Open all closet doors.
Open all kitchen cabinets.
Open interior cellar door.
...you get the idea.

Is there anyone who has never searched high and low for a cat, indoors and out, only to find it in a closet the next morning?

It is, of course, always possible that she may have gotten outside somehow, so you must not dismiss that possibility. I, however, have "lost" cats any number of times in my own home. It's really quite remarkable how effectively they can hide almost in plain sight (or not).

If your girl is in none of the places where she normally hides, you have to start looking in all of the abnormal places. Check all closets, cabinets, drawers, under all furniture, on top of everything she can possibly get on top of, and behind anything she can get behind. If there is any conceivable way your girl can access the interiors of your ceilings, walls, or floors through an attic or basement, go to the access points and bait them with warmed up, smelly (fish-flavored), canned cat food to try to lure your girl out. Check INSIDE your furniture. Cats have been known to crawl inside couches, lazyboy chairs, hide-a-beds, and box springs from underneath.

Use a flashlight after dark to search your house. It'll help find her by illuminating her eyes.

On the off-chance that she did get outside, buy, borrow, or rent a live trap and place it outside your door, covered with your own dirty clothing, and place her soiled litterbox next to it. The familiar scents should keep her close and hopefully help lure her into the trap along with some warm, smelly, canned food bait.

If the poor thing is inside, she's either ill or very frightened or is trapped somewhere she can't get out of. Either that, or she's outside and terrified. I wish you luck in finding your cat quickly.

Laurie

Years ago, one of my cats tore a hole in the fabric lining underneath the sofa and crawled up inside. She hid there for some time before I found her.

Please let us know when you find your cat -- I feel sure that you will.

Well, my wife found her somewhere in the dining room. Ebony came out to her, and even took a treat from her and let mommy pet her. Mommy then enticed her to come into the bathroom and shut the door. When I came to the bathroom door and opened it, Ebony bolted towards the door. I bent down to stop her, and managed to catch her.

...that was until she sank her teeth into me five times. Yes, I have a whole bunch of holes in my wrist, including a set on my thumb (she punctured my nail). Needless to say, she got away again. This time I let her.

Well, not only am I in pain, but I had to endure mommy telling me I shouldn't have tried to grab her, because now she'll never come out again. I told her at least we know she's not out in the cold and the rain.

I'll keep you posted! Thanks for the help!

I had this happen twice with mixed results. Both were torties. The happier story was my little tortie got in an large file type drawer in my old kitchen (major renovation 4 years ago) which was used to store phone books. I made a call before I went out New Years Eve to a friends at 4 PM and came home at 2 AM..Thought I heard noises and there she was, not too upset. I've also locked cats in the closet for an over night but not recently. The saddest one was the another little tortie who was very shy. I raised her from a week old feeding her a bottle when her mother was killed. Since my cats are indoor only and never try to get out , I didn't even miss Peeper till late the next day. And even then we tore the house apart thinking she was stuck somewhere. My husband two days later asked about what was in the trash bag I carried to the curb days before. It was old clothes and sweaters I had cleaned out of my chest, and somehow in the 5 seconds it took for me to put on my coat she climbed in. Before that we were petting her on the dining room table in front of the woodstove. It was the coldest day in the history of this area, minus 18, and there was two feet of snow/ice and so three days later after I put signs on all posts and went door to door, did the lightbulb go on. I have never forgiven myself and never will...I know you will have a happier ending even if she got out. Shy cats are the worst. My others always respond when called.

No offense,but I dont think I'd want a cat like that.What good does it do to have it if it just bites you and hides all the time?
My cat is anti-social to some extent but he at least joins us and lets us pet him (he just doesnt like to be held)

So glad you found your cat. I hate when they hide in plain sight! She must have gotten freaked with the activity in the house.

Thanks plasticgarden. I'm sure criticalmass feels better now.

Just for future reference, criticalmass, try to gently explain to your wife that it is not a good idea to put a timid cat into a small, enclosed place like a bathroom. A timid cat with no place to hide will feel especially vulnerable, frightened, and "captured" in such a space. That's why your girl attacked you the way she did. It was simply her fight or flight response kicking in. When you thwarted her flight, she had no option but to fight.

