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Sammy, one of my indoor/outdoor cats, has been missing since Sunday. He has never been gone a whole day before, let alone 3. He loves his brother cat to bits and they generally snuggle up for nap or nighttime so I can't imagine what would make him not come home unless he can't. It's possible a coyote or a car got him, but if not, any ideas or suggestions for how to get him to come home?
[And save any bits about how cats shouldn't go outside. I know, he started out as a stray/feral kitten and he never could be satisfied with not adventuring outside. The 2 months I kept him inside he howled every night for hours. He was not meant to be indoors unfortunately.]
Anyway, I love him, he's a goof and a sweetheart and I'd like to get him home if it's possible.
I'm so sorry Sammy is missing. It's happened to me too. I have both indoor only, and indoor/outdoor cats, so let me say first of all that I completely understand how difficult it is to keep a cat indoors once it has been used to going out.
About missing cats, the way I have heard it phrased is that if your indoor only cat gets out and goes missing, you should think "Where is the cat hiding?" because it probably wandered too far or got scared and doesn't know the way home.
But if your indoor/outdoor cat goes missing, you should think "What happened to the cat?" Because as you said, an indoor/outdoor cat will generally always come home unless something has prevented him.
He could be sick and hiding somewhere until it feels better. I don't know, but suspect, that this is what happened to our Rusty (who looked very much like Sammy). He disappeared one summer night and came back in the middle of the night four days later. We never knew where he had been, but he almost immediately showed signs of thyroid and kidney problems (he was 14), so he may just have been feeling really bad and hiding out somewhere.
He could have wandered into a neighbor's house, garage, shed, etc. and gotten trapped. Go around the neighbor's houses and yards (with permission) and call him.
He could have been picked up by someone and taken to the shelter, but this is not very likely with cats.
He could have been hit by a car or met with some other accident. If this is the case, unfortunately you may never know what happened. Our Stormy went missing in April. We put up Missing Cat signs around the neighborhood, and the next day a neighbor told us that while she was looking at one of the signs by the park, some boys who were playing there told her that they had seen that cat get hit by a car, and they had removed his body before it got run over again. So, we did find out what happened to Stormy (my kids and I are still not over it), but we easily may have never known.
My advice is to put up signs with a picture of Sammy, question the neighbors, search the area, check the shelters, and hope for the best. Cats have been known to come home weeks after they disappeared. I really hope you find him soon!
you want hear about my boy Diesol he has sleeping house. Some times he sleeps there. But comes to eat home. Don't worry I am sure some one opened their to your Sammy and might be kids start pet them. Where Diesol goes there is a little girl from age 4 he likes play with her, and she always holding him what he is very much happy about and what I cannot do much with all other works so I am not that much worried if he does not come home but I make sure if he is with them. But you can send a flyer or if you have FB you can share a photo publicly.
I hope you find him. The not knowing is the worst feeling.
I had a cat who had once been a stray who refused to stay inside, so I know the feeling. He would go missing for days at a time, then would show up thin and hungry and super lovey.
I agree with posing signs, you should get a good picture, like the one above, and take it to Kinkos, and get LARGE missing posters with pictures, 9 x 11" normal paper size isn't large enough. Make sure that the poster is large enough to read clearly from several feet away so that people who are driving might see. Post them all over.
Post to your local craigslist lost and found section, and update it daily to move it to the top of the list.
Your message caught my attention because one of my cats is named Sammy and I have lost cats before. Sorry about your Sammy. Hopefully he's just just found a sweetheart somewhere and will come back home. You didn't say where you are but I've lost several cats to coyotes around this farm. Coyotes have also taken several of my small dogs.
My cats (three of them) are all "barn cats" and are all siblings. They are very necessary to keep the rodent populations down so they are outdoor cats with heated and protected-area beds in one of my barns. I've related this story before here on CD but early this past spring I acquired two Great Pyrenees puppies for the single purpose of guarding my cats which I raised with the puppies. My male Pyrenees is now literally a giant weighing over 100 pounds and the best part of this story is that I have not heard a coyote close at hand ever since the dogs grew to sizes where I could turn them out at night.
Realizing that having giant dogs to guard your cats is not possible for most people, I guess I commented here to mostly just to say, I hope your Sammy comes on home.
I'd definitely check the shelters. He's adorable. I hope you find him.
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