So my cat just ran away and I can't find her?

Some animals never get used to a cage. Personally, I would not look forward to being restricted to my house regardless of the comforts involved. Your cat was attuned to those good old days when she functioned as she was designed, but my bet is that if she can arrange it, she’ll show up. Maybe you can train her to be an indoor/outdoor kitty like our former champion, another feral convert who turned out to be the best damned cat I’ve yet to come across.

Just put her food and maybe a bed outside and they often will come back. My friends and I call that “out on cat bidness”, try to stay calm.

She didn’t run away like a kid runs away from home when they’re unhappy. She’s a cat. A cat’s instinct is to wander and explore. It has nothing at all to do with how she feels about you or the house.
Hopefully she’ll come back.
All my cats have always been indoor/outdoor kitties so I don’t have to do the litterbox thing. I know my cat loves it outside. She climbs the fences and trees, chases the squirrels. She’ll often get up on the neighbor’s roof to prowl around. She cats around the neighborhood, checking out all the other cats.
She comes inside to eat and sleep.

Cats just aren’t very smart. They do things that are against their best interests.

Cats can give you much love and joy. But when they run away or die they deliver much pain and sorrow.

Many things could have caused your cat to disappear.

Perhaps your cat wasn’t happy with what you had to offer.
Perhaps she wants to explore the out of doors and got lost.
Perhaps she is following an instinct to mate.

If your cat has an ID collar and na ID chip then you have a better chance of recovery.

One time my female cat disappeared for nearly a month and finally came back home blade thin and she never again set foot off the yard. However my male cate never learned his lesson as he ran away 3 times for weeks a time. He never came back the 3rd time.

Good luck to you!

Spring is a drug to cats, and no amount of love will keep them indoors when a tantalizing scent is adrift.
You mustn’t blame yourself or those parents. Cat on a scent is slippery and cunning.
On fb you can find sites where people can report lost and found pets for their area. I have seen quite a bit of success there.
I think one is called fur and feathers.
Putting food and bed outdoors is good advice already given. If you don’t have a cat bed, put a piece of clothing out which will have your scent on it, to lead puddy home.

Is your cat fixed (spayed/neutered)?

How long has your cat been gone?

Has she never gotten out from your house before?

If the cat is happy being there (sounds like you have a good relationship with her, so probably), the cat will come back unless they are in a really bad situation, or if it got really confused when leaving. If you never let your cat out, then it got out and ran someplace before it settled down, it might not know how to get back to your house.

This weekend if you have time, I’d suggest you try hanging out outside near the house and/or where the cat used to hang out when it was stray, and walking around and calling for the cat.

If you want loyalty, you don’t have a cat. Sometimes they just leave, and sometimes they move in with the people down the street, and they never explain. I love cats and have lived with them for most of my life, but I never expected gratitude.

I do hope your cat comes back, but if she doesn’t, don’t take it personally.

Perhaps the female cat is in heat and is going nuts cooped up in a house regardless of how much affection it gets from its owners.

Instinct takes over and they must get out unless neutered which may tone it down a bit.

We had in our lifetime 6 cats and the females were went out and always came back regularly for there meals etc

When we had one male cat , we had problems of keeping it home..it wandered all night only to return in the early am hours to eat and sleep.

The female cats were more home bound by their choice.

How long has it been? She might come back.

Aw, I would be very upset and worried too. I’m so sorry.

I hope she comes back.

Try to let go of the worry. You have no control over what happened. Can you tell neighbors she’s missing? Maybe if they see her they’ll let you know.

Don’t worry, she’ll be back within 24 hours.

Cats explore. Any open door they will go through. Generally speaking, however, if they have an established “homebase” they don’t wander off too far from it. Unless they are driven away by something they usually stay within a range of a few hundred feet. I do hope your cat is fixed, though.

Update: I just saw her!! She ran away from me. She also looked terrified of everything and every other cat. The other cats just hang around each other, fight, etc but my cat was afar just scared. Lost her again – out of sight!

She is fixed.

