oh, that is cause for worry, but the fact that they come back is a credit to you, most don't. I hope he comes back soon and yes, especially with his age, you may want to consider keeping him in.

I would worry constantly with an outdoor cat. Hope he comes home soon. Glad you will be keeping him in from now on. Please let us know when he has returned!

I am so sorry and know the anxiety you feel. It's terrible! Where is that kitty?????

I've tried to keep an outdoor cat inside. It isn't easy, they are relentless in their begging, sitting at the door, etc.

Please keep us posted.

Oh no! That would be very distressing! I hope the old boy comes home soon and you can convince that roaming isn't good for either of you!! Do let us know as soon as he shows up again.

I hope he comes home soon. Probably hunting and enjoying outside life. My neighbor's cat got out three weeks ago and they have even set traps for her. She is living in my yard half the time, hunting chippies and birds and looking no worse for being outside.

Thanks everyone and no news. If this is like last year the folk who have him will go home tonight or tomorrow. I will leave a note for our lovely postlady with a notice to put up there in the local Post Office. acadiafun; no he always came home. These are cats I raised from babies and got through enteritis and they are totally devoted. Remembering the state his sister was in when she came home after 6 weeks.. She hates not going out but TOUGH! These are home cats, bed cats. Fine to feed cats who come but not to confine them. His sister is very agitated and clingy. snookums; I have lived in several places in Ireland and never ever had any problems. Cats went out, cats came in. And yes, indoor from now on, regardless of emotional blackmail which I am already getting from his Sister..

They'll get over it. I have never had a cat that wanted to go out again.

snookums; allow me to introduce you to his sister, who went missing six weeks last year! And has never even been allowed out since. She never gives up pestering me loud and long. And sitting in the window like a china cat on speed. Makes family laugh when we are on the phone as they can hear her all the way in Canada,. Well tough, little cat! Not going through this ever again. I think the people who took her left her locked in the holiday house when they left as she was starving and stressed when she found her way home. Probably someone went in to clean the house and i hope she left her mark .. or multi marks... Maddening day as can make no progress as a public holiday so all is closed. Most of Ireland is due a massive thunderstorm later and flood warnings. Not here they say... Trying to add a photo of the two of them

[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/28lgi6x.jpg[/IMG]

I hope your kitty comes home soon. That is so distressing!

I pray that your little man makes it home safely and soundly.

Oh yes, Also..I have a little girl named Bitsy. She is the love of my life. She is allowed out in the back yard only. The yard has a 9 ft. Fence all around it. She got out once thru a hole which I have since borded up. I was frantic for the 1 hour she was gone!!!

Marigold, your two kitties are real beauties!! I sure hope that wayward boy comes home soon.

Marigold my neighbors cat is also a house cat. Not used to being outside. My point was she is outside and surviving well. She sneaked out of the house. So I am just hoping that your cat will do as well but hopefully come home sooner than later.

Please - visit missingpetpartnership.org and apply the information - its just fabulous - lots of current science-based info on lost cat behavior + how to do an effective cat search, how to analyze the situation (and your cats personality) to come up with a plan. Its all well and good to just sit and hope she's going to come home of her own accord - but the fact that you are distressed (understandably so) and posting here suggests to me that being more active in the search may be in order. I know for me when my guy was lost - just doing something each day helped my outlook. And I wanted to be sure that, god forbid, if the worst happened and I never found my cat, I wanted to know that Id done everything I could. (I did get him back, 6 wks later)

You may be right that if she's friendly to people someone may have her thinking she's homeless - but then again, you just dont know - couldve been chased by a dog out of her territory or trapped in a building. A cat finding itself out of its territory is going to behave very differently (eg wilder, more skittish) than one in its own home turf.

In the future I would also make sure she has a collar and is chipped - teaching a kitten to accept a collar should be a part of every young cat's education.

Oh one other thought - I used the MPP idea (on the website) of creating large florescent intersection signs and got TONS of calls. Most of course didnt pan out.... until I got THE ONE. Anyway according to MPP its not unheard of for a reunion to happen within hours of putting up this type of highly visible sign - eg. people who had someone's cat thinking it was homeless would be seeing this sign and would be motivated to call.

