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Hi Julie,

I'm sorry to hear about Gidget's escape.

Could you describe her as a timid cat? How many times per week would you say she would be startled by you or husband? Was she born to a feral mom? and that's why she was outside as a baby? Is she more comfortable with other cats or humans?

The last time you actually saw her was the night she escaped? Does she have distinctive markings? you're fairly confident in the neighbor's sighting?

Circumstances of cat missing?

Any predators in area: coyotes, aggressive dogs, etc?

The direction that your cat was last seen heading — is this in the same direction as the neighbor who sighted a cat?

Any health problems?

How many days have you trapped?

Have you left out food and water? And the neighbors who feed ferals do they leave the food out all day or only certain times?

After you answer these questions, I might be able to give you a few more ideas I don't think Gidget will move very far. Because it has happened so recently, I think there is a good chance to get her back. Particularly with neighbors being cat friendly, I think she'll be ok.

Pauline

Julie,
Good for you for all the efforts you've put in so far. She definitely sounds timid to me if she runs when approached while eating — or more accurately, she's timid towards humans.

In answer to your question of where to put what I call "Safe Haven" articles (things with comforting scents, plus food and water), I would create Safe Havens under the shed that you saw her with her feral mom, and those 3 places that you said she can crawl under. This is to keep her nearby. I would give priority to putting out items with *her* scent rather than your scent because she seems more comfortable with cats.

Is Gidget very motivated by food? Is there anything else she is motivated by? warmth? Think about all the things that would make her think it's her home and try to recreate that in your yard.

Continue trapping in the neighbors' yard and even in the empty lot. This is a difficult situation because there are so many kitties in the area. When you trap other cats, Gidget may be seeing the other cats confined (and stressed) and be extra wary of the trap.

If you continue to only get other cats, my next recommendation would be to bring her in the same way feral cat rescuers bring in cats. There are two ways that I think you could do this. One way, would be to have food bowls at several houses. Slowly move the food bowls closer and closer to your house. Hopefully by the time the food bowl are near your house, Gidget will begin showing herself. Then develop the familiarity with her as if she were feral. Until she lets you close enough to pick up.

The other method for retrieving a feral cat (the more conventional one) is to establish a feeding pattern: feed cats always at the same time, same places, with a disabled trap nearby. Day after day, move the food closer and closer to the trap (even putting a bowl inside the disabled trap) until you're confident that a cat will enter. The next day set the trap for real.

This may be the kind of situation where sitting quietly outside might yield good results. The reason why I say this is that she stayed around your yard for two hours even though she wouldn't let you pick her up. That seems to tell me that the environment itself may be new and scarey to Gidget but not as threatening as Sage thought it was. And the fact that she didn't seem scared of her feral cat mom even though she hasn't interacted with her for months, tells me she's probably not going to be run off by the stray cats in the neighborhood.

If the weather has been rainy, cats tend to not move around much so it is not too surprising that you haven't actually seen her. When the weather clears up, spend time outside at night or very early morning, and just sit a few feet away from the food and just make it a habit to sit quietly near the food without moving. She may show herself if she associates knows that the area is safe and not too startling.

Gidget is actually a tortiose shell cat rather than a calico. I think a calico has a fair amount of white as part of the definition. Lots of neighbors may not know what tortie or calico are, so using a photo or simply describing Gidget as having dark brown fur with patches of black (or whatever) so there is no confusion would be better.

Pauline

PS I just thought of another question that might help gauge what behavior Gidget might have: In the two hours that you were outside with her, can you describe her behavior? Did she scoot very low with short legs from one hiding place to another? When you were able to spot her, did she hunker down more or did she maintain a similar posture? Did she maintain eye contact? When she went under the shed, presumably she didn't know mama cat was under. When she realized mama cat was there also, what was her behavior? Each time she went to a new spot it was because you got too close? What distance would trigger this?

Julie,

Gidget is one of the most unusual cats! Her behavior outside with sniffing everywhere sounds more like she was just wanting to stay outside, not that the trip outside was freaking her out. The fact that she kept going under the Florida room is important. I wonder if this is where mama raised her kitties? Anyway, Gidget seems to be drawn to the Florida house and this is probably the main area where you should concentrate your efforts in attracting her back home.

Yes, I think the more she is comfortable the more she will show herself. Think of her as behaving as a feral would. Except now you would need to reinforce the idea that humans sit quietly and bring yummy food all the time. If you see her again, I would suggest NOT approaching her, let her approach you if she is comfortable. That would reinforce the idea that humans are not a threat.

Wishing you all the best. . .keep us posted when you return

Pauline

Julie

I hope it goes well tonight. Sit quietly, and make yourself as small and vulnerable as possible. (maybe read a sad book? I'm totally serious. I know someone who called and called for her cat, but it was only when she was sitting down sobbing that her cat finally approached her.) Thinking good thoughts for you and Gidget. ..

Pauline

Julie,
Good for you for not giving up hope. The bad weather is really going to factor into this. I know it's hard when you haven't seen her, but Gidget has many things in her favor: she is not afraid of other cats, she is not frozen with fear over the new environment, and there is plenty of food.

The story of Sage's escape and recovery that Kim was referring to is located at the link below. She's my kitty that was missing for 27 days, with not a single positive sighting of her until we finally trapped her.