Next time the cat makes an appearance, act normally. Speak to her, offer her a treat and petting if she wants it, but don't try to pick her up or restrict her movements or freedom in any way. She's been traumatized by this unfortunate event, so it may take some time for her to trust the two of you enough to come out into the open during daylight hours again. Just make sure you leave food out for her at night so that she can come out under cover of darkness and eat.

She'll come around in time. Try to convince your wife to relax and be patient.

You should also go right to your doctor for antibiotics. Cat bites can be nasty. I know from personal experience.

Laurie

criticalmass - As Laurie said, please see your doctor for antibiotics. I teach microbiology to medical students and cat bites are one of the topics I cover. Those puncture wounds, especially the one through the nail, stand a high chance of a nasty infection.

I'm glad you found the kitty. Poor scared baby.

I had a cat that hid in the house as well.

We had workers come in to repair something in the floor, and I could've sworn she ran away. I was so upset. a 750sq ft apartment, with 3 cats. And we could NOT find her. I was positive she was not in the apartment.

THREE days later, she came out of who knows where. Acting like she'd never been gone and nothing was wrong. Not at all anymore timid or skitterish than before. The worst part of not knowing where she was, is Im sure there were some bodily things to clean up, that we never found.

Please take the advice of others here and get to a doctor asap. Puncture bites from a cat, especially through a fingernail, can be dangerous. You need to confer as soon as you can about antibiotics and a tetanus shot.

elly nj,it wasnt meant to make him feel worse.It is just MY OPINION,which I'am entitled to.
It doesnt mean his cat will ALWAYS be like this.Maybe she just needs to adjust.
I believe I did mention my cat was similar.Although he has gotten much nicer with age.
But it is still my personal belief if a cat was biting me and stuff,then I would possibly seek to find it another home if it didnt get better.Not saying he should,not saying my belief is right.Just how I feel.
I also think a better attempt would have been to coax her gently with a treat or just being nice.Live and learn.

It's certainly true that some pets react differently to different people or different environments. I know a couple who adopted a dog from a shelter and gave it a lot of care, but it just never warmed up to them, and was biting and so on. They returned it after a few weeks or a month and the shelter found it another home, and they later reported to me that when the new owner brought the dog home, he immediately jumped into her lap, perfectly happy.

I had a timid cat that hid all the time, he came from a house that had around 20 or so others living amongst him, so I couldn't blame him. He did warm up to us although any time there was any activity going on or other people in the house he would go hide again, what we did was let him do his thing, we never tried to stop him from running to hide, if he was hidden I left him to come out on his own, my house was small enough I was aware of where he was though, I just didn't bother him. He turned into one of the better cats I have owned and his new owners are pleased as punch with him (he had totally came out of his shell and never has done any of the hiding tricks with them)

Criticalmass~ has she come back out at all since this happend the other day? How are things going now?

Sorry I didn't update you all earlier -- thanks for the concern, and I hope everyone who celebrates it is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Well the wife is a nurse, and had plenty of antibiotic ointment around, and treated me that night with bandages. It hurt like heck, though.

Anyway, Monday I went on a mission to get the cat out. I chased her out of her hiding spot and back under the bed. She stayed there for about three hours, and then popped out like nothing was ever wrong. To this day, everything is fine.

And to clarify, until this incident, she has NEVER even hissed at me, let alone bite me. Not even they day we caught her. She simply likes to hide during the day, and come out around dinner time, until about midnight.

As for the quote, "what good does it do...."...She isn't out on the street or being abused...To me that is reason enough to have her...I have 4 inside furbabies and 1 doesn't like to be held, but lets me pet her..She, along with the other 3 will run and hide if we get company...Each cat/kitten is different and if someone could figure out the workings of a cat, that would make the news....

Well, yesterday my cat never showed his face during our whole T-giving day party (14 people over). I figured he was under the bed but when I checked during the party he wasn't there. Then I forgot about it. Later, after everyone left, I had a thought. I went to my bedroom and opened the door to the walk-in closet. My cat popped right out. He was freaked out at first then acted like he was so happy to see me.

He had been in the closet for 5 hours.