned pretty badly. Now he is at home laying down trying to heal. I hope that he will be able to heal fairly quickly so he can get back to his normal energetic self. He is very happy to be home.
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
29 Sep 12
This happened to us, ironically when we moved too, we had two cats and we moved from a first floor flat to a four bedroomed house, and it was a big upheaval for us and obviously for our cats too. Well the youngest decided to stage a protest of his own and on the day we moved in, he went missing! We hunted high and low for him, outside, in the streets, even asking our new neighbours who were only to happy to keep an eye on him, the hours went by and we were getting frantic, realizing we'd have to make out posters of him as a lost pet. Well we were sitting on the sofa and I noticed something move from behind the television, and low and behold he had found himself a neat hidey hole behind the television! We were so damn relieved. I do hope you find your cat, they are part of the family and their loss is as great.
• United States
30 Sep 12
Yeah I completely agree with you that they are part of the family. I'm so happy that your cat was in the TV. I'm hoping that we will find him. My husband just went outside again to see if he could find him since it's dark outside. He is more likely to come out of hiding them. I've also read that it's a good idea to put their litter box outside that way he comes around the house and he will know his own scent. I'm hoping something will work. I've looked up those humane live traps but they are really expensive.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
2 Oct 12
I am so glad you found him! Thank you for the update!
• United States
2 Oct 12
We were able to find our cat. He unfortunately climbed under someone's car and got his paws burned and some skin on his side burned pretty bad. We are happy that he is home now and we are looking forward to his recovery so that he will be feeling better. I hope that he will never try and run outside again. Right now he has been laying around since his paws are still very sore.
1 person likes this
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
29 Sep 12
It really worries us when we lose a pet. I've had some pets that went exploring around the neighborhood when they didn't have any business even being outside. All of the cats that I've had have been indoor pets. They all came back when they realized that they left the food behind. However, I did have one big black tom that went out a lot of the time. He would stay around the yard and let me know when he wanted back in. Out of the 10 or so cats I've ever had, he was the only one I let go out. I hope you find your kitty. I know you are worried. Cats don't belong outside and you need to read him the riot act.
1 person likes this
• United States
29 Sep 12
Yeah I hope that we are able to find him to. My husband is out looking for him right now. I think right now he is in hiding but I hope that he will soon come out and try and find some food. Thankfully it's not really cold yet. We will keep looking and maybe we will be able to catch him.
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
29 Sep 12
My main fear would be that someone would see him and decide to keep him. I acquired several cats like that. They just wandered up to my place, came in and said they were going to stay with me. I always tried to find the original owner if there was one, but I ended up with them. I hoped the owners would somehow know that their cat was okay and being well taken care of. People say they 'lose' their pets. But the pet isn't really lost. They know exactly where they are.
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Oct 12
I'm glad that those cats were able to find a good home. Many cats are outside and I feel so bad for them. We finally found our cat. Poor little guy he got some small injuries though. He happened to climb under someone's hood and he burned his paws and some of his skin on the engine. The individuals who must have heard him called the local pet shelter and they came and got him out. When we called the shelter and described our cat they said that they had one that was declawed that they got from applebees. When they said applebees it's a good distance away from our home. I thought that was a good distance away from our home and that he couldn't have walked that far in less than 12 hours. But I figured we should go and check anyways so we did. When we got there it was our cat. And then they told us that he was under a car and he had got burned. He was very happy to see us and he was just purring when we finally got home. We had to pay $35 to get him out of the shelter and I'm pretty sure we will have to go to the vet and get some antibiotics and pain meds for him. He has been laying down the whole day. Since he likes being upstairs I will have to bring his food and water upstairs because he's paws are hurting and I don't want him trying to climb up and down the stairs. I hope he never tries to run outside again.
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
1 Oct 12
I hope you find your cat soon. If he isn't found around the neighborhood, maybe he tried to go back to where you used to live. When I was a child of 12, I had a white cat named "Bugs". When we moved to another farm about 10 miles away, my father agreed that I could take Bugs with me. I didn't know about covering a cat's eyes when moving him to a new place, so I carried him in my arms in the cab of the truck. As soon as the truck stopped, he jumped out of my arms, and I never saw him again.
