Question for anyone who knows about cats

My cat Herman ran away on June 14th : ( He ran away the day we moved into a new apartment...about 10 miles away from our old apartment. We have done fliers, checked shelters, filed reports, posted online etc.

My question is, is it possible that he is back at our old apartment? I know cats don't like moving and he was born and raised there. Even though it's 10 miles away and he'd have to cross a pretty significant bridge to get there, is it possible?

We miss him and at this point I hope he is at least alive...I just want to know what he might do or where he might go. Yes, we already checked the old apartment once but we would check again if we thought it was a possibility.

How horrible. :(  Have you put posters up around your old apartment, in case he did go back?  Or do you know an old neighbor there who can keep an eye out?

I'm no cat expert but I would say there is a good chance he has gone home, I lost a cat that way.

Aw - I'm really sorry your cat is missing, but he's most likely not at your old apartment.  He wouldn't be familiar with the 10 mile trip and a cat's sense of direction, while good, isn't magical, like that.

I would check the shelters repeatedly and just keep posting fliers.  

By gone home do you mean passed away?

Cats are smart and sometimes very scared fur persons.  Quit wondering and get over to your old apartment and ask anyone over there if they have seen your Mr. Cat.  Get snoopy and look under things, check out dark corners and even maybe sheds if there are any there- Mr. probably got quite upset that his house suddenly was not around any more.  Good luck. 

Original Post by jazzygal:

By gone home do you mean passed away?

 No.....he went back to the previous address which is where he viewed his home to be. I spoke to the people who had moved in there and between us we decided that he could stay with them.......he's still alive and loving life.

I hope you fine your kitty. Just a note to give you some hope. when I lived in GA. I heard a cat in my back yard I went out and found her under a bush and just picked up with no problem. we had a 50 acre farm behide us and then a main road.  The cat had a tag so I called the number the guy that answered sounded really strange when I said, I'm calling because I found a cat, (silent)  so I said , did you lose your cat.  Finally he said yes, then  said what does the cat look like. and I told him. (silent again) so I said, it has a tag on it with this number. He said we lost that  cat 2 yrs ago.  they had a ad on t.v. flier and a big reward for this cat. It was being boarded at a vets office on the main road on the other side of the farm and got out. Needless to say the he called his wife and she came and got her. A happy ending.   Good luck to you.

Definitely check your old house. My old flat-mate's dog used to return home no matter where she wandered off and would come back to our house to visit even when her mum moved out. Good luck finding your kitty, you must be worried sick.

Edited to add: Go out in your new neighbourhood and call him every day. If he is lost and confused, hearing your voice might bring him out into the open, or at least make him meow. That's how we found my sister's cat - she had got locked in the neighbours garage when they went away for a long weekend. It was only 4 days, but she only started yowling when she heard my voice.

cats have a pretty good sense of direction which usually helps them navigate back home... so he might have gone back to your old house (though 10 miles would definitely take a while.) is there per chance any way you could get your old neighbours to help you keep a lookout?

There's all kinds of stories of pets traveling long distances to get home. So there is a chance he's tried to go back there. Like others said put up fliers there and get neighbours to keep an eye out.

One of my cats took a walk and didn't come back last summer. It's been almost a year. He had been unhappy since the move. Every time I go back to the old house to mow or check on maintenance items (it's up for sale), I look for him. I also find myself scouring the country side on the drive to and from the old house to the new one. It's almost 90 miles.

I know it's a possibility that he could show up there. I know it's not a probability at this point after almost a year.

I hope you find your kitty. I miss mine terribly.

There's all kinds of stories of pets traveling long distances to get home.

Agreed. And he may have also wandered somewhere new by accident. A girl adopted a dog from the same shelter that I got my dog from. He went missing (near central Seoul) and ended up in Incheon near the airport... a two hour subway ride away.

My aunt's cat went missing 9 months ago. After a few weeks, they assumed that the cat must have been eaten by a wild animal, or hit by a car somewhere.

He came back on Saturday morning (this past saturday). They have no idea how far he had gone, and he was really thin and scragly, but the cat came back.

Cats remember where they've lived.

Similar story, we moved to a new house and moved my b/f's cat from her 13 year home.  After two months she ran away but luckily she came back after two months.  Keep posting the flyers because even after 3 weeks of not one phone call, we got a phone call from our neighbors across the street and they saw her the same morning she came home.  Don't give up hope and good luck, we were heartbroken over our lost kitty as I'm sure you are. 

Yes, my husband and I are heartbroken wondering if he's still alive or what kind of difficulties he might be going through. We can only have 2 cats in our apartment and we have one so we're not adopting any other cats in hopes that he will come back some day. Our cat at home misses his roommate. One lady called us with a cat that was clearly not Herman and asked if we wanted that cat anyway, but we can't in our apartment. I feel bad for all the unwanted cats out there.

These stories are encouraging though : )

My sister's cat would come to my Mom's house all the time.  She'd leave my sisters house and it would take her about a day and a half to travel across town (which was only like a mile).  Silly cats.

Maybe he's found a girlfriend and has be hanging out with her.