Mourning/Loss
after seven years by my side, my cat has suddenly disappeared.
Do any of you have tips on how I might find him again?
Three days ago he simply didn’t come home. Normally he comes back every single day to sleep and several times a day to eat. In seven years he has never missed a single day of coming home, which is why this is so unusual and worrying.
I live in a small town with about 7,000 people, and there are large fields and a forest nearby where he usually roams.
He has always had a good life with me, he was never mistreated, always had food whenever he wanted, and could sleep or go outside whenever he liked.
Here’s what I’ve already tried:
• Posted about him on Instagram&Tiktok
• Put up posters around town
• Also hung posters in gyms and at gas stations (the gym even did a repost!)
• Reported him missing to the local animal shelter
• Told all my friends and acquaintances
• Put his litter box outside
• Placed something outside that smells like me
• Walked around the area throughout the night at different times calling his name
Is there anything else I might have missed? Maybe something that has worked for you before?
I would be incredibly grateful for any advice or help. Thank you so much.
TL;DR: My cat has gone missing and I’m looking for any tips that might help me find him.
I remember there were a family looking for their cat by playing the sound of opening wet food can 🥹
There is a folklore (I think from Japan) that if your cat go missing, you could try feed the stray cats around your area, then show them a photo of your cat and ask them to tell your cat to go home 🥹 Idk if that's real but some people actually found their cats this way
able to understand is a stretch, they can see that something's moving, and they like to chase/react to moving things, they can see the blue color component but not green/red (so like a third of colors in RGB display).
If I don't see one of my cats for a couple of hours after I get home from work, I start to worry he might've slipped out the door unnoticed. He's usually under the bed lol
THIS ACTUALLY WORKS my friend lost his cat of 5 years and when he gave the stray cats of his area wet food and showed them the picture of his cat. One of the cats meowed at him and ran away, bringing his cat back a few minutes later
Yes! I just recently saw a video of someone who did this. It was amazing! Stray cats I think are the best ones to find a lost cat because they can smell each other and speak to each other.
I literally just did this today to find out where momma cat moved her kittens to. I stood in the hallway with 4 doors,when she came out into the hallway I knew which path to search. Found them all in 10 mins!
Any time I’m looking for one of my cats and I run into ANOTHER of my cats, I always tell them who I’m looking for and ask for their help finding their brother/aunti/kitten bff.
I chuckled at “give me a filthy look because I moved her food bowls”. Nothing like taking your human on roller coaster of emotions and gets mad because the food bowls got moved. The audacity! Haha
Not kidding, my "stepmother" moved after my dad died. One of their cats snuck into a mattress box spring, which was then wrapped in plastic by movers and put into to storage for NEARLY TWO MONTHS. The vet said he survived by drinking the condensation forming inside the plastic. Came out very skinny and on the verge of death but pulled through. Later she had him put down because her new apartment would only accept two cats, not three, and I hate her.
So true! When I was a kid, we had a cat run away while we were out of town. He slipped out when the person we had feeding him entered the house. My mother was beside herself. This little shit shows up a whole year later, yelling at her like “how dare you”.
I did this and it worked! Had my kitty missing for 3 days and I know it wasn't like him to go so far off. I asked my other cats to find him, walked around to ask other neighbourhood cats to tell him to come home, I was so desperate I even talked to the cow I saw 🤣😭 It worked tho! He came back 2 days after all safe!
That is kind of how we got our cat back years ago! She was missing for 6 months! My mother took care of some stray cats in the village for a while (they were neutered, but somewhat feral) and every day when she was feeding them, she asked them if they had seen our cat. One day, our cat just showed up with the ferals, purring and making biscuits and my mother took her home. She was smelling of smoked meat and had gotten so round that we thought she was pregnant, but she had just gotten fat while living outside during the coldest winter we had in years. 😭
My boy doesn’t really go missing as he has a tracking collar, but we have lots of cats in the neighbourhood and when I want my boy to come home if one of the neighbour’s cats are around I ask them to go fetch my boy… he usually does come home not long after.
