13: Lost Cat Behaviour

Lost Cat Behaviour

by Kat Albrecht, Santa Cruz, California USA


Because your kitty is an indoor only kitty, the chances are VERY GOOD
that he is near by, hiding but has gone into a protective mode.
Especially if there are loose dogs in your area...the chances are that
he is not willing to respond to your voice, not willing to come out of
hiding and not willing to leave his new "territory" out of shear fear.

I have spent the last 2 years conducting research on "lost cat
behavior" and have learned one thing about indoor only cats. The
majority of the time, they are found within a 3 house radius of the
owner's home hiding and living under a deck, porch, or in heavy brush.
This is often up to 7 weeks after they went missing in cases where the
owners were calling for them and searching for them in the location that
they were hiding, but the cat never responded. The reason the cats do
not respond is again, an instinctual behavior of protecting themselves.
What could have triggered this response in your kitty was just one
encounter with a neighbor dog chasing him.

So I would encourage you to THINK CLOSE...that he is nearby but
hiding. Thus your primary way of getting him back is to going to be to
obtain a cat trap with yummy canned cat food and attempt to trap him.
This is what has worked in over 70% of the indoor only cat owners who
have retrieved their escaped kitties...most of the others eventually
returned home. While it is very common for an outdoor kitty to become
trapped and unable to return home, it is not that common for an indoor
only kitty. Because they are in a "scaredy cat" mode while they are
outside, they don't have the curiosity to climb into trouble...they have
that instinct to protect (and hide).

And because they are hiding and protecting themselves, they are less
likely to be killed by a car, poisoned, or killed by a predator. It can
happen, but is less likely to happen than with an outdoor kitty. So
please have hope and think in terms that he is NEAR BY, very afraid and
just either needs time to be brave enough to come back home or you need
to trap him. Without my seeing exactly where you live, it is hard to
tell you where to place any traps. Make sure before you put the traps
that you belly crawl with a flashlight and check all nearby hiding
places...even the places where you have called him 1,000 times! Also,
because cat's are territorial, they do not tend to travel too far. The
only thing that might cause him to travel is if a dog or something were
to frighten him, if there was no place that offered him protection and
if there was no source of food or water. Also, because cat's are
territorial...whereever he ends up that offers protection and food is
where he has been depositing his scent (poop, pee and his shed hair &
scent) thus wherever he is has become his new "territory." Leaving your
clothing outside doesn't do much good...your scent is deposited wherever
you walk and the chances are that he can already smell and hear you, but
his instincts are preventing him from responding. Of course these are
just my opinions, but they are based on over 2 years of talking to cat
owners on a daily basis and using my search dogs to search for (and
locate) many missing cats.

Your kitty is somewhere and the statistics show that he is most likely
alive but afraid....so have hope!!!!

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For other items on the same subject see

Finding your Lost Cat by Sharon Talbert
Item 12 from David Stevenson
Lost Cat - UK advice by 'Five Cats'
Item 14 from David Stevenson

Other Lost Cat articles
http://blakjak.com/cat_men2.htm
How to Find a Lost Cat or Dog from the Pet Action League
http://www.petrescue.com/library/find-pet.htm
All about Pets for people in the USA
http://pets.usa-net.net
PetSearch UK
http://www.ukpetsearch.freeuk.com
Lost Pets UK
http://www.lostpetsuk.com


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This document may also be found at

http://blakjak.com/lost_ct1.htm



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