The cat hasn't come home for a week. Is there any hope that he will return?

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A cat is a very soft and sweet pet that brings a huge amount of joy to every owner. But in addition to a lot of positive emotions, a funny little tiger can also cause a lot of trouble with its temporary problems. Any owner may be taken by surprise by the question of how many days a cat has been walking.

The animal may want to go free swimming due to the onset of puberty. Typically, in older individuals this process begins around the eighth month of life. This process depends on many factors:

Breeds;
Physique;
Heredity;
Living conditions;
The presence of adults nearby.

At this time, the pet’s behavior may change dramatically; the cat becomes more active, aggressive and very persistently tries to leave the house. It's all due to hormones that force the beast to look for a “soul mate” for procreation. Not finding an outlet for its energy, a cat that is walking can spend it screaming incessantly day and night, attacking its owners and placing marks throughout the apartment. This means that the cat is ready for sexual intercourse.

To prevent this behavior, you can use special medications or resort to castration. But if you don’t like such methods, then you should stop at the simplest way to rid your cat of a hormonal storm and let him out for a walk. And here you need to know how often the cat walks.

Reasons for missing cats and actions of owners in such a situation

Cats are big fans of walking “by themselves”, hunting for mice and birds, this is inherent in their very nature. All owners have often seen a cat sitting on the windowsill watching the birds fluttering from branch to branch near the window. At the sight of such a picture, the poor fellow’s whole body trembles and his tail twitches, and he himself makes hunting sounds, looks at you pitifully and asks for freedom.

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Watching birds from the window can encourage a cat to go in search of adventure.

Even a neutered cat suffers from lack of communication with its “brothers”. And by depriving him of the opportunity to defend his territory, you do not allow him to assert himself, and this is necessary due to the cat’s instinct.

Therefore, truly loving owners, especially owners of private houses, allow cats to walk on their own. Unfortunately, sometimes cats do not return after such walks. But even in high-rise buildings, cats can jump out of a window, run out a slightly open door, or run away from their owner in an unfamiliar place. There are many reasons for the loss: animals were scared by someone or something, they went hunting, love appeared, they were stolen, they were caught in a trap, they were hit by a car, etc. Sad statistics show that almost half of missing cats do not return home .

How to let your cat go for a walk

As a rule, how long a cat spends walking is known very well by the owners of private houses, who do not absolutely need to castrate or sterilize their animals.

As a rule, several times a year the animals themselves leave home in search of a cat, and then return without any problems.

Residents of city apartments can also release an animal that is walking, but this is already accompanied by a number of difficulties. Due to the widespread use of intercoms, you will have to rely on the responsiveness of neighbors who will be able to recognize the cat and open the door for your pet.

Usually cats walk 2-3 times a year, in early spring and closer to winter. It is known that an animal that walks considers the place where it is fed to be its home, so it steadily returns to evening and morning feeding, and then again sets off on adventures.

The number of days that a cat will spend on a spree depends on how many ready-to-date cats come his way.

For some, a couple of days may be enough, while others may disappear for a week or two or not return at all, even when the cat goes for a walk for the first time. Unfortunately, animals left without the supervision of their owners become easy prey for dogs or fall under the wheels of cars.

It is necessary to clearly monitor the state of the body of a walking cat, since a hormonal storm is very stressful for the animal . In his bowl, even if he walks and does not come home for several days, you need to keep fresh water and food. Perhaps your animal will suffer in a fight with other competitors, so you will have to heal torn ears or damaged eyes.

Social networks and websites

Explore online resources where they post photos of found animals, post your missing ad with a photo. But in such advertisements, do not indicate all the signs. The more people know about your problem, the greater the likelihood of its successful solution.

Unfortunately, now there are unscrupulous people who promise to return the animal for a reward. But you can be sure if such a person has your cat only by asking clarifying questions, the answer to which only you know.

If the animal is microchipped, make sure that the database contains your current address and contacts.

Causes

The most important thing when trying to assess the likelihood of an animal returning home is to understand why it disappeared or ran away. Unfortunately, it is not always known exactly under what circumstances this happened, but you can at least approximately select the appropriate options.