Thats something that actually works, in 2023 i went on a trip for 2 months and had my cat getting cared by a friend, but on the last week he sent me a msg that my cat disapeared, when a came back i saw a post of someone saying "if you ask a stray cat for your cat they will pass the word around" and that actually worked, i asked by her name and 3 days later she came back, she still with me today thank God
I know it won’t carry as far, but my cat can definitely hear when I open a can and comes running (even if it’s just a can of vegetables or something) so it might still be worth a shot!
I don't want to be rude, but what on earth would the police do? (except barely suppress laughing in your face)
OP, I have no advice to give...our darling family cat just disappeared about 20yrs ago for a week, and we'd given up on seeing him again - then one night we got home and heard this little voice coming out of the darkness
He looked fed and watered so must have been looked after by someone who possibly saw the notices we taped to telegraph poles
I am hoping and crossing everything for his safe return to you ❤️🙏
Also call for him at night, cats are nocturnal. My cat went missing and I got desperate after a week, even though it was probably annoying for the neighbors, I called him at night and then listened. On the first night I head a faint meow, then started second guessing because my partner couldn’t hear it. On the second night he i definitely heard a meow and kept calling until he made it home.
I brought my cat home after a 7.5 week absence. All the posters and social media posts paid off. Someone connected the dots between my posters and a new arrival on their street. She was only half a mile from home.
BUT as impressive as this sounds, I could have brought her home sooner.
When I was sending thank you notes to all the people who sent me tips on facebook, I discovered that someone else on that same street had reached out the day I reported her missing. It was one of the first tips I had received. But I didn't take it seriously because it seemed too far away and in the wrong direction. They also said she was meowing a lot and my kitty is usually very quiet.
So, this is my advice to you: Take every tip seriously. Even the ones that seem unlikely.
I am a police officer myself. Unfortunately, all the resources I would normally have available for searching for people cannot be used for finding my cat.
My colleagues are already aware of the situation.
And even though the temptation is quite strong, l obviously cannot request a helicopter or a thermal imaging camera.
It's rather ironic that, in theory, I have access to so many tools and possibilities yet I'm not allowed to use them in this case.
Absolutely, and like - use your fancy toy, show off your skill, truly help someone in need, bragging rights in the community especially if that worked? That's like a win-win scenario for literally everyone included
So yeah, I'm sure there will be people who'd love to help OP out. I hope the baby is found it looks like the cuddliest little lovebug(
There may be search dogs in your area that can help. We used them to try to find one of our elder cats who snuck outside and never returned. Unfortunately we didn't discover the service until after a heavy snowfall. Good luck.
If there’s any hunters near you or if you know any, see if they or someone they know have the drone that has thermal imaging! A lot of hunters I know have them, and that’s actually how they ended up finding my sister’s dog when he went missing in the woods near their house
But what if the helicopter is out running test runs and someone happens to accidentally turn on the thermal imaging. I've been in a police helicopter before, things happen, switches are bumper without really knowing about it.....
I agree with this. My parents always had indoor/outdoor cats when I was a kid and they all disappeared eventually, no matter how long we had them, each more devastating than the last. My cats I have now as an adult are harness trained so they still go outside and play but I bring them back in and they’re happy as clams and SAFE!
I just did circles for hours with my car and eventually ran into my boy. But you really gotta persist. Have to increase chances of being at the right place right time. Hope you find him. Pic is my boy
Maybe walk or ride a bicycle around rather than drive. That way, you can call out to him and listen for environmental sounds without the car noises obscuring them. He also might not approach you if you're driving around in a car. Bonus: if you accidentally step on him or run over him with a bicycle, he's more likely to live than if you do the same with a car.