Good luck this weekend.

Pauline


stories.catsinthebag.org

Julie

The house we were in at the time was in a very urban/suburban neighborhood: blocks of single family homes with front yard/back yard, and all the back yards were fenced, not wooded at all. That is the amazing thing. With all the concrete around, there weren't an infinite amount of places that she could have been hiding as there would have been in a rural environment and yet not a single positive sighting of Sage.

All the houses on our side of the street backed up to a huge (hardly used) school parking lot — so basically a field of asphalt. The parking lot was too huge for me to imagine that a cat would want to cross into the school and expose themselves without any cover, but maybe use the area along the fenceline (of everyone's back yard) as a little highway, to get from one backyard to another backyard. This is the row of fences I was pausing at. .. by being on the school side of the fences I could inpect all my neighbors back fence. The fur was found 5 houses down; I had trapped at this house previously as well as many of my neighbor's houses in either direction. I searched on foot each house about 6-7 houses in each direction.

When we finally did trap her it was actually right in our backyard, along that same back fenceline that was shared with the school. We had placed a trap for a long time near a shed in one corner of the backyard that was very shady, brushy lots of cubby holes but we kept getting possoms. The opposite corner is actually where we got her, more open, hardly any brush, next to a spot in the fence that was a minor cat highway (there was a gap under the fence big enough for cats to squeeze through and we had occasionally seen cats go from our backyard to next door neighbors backyard by scooting under this fence).

That last week before we trapped her, I changed my method somewhat. I began leaving wet food out (not in trap) during the daytime instead of just dry food. When I set the traps at night I would remove this daytime wet food and put only wet food inside the trap.

With all the food in the neighborhood and all the other cats, Gidget may be a bit more of a challenge to trap. That is why I was suggesting more of a feral cat approach. There are little highways that cats use all the time that Gidget would be able to smell so when you go out keep your eye on what paths cats might be taking and see if you can see her fur or nesting spots.

Pauline

Julie,

Good that you got some very positive sightings! The fact that your neighbor has seen her multiple times is really good.

"With all the cats in the neighborhood, do you think I should set food out on the trails, but close to home?"

Yes create a food station on a known path that Gidget is likely to be using, and also close to your home. It doesn't have to be right at your house. Don't worry about attracting all the neighbor cats at this point. You just want Gidget to know that there is a regular supply of yummy food.

If you look at this thread here

On the second half of my reply to MoniQue I asked her questions about cats who display more feral type behavior like Gidget. MoniQue has a lot of experience with feral cat behavior and was kind enought to read through Gidget's story and offered some really good ideas. The idea of only feeding in one spot once you locate Gidget (or positively know her daily travels), and then trapping (or moving the food towards your house if trapping is unsuccessful) sounds like a good idea. Also the idea of sitting outside and playing with other cats so that Gidget can see you are not threatening is excellent.

Pauline

Pauline, I have a question. Where can I find Jack Mackeral? Is it canned? I have looked in my local grocery store and they do not carry it. Do I have to go to a bait & tackle shop? I live in Maryland so maybe it is difficult to come by on the East Coast? Thanks.

Julie

Julie,

remember cat nip too. cosmic cat makes the most tender cat nip buds and sells it in a good sized plastic jar. it works wonders to attract cats too. only you don't want to over use it since the cats will tire of it, but it may be the key to helping get gidget out from hiding. cosmic cat uses cat nip BUDS not stems like are in the cat toys. i put some out and the cats here come running for it. i also have to keep it locked away or they will hunt it down and grab it, that's how bad they want that stuff. not all cats are crazy for it, some like it, some don't, and there are some that LOVE and cannot resist it! do you if by chance gidget likes cat nip?

question: julie, have you seen the feral mother lately? is she still hanging out there? if so, that is good and gidget probably comes around and visits her.

maxwell smart's story is very encouraging. so hang in there julie, your cat is in the bag!!
-MoniQue

Julie,

Just wondering where you feed the feral mother at. I am wondering if Gidget comes there to eat when no one is around and no one sees her? it is great that the feral mom stays in the playhouse. I think if you keep the buffet there Gidget will eventually come there to eat EVEN if she is eating somewhere else here and there. Just make sure to have the good food there all the time. have a large feeder with dry food there and then do the kitty buffet every day/or every night at the same time. Even if Gidget doesn't show up the first few days to eat, she eventually will. Make sure to have fresh water there too. There is one thing cats care about and it is FOOD. Even if Gidget is eating somewhere else and another cat comes to say hi to Gidget, Gidget will smell the food on the cat (cat's sniff butts and tails and can get a pretty good idea where the other cats have been and where they've been eating and what they've been eating with a few sniffs) perhaps a cat who eats at both your buffet and wherever Gidget is eating too will lead Gidget back to the playhouse, that smell will lead her to your playhouse buffet. They smell a lot better than we humans do. mque

I am also wondering if you put a kitty buffet in the playhouse or right outside of it and if there was some way you could pop a camera in there and watch from your vcr? I don't know your financial situation but you can buy a camera for about $50 and one with a 60 foot or longer chord and then just plug into your vcr. What do you think of this? I have mine because I monitor the cat trapping neighbor, but it is very helpful too to see who has been eating at the bowl (I keep one on the side of the house for a few ferals that are still out). just a thought. -mque

-MoniQue