Missing kitten

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Hey everyone, so my beloved 5 1/2 month old kitten has vanished. I’ve turned the house inside out, checked in every drawer, could she have slipped out unnoticed?

Leaving food out front and back door. Put some old litter out.

Is she stuck somewhere and going to die in the house? She’s a little fetalish so would not respond to calling idt, did she slip out and got killed already by a raccoon, or something?

Talked to neighbors, posted on next door. But what if she’s still in house??

Any ideas?

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

No ideas from me, but I'm sorry. 

[minnesotapaintlady]

How long has she been missing?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Thank you Chloe.

Op is supposed to read a little feral ish.

So would not likely vocalize a response, might even go super stealth mode. I’m the only one she lets near her, but she will also scurry away from me if insecure.

Edited to add not to vocalize

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Sept 18, 2021 19:46:14 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

How long has she been missing?

36 hours or so.

[minnesotapaintlady]

I would guess that she'd have to have slipped out.  I've had cats disappear in the house for almost a whole day and not been able to find them but not for 36 hours.  If she was a little kitten I'd worry that she might have got wedged somewhere, but at 5 1/2 months she would be pretty big and even if she was wild, if she was stuck somewhere she'd start meowing. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

I’ve been up and down the street and alley and nothing.
She is so sweet and gentle. I’m just praying she’s ok.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard her voice.

[mollyc]

Hopefully she's skittish enough to avoid raccoons, etc.

Have you tried the putting her litter box outside trick or the favourite bed/blanket/snuggling sweater trick?  Familiar scents sometimes help them find home.

One of the times Molly (dog) was lost and totally freaked out, the only reason she came to me was she stopped to smell a spot where her mother had peed, realized she knew that smell and then realized she knew us.  Up until then, she had run away from all of us including her mom.

Good luck.

[plugginaway22]

We had a kitten get closed in a drawer and didn't hear her meowing for over 24 hours. Also one that got into a neighbor's garage and was in there for 2 days. Good luck!

[Tiny]

Think about what/where you went in your house (and the family,too ) on the day she went missing. I had a cat slip up into the attic even though I was being careful when I was coming/going thru the attic door. Dang cat decided the attic was the place to be and didn't appear until she got hungry. I didn't realize she was up there and tore apart the house looking for her - even went looking outside cause I thought maybe she slipped out a door.   She started caterwauling at the top of her Alpha Female Cat lungs to let everyone know her displeasure (the boy cats went and hid...)  and when I let her out of the attic - she was all "feral" and don't touch me - do I know you?  what is wrong with you!?    ::sigh::  

Check your closets (or make sure the doors are open a little) Maybe she found a way into your "couch" or other living room chair or the box string mattress in a bedroom...

Could she be hearing the "Call of the Wild" and decided to listen to it -- if she hasn't been fixed?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

I’ve put some used litter out of front and back doors. Food too. Checking regularly but she so little and quick not id catch a glimps. Have checked trees in and around yard.

Have all doors open, Or have checked closet a dozen times. attic doors open with food outside but very unlikely she there. Every door in basement is a jar, except cellar doors to outside.

Have checked all drawers several times. All closets.

She hasn’t been fixed yet but there’s been no signs, her sister also shows no signs. And sister seems more advanced, maybe conceived a few days earlier?

[Tennesseer]

Rush - Does your home have a garage?  If yes, leave the garage door slightly open and put her used litter (box) close to the opening song with a couple pieces of your recently used clothing which will have your scent on it.

If only a (covered) porch, same suggestion on the litter and clothing.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Sept 18, 2021 20:59:32 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Rush - Does your home have a garage?  If yes, leave the garage door slightly open and put her used litter (box) close to the opening song with a couple pieces of your recently used clothing which will have your scent on it.

If only a (covered) porch, same suggestion on the litter and clothing.

Thanks, I know you and MPL have a lot of cat experience. Is it your sense she is outside too? I keep imagining finding her dead, that she dying in the house right now, trapped, waiting silently for me to save her. I dont' know where else to look. 

[minnesotapaintlady]

Did you check inside furniture?  My old cat tore the lining off the bottom of the couch and used to go up in there.  I've heard of them doing that to box spring mattresses as well.  Can she get under or behind appliances?  Access to the vent ducts?  

It would be driving me nuts not knowing if she was inside or out too.  I hope you find her soon. 

[kadee79]

I had one once disappear & found her under a night stand.  The drawers didn't go all the way to the floor and she got really cozy up under there.  
Don't just check the bottom of the closets...check the upper shelves too...they can climb on clothes to get up there.  If small enough can also get inside big shoes or boots.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 18, 2021 21:26:24 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Sept 18, 2021 20:59:32 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Rush - Does your home have a garage?  If yes, leave the garage door slightly open and put her used litter (box) close to the opening song with a couple pieces of your recently used clothing which will have your scent on it.

If only a (covered) porch, same suggestion on the litter and clothing.

Thanks, I know you and MPL have a lot of cat experience. Is it your sense she is outside too? I keep imagining finding her dead, that she dying in the house right now, trapped, waiting silently for me to save her. I dont' know where else to look. 

Rukh- it sounds like you have done a pretty good job checking the inside of your home. How many cats do you have? If more than one can you lock them in a room with a litter box and water over night. Then put out a small bit of food in an open area in each room and close the door. In the morning see if any of the food disappeared over night. If any food is gone your missing cat is in that room.

The following night don't let the other cats stay in the room they were in overnight. Close off that room with some food in it and see if it is gone in the morning.

There is possibility she slipped out of the house.

