# HELP! Indoor cat escaped outside



## punchyb (Sep 10, 2009)

I am new to the forum, but desperate!

Four days ago, one of my indoor only cats escaped outside and ran off. We have been searching for her ever since and have seen her several times (always after dark), but we have been unable to catch her. Looking for some advice on how we can lure her out so we can catch her, or get her back in the house.

Some background info on Lola - She was probably an outdoor cat at one point. She was picked up by a local rescue group when she was about a year old and pregnant. We adopted her when she was 1.5 years old, and has lived with us for the past 2 years. Since being rescued, she has been an indoor only cat. She has always been kind of nervous and stand offish. She doesn't come up to us for attention or to be petted, but within the last year she has become more open to being petted when she is laying down and we sit next to her. She doesn't play with toys very much, and the only way we can get her to come to us is shaking a bag of treats. 

She really does NOT like to be in her carrier. She puts up a big fight, and we were only successful once when trying to get her into her carrier. Because of this, she is unfortunately not up to date on her shots. When she escaped, we were trying to move our cats to our new apartment, and when we couldn't get her into her carrier, we decided to try putting her on a harness and leash and would hold her in the car, but she got out and wiggled out of her harness. Because she doesn't like her carrier/enclosed spaces, we are unsure if cat traps would be successful.

Since she escaped, we seen her several times around our house and in our yard so we believe she knows where her home is. However, she's normally in bushes around one of our neighbor's houses so she's hard to reach, and runs off before we can reach her. We have been sitting up at night, and last night she came up onto the deck behind our house. I was sitting behind a closed glass door, and was afraid to open it for fear the noise would scare her off. I called to my fiancée, and he came into the room along with our other cat. She ran off when they came to the door, we think she was scared by the movement from inside the house, or she saw our other cat and didn't recognize him. (Normally they get along fairly well.)

Looking for some advice on how we can calm her down and get her to come close enough that we can catch her, or lure her into the house. Our neighbors lent us some cat traps, but given her history with carriers, not sure if she will go in there, even for food. Is it worth it to try to catch her with a net when we see her in the bushes? She always seems very scared and just runs away - are we scaring her even more by chasing her?

Thanks in advance - we love our Lola very much and just want her home safe with us!


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## i.love.my.cats (Aug 11, 2009)

hello , why dont you try putting some cat biscuits on the doorstep and when u see her around just leave your door open and with any look she might just walk in i hope u manage to get her back in you house :heart


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## QuinnCat (Jul 13, 2009)

Aw, I'm sorry about this.

I do think that trying to catch her with a net when she's hiding in bushes is likely to scare her away. Obviously she's hanging around your house trying to figure out the best way to get back in, so the last thing you want to do is cause her to flee further away from the house. If you see her in the bushes, instead of trying to catch her with a net or something scary like that, just _sit down and call to her in a calm, soft voice._ You need to be patient and still, and keep yourself calm so she feels secure enough to come to you. Having some of her favorite food or treats on hand will help here. 

Another idea: if she's coming up on to the deck at night, maybe that's the best place to tempt her to return to. If she has a favorite bed or blanket, put that in a quiet and undisturbed place, maybe with a toy in it. Anything that smells familiar to her. A dish of her food in this spot might help. Sit quietly by this spot at night and see if she comes back when she gets hungry. Also, if you have neighbors that feed stray cats, you might want to ask them if they've seen her.

I suppose that if all else fails you could try a trap with some kind of irresistible treat in it, but based on what you've said about carriers, she may be reluctant to enter the trap. 

Good luck, I hope you get her home soon atback


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Well, I hope I'll be able to help you get your skittish kitty back inside.

First. FEED her on that back porch. As close to the door as you can. Maybe close other cat/people into different parts of the house and keep that back door OPEN. Have one person, yourself, in that room so when you see her coming inside (_food bowl well inside the room_) you are in a position to _quickly close the door_ before she has time to scoot back out because of your movements.

She sounds like a stand-off-ish and skittish kitty so chasing her will NOT work well at all. She is outside and in unfamiliar territory and is 'programed' at this time to distrust everything, causing her to be even more wary than usual. Unless you can lure her to you with the bag of treats (_doubtful due to how you described her previously wary indoor behavior with this offering_) your best bet is going to be luring her into a cat trap or luring her into your home and closing the door behind her once she's in.

The good news is she *is* hanging around the home and coming near, so she knows where she wants to be. Just help her get there by making it easy and low-stress, this is where I feel the access to the house and closing the door behind her would be your best bet. Also, no direct eye-stares as she could interpret that as too predatory and dangerous, causing her to retreat.
Best of luck, I know how upsetting it is to have a kitty missing.
heidi


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## punchyb (Sep 10, 2009)

Good news! Lola is back at home. 

Thanks to everyone's help here, we were able to plan out exactly what we would do when we saw her on the deck or in our driveway again. Around midnight of the day I first posted this, she came onto the deck, so we put our other cat in a bedroom, and quietly opened the door. We shook her food bowl and a bag of treats, and she slowly and timidly came towards us. Eventually she was close enough that we were able to grab her bring her inside and shut the door. She wasn't too pleased at first but eventually warmed up. 

We took her to the vet the next morning and everything checked out ok. She's been sleeping pretty much the entire time since we brought her home from the vet, and I'm still keeping her secluded from our other cat even though the vet said it was after 24 hours, at least until she's rested up. 

My best advice to anyone in the same situation who may find this thread is to adjust your sleep hours so you can watch for your cat, if possible. Most nights I went to bed at 10pm and set an alarm for 2:30 am to get up and watch. My fiancee would stay up until midnight. She tended to make appearances around the same time each night, so even if we couldn't catch her we still knew she was OK. 

Thanks again for everyones help!


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## zippy96444 (Mar 7, 2006)

Yeaaaa! so glad you finally got her! :jump :yellbounce


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Yay! What great news and an awesome tip about taking watches through the night...


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## punchyb (Sep 10, 2009)

here's a picture of lola. ever since we got her back she has seemed a little extra friendly


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

She is an adorable little Tuxedo-kitty. I love the contrast of her white whiskers.


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

My Nito was so mad when I first got kitten Chica, that he opened the back screen door and ran away. He was gone all evening (worst of all, it was storming) and I finally heard my neighbors calling into the common court yard "Anyone lose a cat!?"

Sure enough, I go over and there he is. Panicked and meowing outside the door that SHOULD have been my room (the apartments are all built identical). When I took him home he was extra nice and loving for a few days.


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