She’s nearby. That’s good and predictable. Try not to worry too much. I’ve had cats disappear for weeks and they always come back.

I’m in love with @Jeruba‘s response. It was perfect.

Thanks for the update. I think she’ll come back. She wants to be indoor outdoor maybe? My cats used to go outside and come back. One of them used to get into fights once in a while though. He would get an infection and we’d have to treat it. The other two almost never did.

I think she’ll come back too, but if I were you, I would take more times this weekend at different times of day to go out where you saw her and call her and also just sit and see if she shows up and comes to you.

Indoor cats who get out are often in alert mode and may run from their people, but if things quiet down and you’re just sitting there in a place she feels safe coming to, she may find a quiet opportunity to come over to you.

Bring treats for her when you go looking. Don’t toss food to her. Only let her have it when she is safely in your grasp.
If you do get her to come home, get her a reflective collar, and maybe one of those little lights that can be attached, to keep her safer around traffic.

She was right in front of my door this morning when I opened the door to call for her. Crazy. She literally was sitting there. What a dork! She was soooo tired when she came in, barely can move. We just cuddled… Weirdo!

^^She had an adventure. She knows you love her though, and came home. Lots of cats like to be outdoors, but then they come home to cuddle and eat and sleep. Who knows what wild things they are doing while they are out. My cat used to sometimes bring back a dead rodent and leave it at our doorstep. Great hunter. Proud I think. Is your cat fixed? She might be out getting pregnant!

If she gets out again, she’ll probably come home sooner. Also, if she usually eats at a certain time, she’ll probably be waiting around meal time, so check the door several times around that time of day.

@JLeslie Wow great hunter indeed :D My cat may have eaten another cat because she is having hick ups every other hour now which never happens. She is fixed… And she smells quite bad. Seriously, whatever it is that she’s doing I wish I had a camera on her to watch… So weird

@dopeguru Collar cam her! Glad she’s home.

You have to decide whether you are going to let her out again. Have you answered the question yet about her being fixed? You may find that she wants to go out routinely. See if she sits by the door. And you might discover that routine excursions reduce your requirements with the litter box. The downside of course is parasites, the dangers of dogs and some rather horrid diseases that cats pass among one another.

@stanleybmanly: She wrote that the cat is fixed.

Will she sit still for you to wipe her clean a little?

The hiccups sound a little worrisome. Is she hiding at all? Cats tend to hide when they are sick.

I agree with @JLeslie and @stanleybmanly that if the cat is exposed to cats outside that are sick, she can get sick too.

@dopeguru

I can almost guarantee you that your cat did not eat another cat.

Why would eating a cat be the only explanation for hiccups?

She seems quite sick. She did hide a bit but now she’s out. She also is very slow in her movements. But I’m not sure how she can get sick and symptoms start in less than 24 hours…

Do you think she might have eaten something that poisoned her? Get her to a vet.

I was thinking she ate something she shouldn’t have.

Take her to a vet right away.

How is the cat, @dopeguru?

@jca2 She is doing well. We played today and she was very active so I take that as a positive!

Yay!!! Hiccups can simply come from the joy and relief of being home again.
@KNOWITALL‘s suggestion of collar cam is doable. It doesn’t cost much. Someone, I forget who, televised their cat’s collar Cam reveals, and was grossed out by what they learned about precious kitty, ha ha.

Sometimes kitties just feel a pressing need to go outdoors, for no reason in particular, chase a grasshopper, talk some smack with other kitties, threaten the birds, see if any clouds are shaped like a fish.

I am very glad your kitty came home and acknowledged your love.

Thank goodness.

Get a cat flap.

If you are going to start allowing your cat to go outside, as others have suggested, then I cannot stress enough how imperative it is to get you cat to a vet and make sure she’s up-to-date on all her vaccinations. I’d highly recommend a good flea treatment as well. Get her microchiped as well. If she gets lost and someone picks her up a microchip (with up-to-date information) can be the difference between your kitty being returned to you or ending up in some other home or a shelter.

It came back a couple of days ago @OLDMAN0069.
Also, no need to yell. None of us are deaf.