Can cats wiggle into curious and tight spots, like large crates on shelves and ever get stuck?

absolutely. I don’t know where to start in telling you some of the places we’ve found our cats over the years.

In fact…

@Poof; Now that is a story that Molly will tell her grandchildren; but it reminds me of how much I still have left to learn. Tell me some of the places, please. I need some creative search tips.

Hee, hee if his name is Beaudren then the answer is YES!

Is Milo lost? Whenever I can’t find one of my cats I look where they would never be, and there they usually are. Behind, under, and in are all good places to look.

Okay… picture this. You have a refrigerator, and to the right of it is a stove. above both are cabinets. So, of course, the cabinet over the fridge is on top of the fridge, while the cabinet over the stove is a good several feet above. The counter tops are, as in most kitchens, are flush with the stove. My dad finds his cat in the cabinet above the stove frequently. You’ll note that there are several things on top of the fridge, so that opening that cabinet is impossible, and also giving the cat about 3 inches of space to stand on at the very front of the fridge nearest the door. I know it’s hard to explain. But the only way the cat could conceivably reach the cabinet over the stove would be to jump from the stove onto the fridge, and while poised carefully in the 3 inches of space, somehow push the other appliances away from the cabinet door, climb in, and move the appliances back to their positions (from inside the cabinet, of course)... at which point in time she could then be free to move herself one cabinet over where she can squeeze her fat furry butt on top of all the cereal boxes (which leave only a few inches between the tops of the boxes to the ceiling, of course)

@tiny; not right now. He is happily sitting on a quilt that I made, every stitch by hand. He is picking them out (12 stitches to the inch). I am simply preparing for the next crisis.

so, my first tip would be… don’t think you’re crazy for searching in cabinets and/or drawers. Or the fridge.

@Poof; It took me a long, long time to learn that I had to look up (very high up.) Did you ever have to rescue a cat from an odd area?

well, I don’t have to tell you that Q has not yet figured out how to get out of the cabinet. Only in it. So my dad has.

As for me… my cat shoved herself into the open fridge between a shelf and drawer, and when I turned around to put the milk away (don’t worry, I never closed the door), she couldn’t wriggle herself back out and I had a hard time pulling her out without her wailing.

Story:

I had a cat that could open drawers. If a drawer was left even slightly ajar, she would wedge her feet on top of it, put her front paws on whatever was in front of her and push. If she could get the drawer open at least 4 inches she’d squeeze herself in. But she could also get herself out, so no harm.

Honestly, I cannot remember ever having to rescue a cat from anything. If Milo gets stuck, he’ll let you know where he is as soon as he’s ready.

Your not crazy. OUr cat would go “missing: some times for a bit of time. Sometimes he would show up in a laundry basket. one time he got closed in a window. One time he was just put out side by my sister, she left and I was home and searched all over the house for him.

I saw him put his head in a bucket and not get it out.

I just realized the irony of poofandmook’s icon in this question. hehe

One of mine got in an open dresser drawer (the top drawer of a tall dresser), climbed over the back of the drawer, and fell down to the bottom of the dresser, in the 3 inches of space between the backs of the closed drawers and the back wall of the dresser. She would never have made it out without intervention.

@tiny: I once had a cat that could open doors to rooms. I had a fish in my bedroom, and had to keep the door locked to keep her out of there. She also opened our freezer one day while we were at work and dragged out all of the meat to gnaw on all day.

When we were little, my brother (who’s a total ass) decided to cut the whiskers off the neighbor’s cat. The poor little guy kept getting stuck everywhere and anywhere. Every once in awhile we’d hear this pitiful yowling and would have to find him to help him loose. I think it took him about a week to adjust.

Whiskers aside though, I think it depends on the cat? My cat never got stuck anywhere (that I know of). But my friends just moved into a new place and their cat has gotten stuck behind their washer and dryer every day for nearly a month now (and still counting).

@Bri: Yup! My cat shoved herself into a FedEx box. It was on the floor though :)

Now Bobo had these “Fu Manchu” whiskers and that still didn’t stop him from getting into the tightest spots he could. We figure one night some neighbors moved and he climbed into the moving truck.

You can never find all of their possible hidey-holes. The best option for my household is the “kitty, kitty, kitty” call. I’ve trained my cats by only making that high pitched, distinctive, obnoxious call each and every time they’re about to get a favorite treat. In the case of my own cats, who only eat dry food, that means a can of human grade tuna fish. When I make that particular call, cats come out of the woodwork at a run! It’s great for those times that I can’t locate someone. They’re so conditioned, the only time they don’t come is if they’re terribly sick. Even then, they sometimes show up but can’t bring themselves to eat.

I remember mine were trained to the sound of a can opener. Just turn the knob and tahdah! Two always hungry kitties.