Cat-loving Lounge Lizards, please reassure me!

[intheflow]

I'm dog- and cat-sitting for two dogs and one cat. The dogs are allowed out, but the cat is not. Naturally, this makes the cat desperate to go out. I've been uber-conscientious of this, and have watched for her diligently each time I open the door to let the dogs out back.

But it's been HOURS now since I've seen her. Normally she's very, very social and hangs out near me. I'm getting scared she somehow slipped out. She's a mostly black cat, so a casual look outside has yielded no results. I've also search the whole house, including the basement.

It's been about 5 years since I've lived with a cat. So I'm begging you to remind me how stealthy they can be, how they disappear in nooks and crevices I couldn't begin to notice. Tell me your disappearing/reappearing cat stories!

[In_The_Wind]

1. open a bag of potato chips ...

the cat should appear instantly ...

[intheflow]

8. Oddly, no.

Potato chip bags hold no allure for her. She usually only responds to me feeding the dogs, but they've been fed for the night so I can't try that.

[In_The_Wind]

23. I'm sure that she is hiding in her favorite spot.

too bad she doesn't have a favorite sound other than the sound of feeding the dogs ...

but IF you try putting the dogs out (so they won't hear you) and try the sound of feeding the dogs perhaps she will wake-up

[intheflow]

35. That's a thought.

I'll try faking her out by making dog-supper sounds when I put the dogs out before bedtime. Thanks for the suggestion, Joan!

[In_The_Wind]

36. Good luck!

I know you'll sleep better after you find her :thumbsup:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. look in the drawers

thats where my kitty hides

[intheflow]

9. Good call!

But sadly, no drawers are open, nor have they been in the week I've been here.

[Scout]

3. open a can of cat food n/t

[intheflow]

7. She eats dry food,

so isn't trained to know that sound. :( No canned cat food here, either.

[wrathofkahn]

12. Cats know the sound of wet food opening...

...it's something genetic, I think.

Crack open the tuna, and the puddy-tat will be right there.

[Gregorian]

4. Cats under the age of one can actually disappear. Fact.

/lie

But they are maddenly good at hiding.

And remember, in the long run, the cat came back. I know this won't help, but... I had a kitten when I lived in the forests around Santa Cruz. He left, and was gone for literally months! I just knew he was gone forever. But each day I looked and waited. Three months later, as I was out in the yard, he came sauntering home. Kitty- the lost months.

[intheflow]

14. Well, she's way over one.

I do remember a time when my cat Lyle disappeared for two days. We searched and searched. On the second day, as I looked in the basement or the thousanth time, she came walking up next to me with this look on her face like, "Whatcha looking for?"

[wrathofkahn]

15. LOL!

That one was worth a snicker.

Wabbit (the youngest in the household) didn't find his purr until he was a good 12 weeks old (runt of the litter). He actually scared himself when I rubbed his chin and he started purring!


Now, he makes wabbit-twax about the place.

[wrathofkahn]

5. Black cat, huh?

My solid black will disappear inside the house for days at a time. I wouldn't sweat it too badly, if you have reasonable confidence that she (are you sure it's a she?) hasn't slipped outside.

Bat (the black cat) has been known to simply hide out under the bed for 36 hours straight. That, and they're especially good at hiding, much better than, say, a tabby.

The easiest way for me to get Bat to come around is actually to turn out the lights and go to bed. Bat only wants to come out when it's dark, presumably because he's black, but I really don't know.

If you really want to get a cat to come out quickly, it may be worth investing 59¢ in a can of tuna. Seems to work every time.

[intheflow]

16. She's really a very, very dark tortoise shell.

The owner told me she was pure black as a kitten, though. And she's got that slippery, lithe black cat mojo going on. And yes, I'm sure Pauline Vanessa is a she, and knowing her owner, she's fixed for sure.

Maybe I'll try the tuna thing soon. Going to have to give some to the dogs if I give some to her. Not that they'll complain.