1 person likes this
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
3 Oct 12
I 'm so glad that you found your cat. Did he come home on his own, or did someone find him and bring him home?
• United States
2 Oct 12
I'm so sorry to hear that your cat did that and you weren't able to see him after that. We have been living here for two weeks and things were going good. We came home late one night and when we opened the door it was dark outside and inside the house. So he had darted out then. We didn't realize that until the next morning. We fortunately have found him. He did get injured though in his less than twelve hours of being out. He climbed under someone's car and got his paws and skin on his side burned pretty badly. He is happy to be home now. Now he is taking it easy and trying to recover.
• China
29 Sep 12
I have a dog as my pet many years ago,almost at my age of five.But a few weeks later,my cousin took it to their house in spite of my unwillingness.I went to see it everyday.Just one day I went to see it,it company me to buy something on the street.However,a car hit it to die and ran away just right before my eyes.I was extremely sad and cried for almost three days.Then my grandpa burried it in the hill after our house.It was my favourite pet and I didn't raise a pet after it.
• United States
29 Sep 12
So sorry to hear about your dog. That would be awful. That is another thing that I'm worried about there is so much traffic going through this area I'm afraid he will get hit by a car. He's not use to vehicles since he's an indoor cat. I'm just hoping that he will stay around his home and come out of hiding so we will find him. We have food and water in front of the door that he ran out of. So I'm hoping that will help.
• United States
2 Oct 12
We were able to find our cat. Unfortunately though he was hurt while he was out. He climbed under someone's car and burned his paws and his side pretty bad. We are glad that he is now home and will be able to recover. I hope that he will not have anymore desire to dash out of the house in the late evening again. He has been laying around the house since his paws are very sore.
@NailTech (6874)
• United States
29 Sep 12
I'm so sorry I hope he returns and not sick or ill. I know the feeling of a missing cat all too much. Did you tell the neighbors and put out flyers for his return? I know if he is a strictly indoor cat he will be unfamilair with the outside. Check the local and even the not so local shelters, as one of my friends had found her cat in the shelter not overly close to her house. Are there any wooded areas nearby? People who leave their garages open for hours on end? Busy highways or roads? I think my cat thought my neighbor's garage was his new sleep area one day as after four days I heard him meowing in there, I know he must have gotten locked in there due to the neighbor leaving his garage door open one day. The poor thing. Then he went missing again two other times, the time we had a severe storm he came home with a fractured leg in two places two days later and the other time he had his flea collar wrapped around him wrong and somehow he still managed to come in the door with it after two days again. I do hope everything turns out alright for you and the cat though, I will check back and see if anything's turned up. Keep us posted.
1 person likes this
• United States
30 Sep 12
Yeah your poor cat has been through quit a lot. I'm sure that he is happy to be home and safe. We have told our neighbors and they will be keeping an eye out. There is a wooded area behind our home. I'm hoping though that since it's so early on he should be somewhere really close. I'm thinking about sleeping downstairs by the front door where he ran out so that if he comes up to the door and starts meowing I will hear him. I think right now he's in protective mode so he's keeping silent since he's in a unfamiliar area. Thanks! I will let you know if and when we find him. Hopefully it will be soon.
• United States
2 Oct 12
We finally were able to locate our cat. Unfortunately he did get hurt on his less than 12 hours of being outdoors. He ended up climbing under someone's car and he got his paws burned and some skin on his side. So he has been laying around every since he's been home. We will probably have to take him to the vet. The animal shelter that had him told us to keep some balm on it to keep it moist. I just hope he heals quickly I want him to feel better.
30 Sep 12
hey do not panic, and don't be sad, samething happened with me too and i found my cat at my old house. You better check him out there. If you wont find him there as well then wait for sometime he must have lost a way of new home, he will come back. why don't yoyu get on your bike and look across the streets I hope you will find him. Poor catty, he must have been dirty and hungry, I wish you find him soon.
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Oct 12
I'm glad that you were able to find your cat. We found our cat unfortunately though he was injured while he was out. He climbed under someone's car and got his paws and side burned pretty bad from the engine. He is happy to be home again and we are looking forward to his recovery. We are ready for him to be running around the house again and to be his normal self. Right now he has just been laying down because his paws are so sore.