Authored by: Maus Anon E on Friday, August 20 2010 @ 10:33 AM GMT+5

I hope you find your Maeve. We have a similarly skittish indoor kitty who freaks out every once in a while and bolts out the door. Of course, he's terrified as soon as he does, and just wants to run and hide... anywhere.

He was a stray, and I suspect that's how he came to us - after bolting from someone else's house and running. Never could find the previous owner, although we tried. Despite his nervousness, he has become the most people-oriented cat I've ever had.

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Slán abhaile

Authored by: pjmelton on Friday, August 20 2010 @ 01:21 PM GMT+5

Your kitty and my kitty should get together and go bowling.

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"The whole shadow of Man is only as big as his hat. " -- Elizabeth Bishop

Authored by: cgrotke on Friday, August 20 2010 @ 11:59 AM GMT+5

It's been lovely cat weather lately. Our have been wanting
to stay out all night.

Assuming she's OK, there are a few places a skittish cat
might end up. She probably looked for the closest safe
spot she could find. I do a double check around the house,
under porches, in garages and sheds, in stone fence, under
some bushes.

I'd assume she went in a direction away from noise/roads.
If there are nearby neighbors with barns, sheds, porches -
those are all likely hiding spots.

It could be that she got locked into something. Perhaps
she was hiding in something that could be closed or
locked, and someone came by and did that. Look up to
second floor windows of closed nearby buildings.

Our upstairs neighbor's cat went missing for four days a
few years ago. He was found down the street, looking out
of a second floor window and meowing. It was a garage
that had been closed up and he probably went in the door
then got stuck inside.

Authored by: pjmelton on Friday, August 20 2010 @ 01:16 PM GMT+5

All the hidey-holes have been quadruple-checked. It's hard to imagine that after not eating for two days she would not make the slightest sound when her People came looking for her. I think we just haven't been near her. Perhaps she panicked and ran much farther from home than we have looked.

I doubt she is at a neighbor's, as most are across the brook or have dogs (or in one case, horses). I thought she came out from under a tarp yesterday, but it turned out to be a squirrel.

Nothing for it but to keep peering under the porch, the canoe, the wild rose bush...etc.

My husband, David, says he had a cat who just disappeared one day so she could wander off and die alone. Maeve is not all that old, would not normally have gone more than a few feet from the door, and didn't seem sick, so I just can't figure out what could be going on.

Now I'm sending the boys out with our younger cat, in hopes that she might know where her big sister is.

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"The whole shadow of Man is only as big as his hat. " -- Elizabeth Bishop

Authored by: cgrotke on Friday, August 20 2010 @ 01:27 PM GMT+5

Cats can get water from grass, and can eat bugs and such.
Most can hunt if need be. They are delicate, but can be
tough for a while under adverse circumstances.

Look up in trees, too, while out an around.

If she was in pretty good spirits before and not appearing
to be sick, she's probably out there being anxious
somewhere...

And do call town animal control and let them know what
she looks like. They had been rounding up cats out at
night earlier this year. Not sure if it is still going on, but
even if it isn't, they might hear something.

Authored by: BrattMan on Friday, August 20 2010 @ 02:03 PM GMT+5

She sounds like my cat who is also black and might be close to her age. I hope you find her soon.

Authored by: littlewing on Friday, August 20 2010 @ 02:08 PM GMT+5

you might try leaving a shirt or some item of clothing that smells like home out in the woods a bit further away. it could lead her back. i hope she returns!

Authored by: omerhj on Monday, August 23 2010 @ 07:19 AM GMT+5

If Maeve didn't come back yet, please consider placing a lost & found classified ad in the Reformer. There is no charge for those. A lot of people still don't use the Internet but do read the newspaper front to back.

One of my cats disappeared from Guilford back in October 2008. Ten weeks later I got a call from someone living near the hospital in Brattleboro who found a cat. She remembered seeing my ad in the Reformer, and was able to reunite me with my missing cat.

Authored by: pjmelton on Monday, August 23 2010 @ 08:16 AM GMT+5

Maeve is alive, well, and home. She went back in the woods and was afraid to come out of hiding to find her way home. We went out to coax her a couple times, and finally she made a break for it under cover of darkness and showed up during nighttime books. Thanks for all the supportive comments and thoughts!

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"The whole shadow of Man is only as big as his hat. " -- Elizabeth Bishop

Authored by: cgrotke on Monday, August 23 2010 @ 09:35 AM GMT+5

Nice! Thanks for the update. I was wondering about her.

My next suggestion was to look for her at dusk and night.
I've noticed that the black cats I've know love going out at
night (easy to hide) and the bright cats seem to prefer going
out by day.

Maybe go for a walk with her outside after she readjusts to
see the places she's interested in in case it happens again.

Authored by: tiny on Monday, August 23 2010 @ 10:23 AM GMT+5

Glad to hear your cat made it home. I have a 11 year old
cat that likes to prowl around. In the last year, he has
lost an eye and a month ago got attacked by the local
feral cats (again) and had to be operated on and get 18
stitches. We have a lot of other varmints who live in the
'hood and are not the most pleasant neighbors.

I once had a kitty who was scared up a tree, 150feet
straight up a pine tree. She stayed up there for days and
nobody and nothing could coax her down. On the fourth
day, another cat showed up and the two of them meowed
back and forth for half the day and the kitty finally came
down.

Nice to hear your pet made it home for dinner.