[wrathofkahn]

26. A tortie? Awww...hell...

First of all, if it's a tortie, then that explains the "she" part (virtually all tortoise-shell cats are female, by genetics).

My tortie, Grace (so named because she has none :D), insists upon making appearances only on her own schedule.

Relax, make the house dark and quiet, and your kitty will make herself known when she feels like it. Remember, you're talking about mixing cats and females here: think exponentially finicky!



Chances are very good that Pauline Vanessa has a "special" place that she likes that you don't know about. She's almost certainly enjoying a good laugh at your own panic (I know that Grace does). To this day, after having lived in this house for over two years, I bet that I haven't found 1/4 of Grace's "special" hiding places (which are often in plain sight, like the top of the kitchen cabinets).

Not to worry. Everything will be fine.

[hickman1937]

6. Open a can of tuna, and make some noise with the opener.

You're going to have to give her a table spoon of it or she'll get wise to the scam.

[caty]

10. Check any closets or

cabinets you might have opened. Sometimes mine will sneak into a closet and end up locked in until they either paw the door or I open the closet again.

[intheflow]

18. This is a very good suggestion!

But unfortunately, the one cabinet I opened, and just checked, is devoid of cat. :(

[Name removed]

11. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OhioBlue]

13. the poster who said open a bag of chips is on to something

as far as my cats go...... they will come running if they hear a bag rustle. When I make something to eat, they will also come out of hiding..... Hope you find her soon.. I know how panic can set in when you are watching another's pets and can't find them!

[intheflow]

21. Well, that's what is so strange.

I made and ate my dinner in three seperate parts tonight (kinda appetizer, salad and main course). She was MIA through it all, even though there were many bags rustling.

[Jamastiene]

17. They are masters at hiding in plain sight too.

My cats do that to me all the time. My boy cat, Yogi, has separation anxiety when it comes to me. When I am bringing the groceries in it takes several trips. The door doesn't always shut all the way, so there is a chance he'll try to follow me. Well, that has happened a few times now and I can honestly say that where I found him made me kick myself. He was on the little shelf close to the ceiling right over the fridge one time when I found him. Once, he was in my garden tub. Once, he was in the litter box. And at least once, he was stalking me and playing a game of hide and go seek with me. He honestly was hiding from me on purpose. He finally jumped out at me and attacked my feet (for Yogi that involves playing with my feet without his claws out) when I walked past the bar. He had been playing with me the whole time. He "ambushed" me and basically in cat language said "here I am, you're it".

[intheflow]

24. Oh yeah, I forgot that stalking thing they do.

Sneaky, sneaky! I can see this cat doing that for sure. She often hides and ambushes the dogs' tails as they go by. Of course, the dogs are golden retrievers, what cat on earth could resist attacking such fringe?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

19. Cats are able to slip into other dimensions.

They disappear, and you look all over for them for hours -- you look in every closet, box and cupboard and under every piece of furniture and in every drawer. You set out food and call them. Nothing. And then, all of a sudden, they slip back through their portal to the other dimension and appear right in front of you. And they look up at you with this look, like "What??"

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. tis true

[intheflow]

25. Well that is comforting news from a DUer named ocelot!

If anyone should here should know the intricacies of cat physics, it would be you! LOL! Thanks, I've always suspected this!

[TrogL]

38. I've caught mine walking through walls

For some reason I'm not allowed in the bathroom without a cat there.

I will go in the bathroom, check everywhere for a cat including under the tub, then lock the door. 30 seconds later there's a cat in the room.

[RevCheesehead]

22. One time, my cat-sitter called me in tears

in her southern drawl "I can't find Binky." (she pronounced it Baaahn-key")

Binky even hides from me on occasion. Try looking under furniture, behind the sofa, on top of the vcr or near any heat register. Also, look deep inside closets and under the bed.

She'll turn up - they always do.

[intheflow]

27. Thanks, Rev!

It's true I haven't looked under every piece of furniture. (There's some really grody corners of the basement.) Thanks for the reassurance. I'm sure she'll turn up, too. But it's always nice to have friends to commiserate with. :pals:

[RevCheesehead]

29. In one parsonage (with furniture supplied), Binky liked to hide

under the covered footstool. I called it her "Ottoman Empire."