Best to you, Cathy in WI

ALLELUIA! He is back.... I need to explain that I live very deeply and remotely in rural Ireland that is also farming country so no loose dogs etc .... And few dwellings. My nearest neighbour is about a mile and 2 miles the other way... And the people here are really a race apart...Almost no one around here uses a computer either...I have been here five years and am still learning.. So I went at it sideways. Chatted on Tuesday with my lovely landlord and wrote it all in a letter to him .. he is local and they all know each other well.. asked him please to get them to check their sheds.. how distressed I was etc.. put a big notice up in the shop/PO two miles away asking the same....Lefft a similar note out for our lovely post lady who goes to every farm and house..... I could feel the pain of the cat and that he was shut in.... As I was falling asleep Thursday evening, thought I heard a car.. this is a dead end rough track of a lane and no one comes here.. was too nearly asleep to move, but soon after 1 am had to get up ( old lady bathroom need!). Went downstairs to check ; he has a window open for him in a spare room) called his name and there he was, in the bed there for him... Black and white face peeping out at me... So up we came, food, and talk about affection! There is no way this boy would stay away 8 days and he smelled..... not like him. I realised later what was odd. We have had heavy rain and the lane is muddy Hayfields sodden.. Yet he was dry and his feet clean so someone found him and drove up here with him ....... He is curled up on my arm purring..... IT has all been sorted quietly through neighbourly contact in the Irish way....where he has been I will never know and need not know.. But the people here know.. But that is it now for outside. I expect tantrums ahead...

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR KINDNESS AND SUPPORT...

acadia; I did understand but this boy is doglike in his devotion to me. All my cats are. I am rarely out and off my feet a lot with illness and the cats share my life most of each day. These two came from the cat refuge from hell; filthy, diseased place, and the first three weeks were spent getting them through feline enteritis,. The boy vanished one day then and I searched and found him hiding with that look of death in his eyes and I refused to let him die. Each cat is different as I know you know.

Glad to hear he is back! Thanks so much for letting us know!

Wonderful!

(I enjoyed hearing about your community and rural life. It must be beautiful there. )

Fantastic! I'm SO happy for you and your kitty.

What a relief!

Yeah! Soooo happy for you and for kitty. Not sure what you mean by tantrums or the irish way (not my culture LOL). Could be someone just mistook him for an unwanted, unloved kitty and took him in without making any attempt to find you...? In my dealings with lost cats (my own and helping other people) it seems theres this persistent myth of cats getting dumped or owners being neglectful, when often the truth is the cat is just plain lost through no fault of the cat or the owner.

Or who the heck knows! Guess you could just file it under the category of "stuff happens." Anyway - enjoy the snuggles and good job on the outreach and communications to get your cat back - it worked, obviously!

I'm so glad to see this post and that your boy has returned home!! I know how happy you are to have him back. Yay!! I love happy endings!

That's really wonderful news Marigold, the two in your picture are so very pretty.

Just read this and I do love to come upon threads that have a happy ending. Was he in good condition, like he had been fed and cared for? If so, Current Resident is likely correct and someone took him in until they saw your "lost cat" notice. I do wonder why they did not bring him back during the day, the night return is strange.

So h.a.p.p.y. your kitty is home!

Thanks everyone. He is exhausted and face a little thin but eating and demanding his usual outrageously lovely amount of attention, then sleeping. I know it is hard to understand the Irishness here so you must needs accept what happened. He was returned after dark in the hope I would not see who delivered him! Folk here know through my landlord that I am ill and go to bed very early. When they realised they had my cat they would have been upset. So hiddenness and that is fine. Had I gone round the houses myself there would have been embarrassment had I found the cat and maybe hostility then, My way no one was upset and everyone feels good. My gratitude will delight them and rightly so

A month or so ago, the landlord sent a neighbour to put in a new washing machine. A kind hearted and unsophisticated man who is good to everyone. He asked me what colour my cats are and seemed to ignore the black and white, to repeat the ginger and white...

I was sure where my cat was last week. Would nto hurt that man for anything; cat probably got shut in and he would have been mortified had I gone there . These are families who have lived here for many generations, deeply rooted.

NB current res is way off here but this is rural Ireland and my home and i know and deeply respect the folk. NB Cats in rural Ireland are never ever allowed in the house by the way. Not ever.. This boy of mine at one house used to visit a neighbour and share their cats outdoor feed... The lady told me once he had appeared at her window and she had given him a slice of ham " And he would have COME IN if I had let him."

So the family here had been encouraging him by feeding him outside and then either by accident or else he got shut in...He is a lovely kind boy after all...

So all is well, no one has been offended and now we have indoor cats only ... All is well thankfully.

It did amuse me that he was dry and clean in the hard rain.... He woudl have raced from the car in through the window as I slept..

All is settling now and my cats have RETIRED from outdoor life. Makes life less stressful for all..

Ah now I get it. Thx so much for the details about how you went about recovering your kitty - the hows and whys and the cultural considerations were very interesting. Obviously you did it exactly right! And obviously, my American yank style of bluntly asking would have gotten you absolutely nowhere! Best, Cathy in WI

Cathy; yes you got it! The US way would have antagonised everyone. I learned a lot last year.. Dratted cat is making my life.. interesting! I am sure now it is "just" not "doing his bathroom" as the locals put it, that is bothering him. So he will get used to it..He is lying on my arm purring and padding as I type,