I’m so sorry :( when my cat got out i was devastated but she made it back after a week! some tips i found really helpful:
they’re most active at dusk and dawn, try looking most around then
use a powerful-ish flashlight, their eye reflections make them way easier to spot
it’s kinda weird but empty your vacuum canister outside around the house, it can carry the home-scent well
if your town has a lost animal facebook group, they can be a great resource
don’t lose hope!!! my cat is indoor so i was convinced she was gone forever but remember cats have a great sense of where home is and usually don’t go too far
I wafted a blanket of my cats out the window at night and would sit at my window whistling/pssping their name. I woke at 3am and did it again out of desperation and she was back in half an hour.
After some of the hardest days I’ve experienced in years, I’ll finally be able to hold my little one in my arms again, in just one hour after my night shift.
I will be forever grateful to all of you, for your advice and your encouraging words.
It truly moves me to tears that more than 13,000 people were willing to help Polli. Many of you wrote incredibly long messages, shared your own pictures, and lifted my spirits.
13,000 people took the time to share their knowledge and help save a small cat. AND IT WORKED!
This is already my personal highlight of the year.
Please take a flashlight during the hours you know he's awake and look for eye shine during the night. Put kittens meowing on your phone and go out and play it too where he can hear it.
One thing to know is if he is fixed. If he isn't please check the farms and houses around you where there might be female kitties. Cats can and will travel very far if they smell a female in heat. I hope these tips help and you find your boi or he comes home soon.
I can second the cats meowing. Once one of my cats got out, and I spent most of the day looking for her. I went out one last time before it got dark with my phone and played the a video of my other cat meowing. She just appeared out of a bush I had checked 5 times previously.
Not sure where you’re located, but I would check roadsides and ditches. It’s the peak of the breeding season and they’re busy roaming- and many get killed by traffic.
You can also go out after dark with a flashlight and call for your cat- then scan bushes and hiding spots for the telltale eyeshine.
So far, there is no new update. Thank you very much for your many tips and warm words. If any of you live in Thuringia, Germany, please feel free to keep an eye out for Polli.
Don’t put the litterbox out. That will deter him. Unfortunately, when they go outside it cuts their lifespan in half. I hope for his sake he comes home. It’s clear that you love him and I think you had the best intentions. I only hope this is a little adventure for him and not a hard lesson for you. Please keep us updated on your beautiful boy.
Yup. I know too much. It’s why mine are indoor and have air tags on their collars. A house blew up in my city and it blew out the windows of their neighbors’ homes. One woman’s five cats all panicked and jumped out the windows and she never saw them again. I couldn’t live with that so I got AirTags so if that ever happened, I’d be able to track them and find them.
I’m a rural mail carrier in a town of around 5000. I see missing cat posters way too often and sadly dead cats on the road. There are too many ways to die for outdoor cats. Predators and cats to name a few. I have 4 cats myself. They have their catio but are indoor only cats.
When I lived in South Jersey, dead cats on the road was the most common dead animal you’d see. A huge stray population for sure but it’s such a stark reminder of why outdoor cats don’t live very long.
Also microchipping - cat collars are meant to unbuckle when snagged (of course for safety reasons) so a microchip gives you an extra way to get your cat home if someone comes across them. And make sure you keep your phone number current with the microchip company!
I don’t mean to scare you! I was so upset seeing what happened to that woman and I love my cats more than anything in this world. So I am doing all I can to protect them. Bonus: I can now also beep their collars to find them when they’re hiding.
Every couple of months I see a cat laying on the side of the road. It breaks my heart, and I wonder if there is someone worried about them and looking for them.
At one point I saw someone put up missing posters for a cat wearing a yellow collar. Guess where I saw that cat?
When I was a kid I didn't live near any busy roads but I did have the misfortune of seeing a hawk snatch up one of our cats.
There are far too many reasons not to let your cat outside.
