As the title says, really.

Our old cat (20 in July) went a-wandering yesterday and hasn't come home, after almost a year of pretty much never going past the garden fence. She's followed one of us up the road many times in the past, but not so much recently.

Anyway, I was wondering about people's experiences of their elderly cats. If they've wandered off to (eek) die, did they go far? Did you find them after? I can't bear knowing she's under some bush five streets away and I'll never find her. I've ransacked the house and garden several times (the two sheds and garage look like a bomb's hit them).

(I've got posters up, explaining that she's very old and might be curled up in a shed or garage somewhere, so hopefully that'll lead to some information. I'm just wondering if I've gone enough far afield.)

We had a cat aged 15 who went out and never came back. The last time I saw him was when he was in the garden. I think he went away to die. This happened in 2005.

Sounds like they can wander a fair bit then.

It's like a lack of closure. I do have good memories of the last time I saw mine, but I would have liked to groom her and bury her in her sunny spot in the garden.

Maybe I'm being a bit "cart before the horse", because I'm ringing around rescue places tomorrow. Oh well.

Keep searching - even if only for your peace of mind. My (young) cat went missing on a Saturday night 7 years ago - searched all day Sunday (and night) and printed off hundreds of flyers in work on the Monday. Posted these the Monday night and our very last one I said wasn;t worth posting in a house on the corner of a very busy road reasoning he wouldn't have gone there, but my wife insisted. Next day the man in that house rang to say there was an injured cat in his shed. We were so lucky to get him back (after an operation he was almost as good as new) - he died a few weeks ago suddenly and I am devastated but at least I had those extra years with him. Just keep trying and I realy hope you have success finding her! Keep us posted!

Thank you for the hope! I'm really sorry yours has gone now but I hope he didn't suffer, but such a success story seven years ago - just goes to show! I've been out doing one side of the estate I'm on, and I'll go and do the other side in a bit.

Thanks again, BobbyDrake, it's much appreciated. I did quite a bit of web searching, but the (many) sites I looked at just said cats will wander if they're ill, old or both, but not how far. I feel revitalised! x

I have heard of cats going away to die, many years ago I thought one of mine had after he went missing. He was eventually found but was clearly not well, when the vet opened him up they found he had cancer, so they didn't revive him.
Keep on looking. I assume you have checked your neighbours sheds?

I'm very sorry to hear about yours.

I've knocked on the doors of my immediate neighbours and up the street - our garden backs onto other gardens, so I've been round there too. I've got posters up locally and quite a few streets away, too, and on the railings near the supermarket, by the two local schools, that sort of thing. I've phoned our most local rescue centres and the RSPCA today as well. I'll do them again tomorrow.

I've had no calls or news about her, though, so I think it's time to mourn her. She's bright orange, cream and brown, so she's hard to miss if someone looks in their shed. Plus, she's really vocal and loud as hell, so she'll certainly make someone hear her if she needs to. If she comes home or is found, then that'd be so excellent, but until then well, I dunno.

She's left a massive hole in this house - my son can't believe how quiet it is at home, even though we've got two more cats. We got the old girl for my son's sixth birthday, and she'll be 20 soon. He said he can barely remember a time without her, and I know what he means.

My mother in laws cat was found dead curled up under a hedge in the garden next door.

I think if a cat dies outside it's because that's what they've chosen to do. They go through life pretty sure about what they want.

Never a truer word spoken - they most certainly do! Thank you.

Amidst my web meanderings on the subject, I read that cats will wander at the end because they can associate the home with the pain and/or illness. How the experts know this, and quite why a cat wouldn't wander when an illness starts, I have no idea. It sounds logical, though, and I feel a little better for knowing it.

As your cat is 20 years old, I think the likelihood of it going off to end its days as it chooses is a strong possibility. On a more disturbing note, i wonder if any of your neighbours store water in an open drum of some kind? I feel sure that one of my cats ended its days this way, he was only 9 months old when he suddenly disappeared. A search of neighbours gardens revealed several large, deep open containers of water which a cat may have jumped up to not realising that there was no solid top to jump onto. I do hope that people will take note and check that all water containers are covered.

Not helping here but... our cat came home to die.
He disappeared for about seven years, never knew where he went, then one day we came home to find him the worse for wear on our front door step. He died that night.
Strange creatures, cats...

I'm resigning myself to it for now, yes. She still hasn't come home, so it's nearly a week now and no sign of her. We do have moors within five minutes walk, so it's likely she's gone up there. Nobody around here stores water like that, I think - I've never heard of them doing it, but I could be wrong. I'm so sorry about your little one.


That does help, actually, paulx, so thank you. It just goes to show they're all blimmin' contrary, which is why I love them so much. You must've been gobsmacked to see your lad again! I might end up posting back here in seven years to let you know she's come home!

None of the elderly cats we have had have wandered off. They have been run over, put down by the vet, or in the nicest case, died peacefully in their sleep on their favourite chair.

We only had one cat who just disappeared and never came back. He was only a couple of years old. I still wonder what happened to him..

Still, 20 is a grand old age for a cat and whatever happens you can take comfort in the knowledge he had a long and happy life.

Thanks, VG. Oh, she was definitely the boss of our house and all in residence since she got out of her carrying crate nearly 20 years ago. It's really odd, but the two cats we've still got are maneouvring around, resettling in their new favourite sleeping places.

All the local kids knew her - she'd ask to go out at school chucking-out time, and I'd hear the passing kids yelling her name and see them stopping to stroke her.

Anyway, it's been a week now, and I'm thinking that's it, that she's wandered out of the way. She's such a local character that people know her and where she lives. If they'd found her, they wouldn't need all my flyers to know where she lived. Oh well.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to post. xxx

Are you on facebook, there are groups like this one, who have been very successful in spreading the word and reuniting people and their babies. Vets often post on there too, and if she has passed it could give you closure as well.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/600698229943816/

Actually, I'm not, but my son is - and FB groups is something I haven't tried. I'll email him tonight and ask him to sort it.

Thanks so much. x

Has she come back yet, Relly?

No, Blueblade, but thank you very much for asking. We're pretty much resigned now, but keeping fingers crossed as well - it's that little spark of hope, that maybe some little old lady's keeping her company and feeding her tuna 24/7. Unrealistic, maybe, but...

Not necessarily - such things are entirely possible where cats are concerned. Please don't give up hope.

Meanwhile, I'm investing in one of these

Good luck x

Same happened to the family cat when i was a kid, though he was only missing for a year. When he died in the next couple of days i think that was the first time i saw my dad cry.

I can't give up hope! The only two upsides of her not being here are (1) she's not howling the house down like she did (which is a downside in itself, because we'd give anything to hear it again), and (2) the cat tray's not as messy (I can't think of any downsides to that part of all this ).

I was looking at GPS dots a year or two ago (those things you can put on key rings etc), after I'd seen a BBC documentary about where cats go - they attached trackers to about 20 cats' collars in this little village, and mapped where they went. It was fascinating! But at that time, even though we really REALLY wanted them for our cats, they were going through several collars a month between them. It was just a phase, and I haven't had the problem since, but it did put me off buying four expensive (to me) gadgets just to lose them the following week. Plus I simply didn't have the money. With hindsight, however, they'd be worth every sodding penny.

There are some brilliant ones on there - I'd love to know which you end up buying. It looks like the market for cat trackers is expanding!

Thank you so much. x