FALSE ALARM!!! Just found Carys in her basket!!!!! Whew!!!!!!!!!!

[Siwsan]

I am feeling a MASSIVE amount of relief. I've done my best to re-connect the dryer vent but will get help with it tomorrow. At least there's no way she can get through it, now.

Again, WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hlthe2b]

1. I'm sort of thinking she knows when she has it good now... I doubt she's too tempted to leave her

cozy domicile.

[Siwsan]

2. I sprayed the bedding with Nature's Miracle Cat Calming Spray

Maybe I should spray some of that on myself!!

I think I need a glass of Chardonnay.

[asiliveandbreathe]

4. Oh, I just finished a note to you..OMG..I'm need to calm down now..

Go for it .a glass of wine..always the cure WHEW...

[MacKasey]

6. the glass of Chardonnay would be better!

I just came back on to check if you had found her, so glad you did!

[elleng]

3. WHEW!

[Siwsan]

8. These babies do keep me on my toes!

They have a gate advertised at Aldi that looks like she wouldn't be able to jump over it. It's retractable, 40" tall and sleek plastic. Tomorrow I'm going to see if they still have them. If so I'll move her back to the den and keep her restrained so that she won't be able to isolate herself. That might help her socialize. Hopefully, anyway.

[SlimJimmy]

14. Would she be able to climb it?

she wouldn't be able to jump over it.

[Siwsan]

15. It's a solid plastic so nothing to grip with her claws, and at 40" it might be a challenge to jump

If not, I'll have it handy for the next litter I bring in.

[SlimJimmy]

20. Sounds good.

[MyMission]

5. Great news!

I just read the post about her missing. If you haven't updated that thread I suggest you reply there that she's been found.

Many of us follow and enjoy your kitten reports.
So glad you found her.
More photos please!

[Siwsan]

7. I think Arthur was trying to let me know to chill

He jumped up on my lap, gave me a few slow blinks and then kept staring down the hallway. He probably heard her.

I'll definitely be taking more photos!! Glad you enjoy reading about their adventures with me.

[wnylib]

9. Well that's good news. She seems to be

a pro at hiding out.

[Siwsan]

10. I checked all of the usual places, too!

When I saw that open dryer vent, my heart just dropped. I went outside and stuck a stick through it to see if there might be a screen but there wasn't. There will be one there soon! I'll use chicken wire on the outside so I can clean it.

[wnylib]

17. I wouldn't worry too much about Carys being slow

to adapt. Sometimes a feral takes time to adjust to indoor life because it is sharp, alert, and clever. Intelligent, or in other words, it has strong natural instincts. Indoor life feels unnatural to them.

I don't know if that fits Carys, but it might explain why she got spooked by Madoc's antics the other day and hid. What we see as fear in a cat is a smart survival instinct to avoid something too loud or sudden. When she gets more adapted to being inside, she might turn out to be a clever cat who learns how to do things, like getting onto mischief.

[Walleye]

11. So good to hear that. I checked back specifically to see if she had turned up

The other night I got up in the early morning and my back door was open about 4 inches. I didn’t find Patches right away and started to panic. But there he was in his cardboard box of old clothes sound asleep. So I know how you feel

[Siwsan]

12. Madoc used to be very good at slipping out doors.

At first it was just inside doors. Then once he slipped outside and I didn't see him. I was checking something and when I came back around to the front door he was racing back and forth in a panic. Seems the outside world is more frightening than he remembered. But then he hadn't even left the shelter when I brought him and his siblings inside. As soon as I opened the door he bolted inside.

[Demovictory9]

13. My story of lost cat..noticed I hadn't seen her for a bit. Searched home round and round

Assumed she snuck out when I brought in grocery. Started outside search with help of neighbors. Gave up. Left door open with hope she would find her way back..🥺😭

When all got quiet heard kitchen drawer shuffling. She had gone under sink and up into drawer and squeezed into impossibly small space I had considered too small to search

🤓

[Siwsan]

16. Carys found a small opening beneath the bathroom cabinet

I've found her there a couple of times. Hopefully she will outgrow that opening, soon.

[Yonnie3]

18. I had a cat disappear all day

I looked around outside and she didn't come when I whistled as she usually did. I checked all the kitchen cabinets, refrigerator, closets etc. with no luck.

I was in the kitchen later and heard a faint meow. This cat couldn't be loud, she was nearly mute. I heard her several times and finally saw her on top of the kitchen cabinets. I have no idea how she got up there and she never did go up there again.

I'm glad Carys was found.

[3catwoman3]

19. THE BEST NEWS! This takes me back to Thanksgiving about 5 years ago.

One of our cats (we had 4 at the time - all indoor critters) pulled a major disappearing act, for about 8 hours, to the point where I was certain he had somehow gotten out of the house and likely been picked off by a car. I had looked everywhere, tried the laser pointer, jingle toys, treats, food - nothing. I was so distraught I couldn't even eat dinner.

It was bitter cold. Twice, I went walking around the neighborhood, calling for him. The second time, it was dark, and there I am, looking for a black-and-brown tabby cat in the dark. Good luck with that, right?

I came back in the house, to find our younger son coming down the stairs with the cat in his arms, saying, "Well, well well - look who showed up." I was so relieved I cried.

The cat had been under our younger son's bed, where I had looked more than once. I had not looked well enough. It's a platform bed, with storage drawers, and the cat had crawled all the way up against the headboard, into a space next to a drawer that you could not see into unless you took the mattress all the way off the bed, which I had not done.

Our 2 current cats wear TILE trackers on their collars. Winston, the "lost" cat, had one at the time of this story, but the battery had run out and I had not replaced it. A lesson learned. Any day I haven't seen either of them for a while, I go around the house "beeping" them for my peace of mind.

[wendyb-NC]

21. What a relief

Cats are great at disappearing. Through the years, I can't tell you how many times I have torn my house apart, looking for one of my cats, and often not finding them during that episode of hysteria. I've run wild eyed through my neighborhood, calling their name at the top of my lungs. They always turn up, asleep in the laundry hamper, or like Carys, in their bed. It's what they do.