My Cats Just Vanished ...

[kdt_ntexas]

So a beautiful black Bombay female shows up at my place about 4 months ago, and in a month, instead of 1 cat that I've adopted ... I have 7

No problem, so I have given mama cat & the kiddos shelter food & water for about 12 weeks. I am very attached to these babies but I can only realistically keep two. So I have the two selected to get fixed/shots/etc, and the others are going to a no-kill shelter (if I can find one out where I am).

Anyway, on Saturday I went over to another town for a few hours, and when I get back ... the cats have vanished. All seven of them. At first I thought three possibilities:

1. Predator/hawk/coyote. Maybe, but they don't usually come around, and they wouldn't have gotten all seven. The little ones can climb trees like monkeys. Nothing on security cameras
2. Theft. But who takes cats? Dogs, I get, but cats? And how would they catch them? Also, nothing on security cameras.
3. Moving on. Maybe, but why would they leave a solid place of food, love and shelter?
4. Hunting trip. Mama cat is taking them out hunting. I have heard mamas do that, and that seems the only thing plausible.

Any ideas?

 

[EverythingDucks]

I dont know much about cats maybe she's just moving them to keep them safe from predators?
I'm not sure, but I hope they come back!

 

[Sunshine_Chick]

I had a stray show up & hung around for a few months & then disappeared. I was heartbroken & convinced an owl got her especially since my pond turtle, who I had for years, disappeared overnight too. Luckily 3 days later the cat reappeared! Hope the same thing happens for you.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

1. Moving on. Maybe, but why would they leave a solid place of food, love and shelter?
2. Hunting trip. Mama cat is taking them out hunting. I have heard mamas do that, and that seems the only thing plausible.

I've had this happen on several occasions and these last two options are the ones I've settled on.

I think mama takes the kids to show them new hunting grounds to call their own.. even with plenty of food and shelter they seem to have a natural way of avoiding excessive inbreeding. They still NEED to hunt AND spread their seed.. as it's in their nature. ALL natural animals.. eventually leave their family in search of a mate.

They ALWAYS disappear on the day or the day before I have set to capture them for vaccinating and neutering! It's like somehow they know.

Thing is.. someone ALWAYS shows back up at my house.. several days later.

The original feral cat has been evading trapping for years as far as I know.. I see her stop by from time to time to check on Tortie and hit up whatever I'm feeding, (her first female offspring that came back and staked claim to my barn... after they disappeared the first time).

Tortie gave birth to 4 kitties inside my barn in a lay box when I was out of town for a week this year! She lost one during move to another location after I returned home and she discovered indeed there is much more coop activity than she had realized.

This round.. Tortie as we call her.. HAPPENED to show up alone and feed in my trap at the last minute before the clinic.. so I got her! One of her kitties showed up several days later and was allowed by her to stay by *her* mum.. My daughter said she saw another one.. visit, presuming it was male and didn't stay long enough to lured in.

I'd be surprised if they all showed back up.. but equally so if NONE showed back up.

Looks like Tortie and her (suspected then confirmed by Vet) female offspring now known as Ding Dong for being pure black with a white cream filling spot on her chest.. may be claiming my barn together. With both of them now fixed and neither having need to propagate further.. I hope they will keep my place as rodent free as possible while living a healthy and rich life! They are effective at rodent control!

Despite enjoying the standard feed daily.. the instant I put out something whole like a rat/gopher/shrew that one of my adopted no longer feral cats killed but didn't eat, a bantam rooster not worth my effort processing, hatched chicks that didn't make it, fish parts from fishing, chicken guts from cleaning.. etc.. you name it.. they clean it up QUICK like!

Humane Society is a no kill shelter and the ones who have helped me with all my feral cat population.. NO questions asked about my income.

My county animal shelter, believe it or not is "No Kill" shelter.. and even more than that.. even use "grain free" feed for their dogs! (not that I agree with them.. at LEAST they are trying)

Be patient and stay prepared, hope they return!

 

[kdt_ntexas]

They showed back up! All of them! The first one back, my favorite, was trembling,meowing (she never does that) and wouldn't get six inches away from my feet. She got to come inside for a few hours

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They might have had a scare. My cat doesn't trust ceiling fans anymore, so we think a big bird almost got her

 

[EggSighted4Life]

They showed back up! All of them!

Pics or it didn't happen!



So happy for you they came back!

 

[AllenK RGV]

I lived in Wise County Texas for a while. It was usually the bobcats that got our cats. I am so very happy to hear you had a good resolution with your previously vanished cats. The bob cats stopped being brave once we had a dog that made the ground thunder when she ran.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Glad they're back!

I lived on a farm in TX (just south of Dallas) and my neighbor's dog got snatched by a coyote right off her porch! You can't be too careful with those buggers running about!!

I agree with the other poster that something scared them and they were hiding. They might have never left, you just couldn't see them.

 

[Compost King]

I have had cats all my life, I used to get strays as a kid and my family was pro cat so I was allowed to keep strays outside and my parents would buy food since they prefer cats around to kill rodents than snakes. I had a stray stay a few months then disappear, I found the stray at a friends house a few years later a couple neighborhoods away. He raised it for from a kitten and it disappeared for 4 months and thats when I had it. It just returned home. I believe it showed up at our house because my father grew catnip and it spread through out the property. He liked attracting cats because cats keep mice and snakes away. Then he would feed them... as I got older I picked up the habit. Sometimes strays run away to find better places and then when winter kills off the catnip the go back home. Not saying you had catnip but you had something they wanted and that something either went away or was replaced by something even better that someone else had. Outdoor cats will change the humans THEY own. They own us if they live outside, we are their livestock that they keep to bring them food.