Also if you have a yard stick, use it under beds, cabinets, and other things she might have crawled under. You might make contact with the yard stick.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Sept 18, 2021 22:10:57 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sept 18, 2021 21:26:24 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Thanks, I know you and MPL have a lot of cat experience. Is it your sense she is outside too? I keep imagining finding her dead, that she dying in the house right now, trapped, waiting silently for me to save her. I dont' know where else to look. 

Rukh- it sounds like you have done a pretty good job checking the inside of your home. How many cats do you have? If more than one can you lock them in a room with a litter box and water over night. Then put out a small bit of food in an open area in each room and close the door. In the morning see if any of the food disappeared over night. If any food is gone your missing cat is in that room.

The following night don't let the other cats stay in the room they were in overnight. Close off that room with some food in it and see if it is gone in the morning.

There is possibility she slipped out of the house.

Also if you have a yard stick, use it under beds, cabinets, and other things she might have crawled under. You might make contact with the yard stick.

Thanks, I’m can’t see that she would be hiding though. She is either trapped or outside. I have her littermates in the house they are pretty inseparable. She is afraid of my other cat, but I can’t see her staying away for 2 days unless she was hurt in a fight. Cocoa yowls but hasn’t tangled with them physically and this baby runs from her anyway.

I pulled apart my two sleeper sofas. I couldn’t think of anything else. If she’s in walls or floorboards or rafters I won’t be able to find her without her making noises.

[busymom]

I don't want to depress you, but check the washer & dryer.  I know someone who lost a kitty, and by the time they checked the dryer...      (They seem to love nooks & crannies--also, have you had any recent deliveries, maybe a new box to hide in?)

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Sept 18, 2021 23:04:33 GMT -5 busymom said:

I don't want to depress you, but check the washer & dryer.  I know someone who lost a kitty, and by the time they checked the dryer...      (They seem to love nooks & crannies--also, have you had any recent deliveries, maybe a new box to hide in?)

Yes have looked inside both washer and dryer, and fridges, cuz who knows?? looked behind them too.

[Happy prose]

Turn over your sofa, etc.  I once had a kitten that somehow tore the fabric on the bottom of the sofa that covers the springs. He was inside, between springs. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Our prayers were answered!

At 430 am I was awoken by my baby dancing on my face and purring me awake. My joy was incredulous and grateful! She had been missing for nearly 48 hours at that point.

The mystery will never be solved however. Since I left the inner basement door ajar and a sample of the used litter next to the outside cellar doors (think dorothy stomping on the storm cellar type doors) which are not well made/not solid/have gaps, she could even have zeroed in on the litter smell and wormed her way in from the outside.

Did she get trapped somewhere inside and finally figured a way out? But where! Could she have rip van winkeled and just slept for 2 days straight?? But where!! the world may never know.

I half expected it to be a dream, but she is still here this morning .

Thank you all for your ideas and support. I was falling apart a bit.

[minnesotapaintlady]

So glad she showed up!  Cats are weird.  She maybe just found a good hiding spot to sleep and had come out during the night to eat and you didn't even know it.  

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Adding to the mystery!!!

I went to report her safe and home on my outreach efforts. On nextdoor someone reported late yesterday having seen her at small park a block from my house.

She is solid grey, looks a lot like a Chartreux, but I know she is not any breed due to her littermates being quite different. But I haven't seen many cats that look like that/nonbread. One black, and three tabbies in her litter.

Was she really at the park? Was it a look-alike? A crackpot report?


These kittens were "rescued" from my back yard. Her father may have contributed to more than one litter? Maybe a half sibling from the same time period?

[Opti]

I'm glad to read she is back. 

[happyhoix]

Wonderful she showed back up! Now train her to come to you - get a plastic bottle of delicious cat treats (mine like a catnip flavor treat) and once a day, at odd times, shake it loudly and hand out treats to those who show up. Pretty soon that becomes the Magic Noise. My Maine coon has a hidey hole somewhere upstairs that I haven’t found yet, and also likes to sleep under the full sized guest bed where I can’t reach her, but the Magic Sound will wake her from a dead sleep and have her downstairs waiting expectantly within seconds.

Course it won’t work if she gets trapped or is outside, but it does work when they simply can’t be bothered to respond to you.

So glad she’s back!

[Tennesseer]

Sept 19, 2021 10:26:02 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Adding to the mystery!!!

I went to report her safe and home on my outreach efforts. On nextdoor someone reported late yesterday having seen her at small park a block from my house.

She is solid grey, looks a lot like a Chartreux, but I know she is not any breed due to her littermates being quite different. But I haven't seen many cats that look like that/nonbread. One black, and three tabbies in her litter.

Was she really at the park? Was it a look-alike? A crackpot report?

These kittens were "rescued" from my back yard. Her father may have contributed to more than one litter? Maybe a half sibling from the same time period?

Maybe she was at the small park.

Did you check to see if your spare set of house keys were missing these past 36-48 hours? Maybe she let herself out and back into the house with them.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Any way she can possibly get in and out of the house.  Basement window or something?  Probably a false report though.  I'm on the lost and found pet board for my city and every missing animal gets a bunch of replies of "sightings" and some are with pictures and I'm like "dude, in what universe do you think that is the same dog as the one in the missing photo?".  LOL

[finnime]

So, so glad to hear she's back, Rukh O'Rorke. That's wonderful.

[sesfw]

((((((( Rukh )))))))  mega hugs from your precious kitty

Glad she is safe and with you

[movingforward]

SO glad she is back! I would be a complete mess if my cat disappeared.