Cats will find the smallest corner, anywhere, and curl up in it.

You might want to go check outside in a few hours, if you don't find her by then. I once locked one of mine in the garage without knowing it. Pitiful little "mrow? mrow?" finally got my attention.

[KitchenWitch]

44. Look in the furnace room

I had 3 cats stay with me for 6 months while a friend was in another country. One of her cats literally lived behind my furnace for 6 months and only came out when everyone was asleep.

[intheflow]

48. I actually thought of the looking by the furnace.

But the home-owner is in the midst of a total reorg of the basement. A cat can get to the furnace, but it would take me hours of moving old furniture, boxes of books, and toy chests from the '70's to get there. Still, I would have been all over this suggestion if she hadn't shown up last night.

[RoyGBiv]

28. Lost my Pete once ...

I realized I hadn't seen or heard him for a couple hours and started looking for him. Understand, this I live in a two-room apartment with a large closet. Not a lot of space exists for him to hide. I looked under the bed, where he normally hides. I looked in the closest, under the couch. I wandered outside and looked around, thinking he'd followed me out once when I'd gone to my truck to get something.

Nothing.

I called him relentlessly. He normally answers my calls immediately, either by coming to me or at least answering with a "meow" to let me know he's busy doing other things and has no time at the moment. But, not this time.

I'd come to the conclusion I'd lost him. He was a stray who adopted me, and he decided my life was too boring for him and would take his chances on the street again. I was very sad.

It had been a full four hours since I noticed he was missing. I had all but given up and needed to finish my chores before work in the morning. I walked into the bathroom to take my laundry out of the drier, and when I looked in to get the towels, there he was, almost smiling at me.

He'd apparently gone into front-loading drier when I'd opened the door to it earlier and not taken anything out, still waiting for a load of washing to finish. Warm towels + enclosed space = secure, happy cat. I can only assume he didn't answer me because he found it great fun to see me running around the apartment like a fool.

I even think he knows I'm typing about him right now. He's glaring at me.

[intheflow]

34. Cats always know when you're talking about them.

I'm sure the cat I'm watching is silently snickering as I type and search, type and search. :eyes:

[Flaxbee]

30. check the dryer, too, if they have one.

I have two cat-dryer stories. One ended very badly, my mother paid no attention to the dryer and it was horrible.

So I am paranoid and compulsive and check the dryer a gazillion (brazilian)times before I ever turn it on, b/c I've got 6 cats at the moment.

If you used it recently and left the door open, it'll be warm and cozy - I've had to haul one of our kittens out a few times, b/c she's SO DARN QUICK and will hop in whenever the door is open.

Not to set anyone panicking, but that's one of the first places I check (even tho it's irrational b/c I'm obsessed with keeping the dryer door shut).

[intheflow]

33. How horrible!

I haven't used either the washer or the dryer here, so if they were open and she's in there, she can get out.

Six cats! You must go through this scenario every day!

[NV Whino]

31. She's yanking your chain

Even if she got outside, she will be setting on the doorstep chewing you out because you let her outside.

In the mean time, check: under the couch and bed, behind the refrigerator, under blankets on bed, in closets, in drawers... and don't forget to look up.

[intheflow]

32. I think so, too.

The more I think about it, the more I'm sure she didn't slip outside. I'm sure she's being persnickety because her owner (well, her human) isn't home yet. Poor persecuted kitty!!

[BamaGirl]

37. We have two that are always trying to escape

They are inevitably found under a couch, or bed, or on top of a bookcase. Actually I was missing one this evening and finally she started meowing. Found her locked in the garage. All the kids swear they didn't do it of course. :eyes: So now she's traumatized and hiding under my bed lol.

[intheflow]

39. Lock the cat in the garage? Really? Your kids?

Don't you have a son you call "demon spawn"? :silly:

Sorry to spill your photo group secrets to the Lounge. In reality, I doubt the kids would notice if the cat was in there. I'm sure if they locked kitty in, it wasn't done with malicious intent.