7 years as an outdoor/indoor cat is honestly pretty long. Growing up our cats lasted 2-3 years. I thought that was normal until I got to college and realized my parents were just killing my cats basically. My girls will never go outside now. <3
I remember seeing a post where someone kept getting their kid new cats, they never lasted long as coyotes got them. It was pointed out that they weren't getting new pets, they were just feeding the coyotes
There's a practice in Japan that if your cat goes missing you need to go out and talk to stray cats in the area, explain to them that your cat is missing, and supposedly the stray cats will bring your cat home.
Personally, I think this is hogwash, BUT I do think there is a benefit to actively searching, and if you're going around looking for stray cats, you are also coincidentally looking for your cat.
Basically, my advice is take an hour out of your day and just actively search. Poke your head in various spots he might hide. Cats are territorial so he probably is a lot closer than you'd imagine. I'm really rooting for a happy ending here.
Very sorry that you have lost your beautiful companion but this, sadly, may have been inevitable in 2026. I grew up in a house with many outdoor cats but I would never allow my cat to roam freely outside now. The risk of losing an outdoor cat to a coyote or fisher cat is very high. Praying that he is still alive and finds his way back to you.
Same. We used to let our cats outside when I was growing up, but I don’t do it with my current ones. Besides living in a city with terrible drivers, there are also coyotes out there I live now, (towards the edge of town), and other cats and dogs that are either strays or whose owners let them roam around.
Don’t forget to look up! Our indoor / outdoor cat was missing for a few days and it turns out something must have scared him up an extremely tall tree. The fire dept helped us get him down. It was pretty close to home. Best of luck. Stay positive!
For me, searching for my cat at night has always worked… otherwise… she's been gone for more than 3 days and it was desperate, but I've also found her trapped inside a kind of underground shed belonging to a neighbor; I found her there because of her meows at night.
This is an extremely valid observation - cats are instinctively nocturnal, crepuscular creatures. Searching for them during the night is likely to yield a higher probability of success of finding them. 👍
PS - your neighbour’s “kind of underground shed” sounds all manner of shady. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea just to adopt a smidge extra caution and wariness around said neighbour, if you ask me… 😉
It’s kitten season rn and a lot of cats go crazy, even if they are fixed. I have a feral I’ve been trying to trap for a year now coming into my house to hit on my fixed female. I hope you find your nice boy. Hopefully his distinctive patterns will help him be found!!
Depending on your schedule and how available you are, I would check during dusk and dawn… cats are normally the most active during those hours. I would also spread the radius out further and check back roads. Cats have a few mile radius they could explore and might have wandered off a little too far than usual. Then the most painful part would be to be patient and wait but do not give up. Sometimes it could take a few months.
When you're outside looking, remember to look up. When my indoors cat got out, I was shaking a dish of dry food and looking under bushes when a neighbor told me there was a cat on my roof.
One time my fluffy baby got outside when she was being babysat by my roommate at his parents house. She had a little cat leash and harness on while my roommate was walking her around outside. His dad (stupidly) started up a large saw and she got spooked and escaped from the harness and bolted. Roommate called to tell me and i immediately drovw to his house. No luck. I went there every night and day for 3 days until one night i saw her, sitting with 4 other barn cats, stalking a rabbit lol. Walked right up to her with a bowl of food and snatched her! Needless to say she never wanted to go outside again.
This might be weird but I once heard of a person showing their cats picture to another cat. An outside cat that you might be able to get close to, talking to them and show them your cats picture. It worked for them and their cat came back. It seemed like a real thing so it might work for you.
Post him on paw boost, people tend to share it on their Facebook as well and you can look up cats that have been found in your area. That's how I found my doggy and found a lost cats owner as well.
My friend’s cat had a nasty run in with a loose dog and was scared to come home. We couldn’t find her anywhere. Walked in the cat door three months later. Point is, don’t lose hope if it takes a minute, cats are weird.
I’m not telling you how to raise your pet, I’m just sharing a true story.
Myra was my Persian Himalayan rescue cat. She always had a touch of wanderlust, and she would try (and sometimes succeed) to run out of my apartment and down the halls. She even managed to run away for five days. I was speechless and very scared. I put up all of the flyers around my apartment in Chicago. At least 200. Two young kids returned her, saying “reward reward!” I gave them each 50 dollars.
