Cat woes...

FF

On Saturday afternoon one of my two cats disappeared, vanished, gone. We think he somehow got out the window on to the balcony, down on to the roof of a car and took off. There were guys painting the outside of my apartment building this past weekend and constant construction across the street all week. I'm guessing he got out there and freaked.

So far I've put up 'lost cat' posters, talked to my landlord and neighbors asking them to keep an eye out for the cat, checked at the local animal shelter and walked around the neighborhood calling for him. I've also put a cat carrier outside of my front door with some familiar smelling blankets in it, as well as some food and water next to it.

So what's the problem? Apparently it's not enough. The cat has yet to return. I'm starting to come to the realization that me may never return, and I can deal with that after a while, however my mother can't/won't. Since the cat took off (or rather since I told her about it) she's been calling me 2-3 times a day, asking if there have been any signs of the cat, have I walked around looking for him today, etc. She's also suggested that I sleep in the front room with the front door cracked open and now suggested that I leave my outside storage space open as to provide the cat with a place to hide. (Note I live near downtown Oakland, CA. Not that I think something bad will happen, but I see plenty...altered type folk around) Add to this the fact that I do not live alone and it's not just my stuff in the storage space...well, I'm not going to leave it open.

While I was at work today, my mother took it upon herself to go by my apartment (uninvited, unannounced) and nag my ladyfriend (whom lives with me) about what I should be doing to ensure the cat comes home and that she should be nagging me to do what my mother says. My mom also went to so far as to dismiss the concerns over leaving the storage space open by saying "Leave it open, if anything disappears I'll replace it." As one would expect, I will be getting verbally torn to shreds when I get home in a couple of hours.

At this point I don't know what I should do. Am I doing enough to find my lost cat? I've put up posters for a couple of blocks around my apartment and I call for him, should I be offering a reward? If so, how much? How long should I keep actively looking?

Also, I plan on approaching my mom about her obtrusiveness (coming over unannounced, or even when I ask her not to) but I don't know how to bring it up without immediately getting into a fight.

Sorry, that ended up being way, way too long, sooo...

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tl;dr: I lost my cat on Saturday. Mom thinks I'm not doing enough to find him, is also pissing off my roommate by nagging.

Aurin

Honestly, I would tell your mom to start roaming the neighborhood looking if she's so concerned. Really, putting out food and signs is all you can do. Leaving areas open for people to steal things from is kinda silly.

Really, I think you're doing fine and your mother is a nut. :P

Deusfaux

put up a lost report on petlynx

call all local vets and file reports

put ads in newspaper/grocery store entrances/etc

call whoever handles strays

call whoever handles found dead animals

call and VISIT the animal shelter

offer a reward for found

talk to neighbors

Feral

Your mom needs to fuck right off. Is it her cat? Does she pay your rent? Are you over 18? If the answers to these questions are "No, no, yes" as I suspect they are, then you need to assert your independence. And it may lead to a fight, but a fight may be what needs to happen to get her to realize you're not a child anymore.

As for the cat, don't just call one local animal shelter, call all of the animal shelters in the vicinity. Here's a list, guess what, there are quite a few in your area.

Did the cat have a chip or tattoo? If not, I guess it doesn't help now, but in the future make sure any pet you own gets chipped and/or tattooed.

And keep in mind that sometimes cats can disappear for a long time (months or even years) and then suddenly show up again. There's no need to leave your doors open - if the cat wants to come back, he can easily sleep by the front door until you show up.

FF

Thanks for the advise so far. I didn't know about petlynx, I will be putting a post up on there once I can upload a picture.

I tried hitting the animal shelters yesterday (at least the ones in the vicinity( they don't like to say on their sites, but they all like to be closed on Mondays :x Unfortunately, they won't let me make a missing animal report over the phone, and I can't be taking off anymore work (short staffed, no real time left to take, blah, bhal) so the visiting will have to wait for the weekend.

Additional question: If it was your cat in a similar setting, how long would you keep looking? I mean like, visiting/calling animal shelters, patrolling the neighborhood, posters, etc.

I'm by no means giving up yet, but if he doesn't show up in 2 or 3 weeks from now, I can't see myself doing much more than leaving out some food for him and the cat carrier. And occasionally walking around the block calling for him. I figure if he doesn't want to come back, well, that's up to him.

Aurin

If my cat was missing... I'd say I'd go looking for a few weeks at least. Husband and I generally take a walk every night as well, so I'd probably always be looking.

I mean really, it's all up to you, exhausting all other options, the food is about the best thing you can do.

Deusfaux

yeah it depends on how you feel about the cat.

i did everything i could right off the bat, and would hvae kept up visiting the animal shelter every other day for some time

luckily, possibly because I put smelly clothes of mine out on the deck and yard, she came back

AbsoluteZero

If your cat is gone for a long time in a populated area (say, a couple weeks), you are going to have to start considering the possibility that either someone has taken him, or he's dead. Sorry to say. Domestic felines tend not to make it very long out on the streets.

Reckless

This may seem dumb, but have you looked around your apartment for the cat? A few years ago, one of my two cats pulled the vanishing act one afternoon. I spent three days wandering the neighborhood looking for him. On the third day I came home pretty exhausted from the time spent out on my bike, so I jumped on my bed with some pretty good force coming down.

Out ran the cat, from a hole he sliced in the box-spring.

Point being: cats are masters of stealth. Do a good double-check around the house.

vonPoonBurGer

Check underneath cars, porches, anything that offers a cave-like hiding place in the immediate vicinity of your house. If your cat is an indoor cat, s/he may have simply freaked out upon making it into the outside world, and bolted for the nearest hiding place. One of our cats did this several years ago. I'm not sure how she managed to get out, but we found her two days later underneath a car not twenty feet from our front door.

Of course, our other cat pulled the same stunt, and didn't reappear for about a week. When he did finally show up, he was covered in the blood and gore of the many small animals he had hunted and slaughtered. I don't think the bird population in Kitchener-Waterloo has recovered to this day.