[BamaGirl]

40. Lol yes I do

Tho I believe Demon Spawn was asleep at the time of the incident lol. Probably one of the girls went out there for something and didn't notice Sam follow her in. I think she's under the bed for the night. She peeked out earlier and ducked back under when Emma came in. Poor tormented kitties lol.

[BamaGirl]

41. Lol, yes I do

Tho I believe Demon Spawn was asleep at the time of the incident lol. Probably one of the girls went out there for something and didn't notice Sam follow her in. I think she's under the bed for the night. She peeked out earlier and ducked back under when Emma came in. Poor tormented kitties lol.

[intheflow]

42. Cat found! A combination of suggestions led to her discovery.

Even though I hadn't used the dryer, I took Flaxbee's advice and went to the laundry room to check the dryer. No cat. But while I was leaning over, I noticed a cupboard door ajar, as per ocelot's suggestion. No cat. But then--poof! She walked through a wall and appeared, just as TrogL experienced with his cat.

Thanks, Everyone! :grouphug:

[SoDesuKa]

43. Hunter's Instincts

Cats have very refined hunter's instincts, one of which is how to avoid giving off presence vibes. They can be right in the room with you, and you won't feel their presence. This is by design.

Every now and then, some generation of humans takes it upon themselves to persecute cats. That's why cats can't get too cozy with us; we turn on them. May I candidly admit not liking people who don't like cats? I wonder what's wrong with them.

[billyskank]

45. Good news

When my Mum looked after a friend's cat once, while they were going away, for the first day she didn't let him out of the house. He wasn't too impressed by this. On the second day she let him out, and after hanging around the back garden for a while, he disappeared.

Hours passed. Darkness fell. Mum started to get frantic.

Eventually she went out looking for him, but while she was out he came back. Once he got hungry, I reckon. :)

We reckon he was sulking. Or maybe he was exploring. Who knows?

He was gorgeous though, a beautiful Burmese, extremely personable.

[caty]

46. The first thing I did

when I got up this morning was to check to see if you found the cat. Good to know she showed up.:woohoo:

[intheflow]

50. Thanks, caty.

:hi:

[Mutley]

47. My parents were out of town, and hired a girl to take care of the cats.

The day before they are due to return, my dad calls me and says that my stepmother's cousin had called them and said that she'd gone to their house to check up on things and she'd found the front door wide open. She'd found two of the cats, but not the third, Clarence.

My dad is upset, and my step-mom is hysterical! They're in Maine (they live in DE) so they are still over twelve hours away. My dad asked me to drive to their house (I'm in Baltimore) and help my stepmother's cousin look for the cat.

So, I make the trip to their house. It's dark when I get there, so I go in, get a big flashlight, and start walking around the outside of the house looking for Clarence. I live in a city, and they live in a pretty rural area, so I'm pretty freaked out by now because I can't see anything beyond their yard. For all I know some freak is standing in the trees watching me, right? So, I'm looking around their house for Clarence, feeling like I'm being watched. I don't find him.

So, I go back in the house and open the sliding glass door so I can hear him if he comes back and is meowing to be let in. I lay down on the couch in the living room and fall asleep. Five times throughout the night I am awakened by the sound of a meowing cat outside. Each time, I grab the flashlight and go look around the house. EAch time I feel like I'm being watched. Nothing.

My parents get back around 5am. They decide to sit in the car and see if Clarence is around. In less than five minutes he comes sauntering like a bad ass into the beams of their headlights. The little fucker was probably right outside the house all night, but when I went looking for him, he hid from me. :grr:

Clarence is the orange one.


Turns out the girl had left the door open because sometimes you have to mess with the lock to get the door to close, and apparently she couldn't do it, so she just left, with the door hanging wide open and the key in the lock. :eyes:

[intheflow]

49. "They hired a girl..."

I hope they didn't pay her! She sounds like an irresponsible idiot.