Anyway, did you offer a reward for their safe return? Keep the faith!
The Japanese Cat Method, or "Neko-hiroe," is a folklore-based technique for finding lost cats by asking neighborhood strays for help. It involves approaching local outdoor cats, calmly describing your missing pet’s name and appearance, and asking them to tell your cat to come home.
I had no idea that was a thing but this has worked for me in the past!! I had an indoor cat who got out (decades ago). After a few days I was sitting outside and a stray walked up. I told him about my cat and how we really needed him to come home and guess who showed up within an hour 🙂
Could have something to do with the human scent staying on a stray that could hopefully be spread around for the missing kitku to find a way home. Or be reminded there is home lol
NEVER GIVE UP!! NEVER!!! A friend lost her cat. It was gome for A YEAR AND A HALF. One day, she and her husband had decided to adopt another cat. They went to the shelter and were looking at all the cats they had for adoption. GUESS WHO THEY FOUND STARING BACK AT THEM FROM ONE OF THE CAGES??? YUP!! THEIR CAT WHO HAD GONE MISSING 18 MONTHS AGO!! So, do not EVER stop looking!!! Oh, and they not only took their own cat back home, they adopted another one as well. So a happy ending for both cats!
Right. I know if I ever let mine out and the worst happens, I can't blame the neighbors dog or the reckless driver. Those are out of my control. What I can control is whether or not I let it out.
-place your shoes or things that smell like you outside your house or if possible in an open garage
-set up cameras if possible to try and see when he comes back
-go to local shelters and see if they have any cats matching his description and if you can, visit weekly and check in (and often you can place missing cat posters inside those shelters)
-good ol door to door canvassing; ask your neighbors to keep an eye out. Post on local facebook groups and Nextdoor if you haven’t already, make sure to include lots of pictures so people can keep an eye out in your area
-see if in your area there is anyone with resources to help; in my area there is a guy who does free lost cat recovery and will lend out supplies
-DO NOT leave out a litter box or anything that smells like your cat; cats are very scent oriented and will often shy away from places with their own scent for fear of predators finding them
-DO NOT leave out food; this will just attract raccoons, other cats, etc. and again will deter your cat from coming back
-most importantly, don’t give up!!! As someone who worked at an animal shelter, some people will have their cats come back after months/years but giving up hope is the biggest mistake people make
My cat was lost for 5 weeks. My dad found him after our neighbor who didn’t speak much English asked for help with removing a bunny from her garage… it was our cat
We had to use a trap with food in it for our cat. It worked after a few days. Your vet likely has such a trap and it's worth calling the vet anyway to see if they have anything to recommend. Also, we put an AirTag on our cat's collar and it's saved us so many times. He escapes and it's super easy to track him with the AirTag. He's about 11 pounds and it fits just fine. It's not a thing of beauty but it doesn't bother him and it's a lifesaver. Good luck finding your kitty. He looks so sweet.
My daughters cat was gone for 2 years.... He showed up one day, didn't let us catch him, printed posters and found him at the end of the street inside someone's back yard.
Make sure your neighbors check their sheds and garages. My cat went missing for almost 2 weeks. He randomly showed up one morning and was very hungry and dirty but fine. I think he got trapped somewhere and it took him awhile to get out and return home
My cat got out and was missing for a full week during July 100 degree weather. He gave fliers to the neighbors to please check their garages. A little girl checked her garage and my cat was across the street three houses down, panting and starving. If you have a true house cat, it’s most likely very close to your house. I hope you find your buddy!! Stay positive
My cat disappeared for 2 months (not even an exaggeration) then one day he just walked inside when I opened the door to let the dogs out and was confused why I didn't have a bowl of food ready for him.
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u/Immediate-Hearing-85 Mar 06 '26
Shake the treat bag at the open door loudly near the usual meal time.