Curiosity. People often forget to close a window, a window, or close the front door tightly, through which a curious cat might want to explore the world. If we are talking about an animal that has never gone outside before and does not know the courtyard territory well, then it can easily get lost. It is especially bad if at this moment he is scared and chased by dogs, and he has to run away from them. Of course, most likely, the cat will want to return home as soon as possible if he finds his way.
Instinct of reproduction. No matter how much a cat or cat loves people, the basic instinct comes to the fore, forcing them to rush outside. This reason is the most common. To prevent this situation, there are a variety of measures, starting with sterilization and ending with pills. The most acute period lasts from several days to several weeks, and when the emotions subside, the animal can return to where it is loved and fed.
Hunting. Cats are predatory animals, and hunting is in their blood. Even if a pet is well-fed and caressed, it is capable of coveting some bird. An animal may not eat its prey when it catches up with it, but the code of a real hunter orders it to go in pursuit. Often such a hunt ends in a strange yard and an unfamiliar place. Having come to its senses, the cat in most cases immediately begins to look for a home.
Atmosphere. The family environment is just as important for animals as it is for people. In a house where scandals, hysterics, and fights constantly occur, the pet is extremely uncomfortable. He may leave out of despair, and this step will be even more difficult for a cat to go through than for a person to go through a divorce. If the reason is an abnormal atmosphere for habitation, then most often you should no longer hope for an independent return.
Fear. Many loud sounds, falling heavy objects, explosions, fireworks cause a natural reaction in animals - to run away. For the most impressionable cats, such an occasion could even be a noisy holiday or a large number of strangers in the house. As a rule, after the pet calms down, he will want to return.
Disease. Many pets leave if they are very sick. People call this “gone to die.” In fact, the animal is engaged in self-healing, sometimes this really helps. Then, to the joy of the household, the recovered cat or cat returns after a few days or even more. But sometimes an animal actually dies, leaving only memories of itself.
Theft. Purebred expensive cats are sometimes stolen to be sold. Unfortunately, in most of these cases the pet will never be seen again. But we can hope that he is in good hands with good people whom he will love.

After your cat is lost, consider whether she has been feeling worse than usual lately and whether it is time to activate her reproductive instinct. Maybe you will understand what caused the loss and whether she will be able to return home.

How cats find their way

Several studies have been conducted on this matter, and scientists have come to the conclusion that cats have a so-called “homing” system. It lies beyond hearing, smell, sight, touch and taste.

The nature of this phenomenon has not been fully studied, but it helps the pet return home. The geofield of the earth is probably involved here.

In one study, a cat was taken to different locations and the box it was inside was remotely opened. She immediately correctly determined the direction to the house, except for the time when the transportation was carried out under anesthesia. In this case, it took her longer to find the route.

How do lost cats find their way home?

Many people have probably heard or read incredible stories about cats that find their way home on their own, covering vast distances. They yearn for home, where they were loved, caressed and fed. There, at home, where it was warm, the cat was surrounded by relatives, which is why the cat, who suddenly became homeless, had such a strong desire to get back into his usual habitat.

So how do cats get lost and come back?

A very interesting story is the story of the Thai cat Semyon, who was lost by his owners in Moscow and spent several years reaching his home in Murmansk. And it all started very well. Semyon's owners and their children were going on vacation from the northern regions to the south and decided to take their tailed pet with them so that it could frolic in the warm sun. Vacation time flew by unnoticed, the owners and children were tanned, stronger and looked great. The cat also spent his time usefully in laziness and bliss.

On the way back to Murmansk, at a family council, it was decided to stop for a day in Moscow to repair an old car. When we were already leaving the capital, we discovered that Semyon had disappeared. At what moment this happened was not noticed. While the adults were busy fixing the car, curious children looked around. The cat probably jumped out of the car unnoticed; he was tired of sitting in the car with so much noise and strangers all around. What to do? The whole family grieved, but decided not to return to Moscow, since the likelihood of finding a cat in a city of millions was zero.

Photo: pixabay.com

Returning home, Semyon’s owners felt empty for a long time without their beloved animal, and the children began asking their parents to take a new cat into the house. Soon a new tailed tenant appeared in the house to everyone's delight.

They began to slowly forget about Semyon. But the cat could not forget his “native land” and moved from Moscow to Murmansk. The journey turned out to be very long for the small animal, it lasted six and a half years! During this time, the cat walked more than two thousand kilometers. How he managed to avoid many dangers on such a long journey and what he ate remained a mystery.

One day, the head of the family discovered a skinny and dirty creature near the door, meowing desperately, trying to enter the house. As soon as he succeeded, the “great traveler” Semyon quickly ran to the kitchen to the familiar bowl of food. After a hearty lunch, he hopped on the TV - his favorite place to relax. Nothing has changed in the habits of the kisarik during the years of absence. Based on this story, the film “Love Story” was made.

Monument to the cat Semyon in Murmansk Photo: kotizm.com

A similar story happened in the USA. The owner of the cat Thomas was a big fan of traveling around the country. One day she was getting ready to travel through a mountainous region for several days and decided to take Thomas as her companion, since at that time there was no one to leave him with. Kotofeich traveled a little and escaped at a nearby parking lot. The hostess complained about herself, but continued her trip. It turned out that Thomas decided to return home from his trip on his own. The return took about seven months. During this time, the cat walked about five hundred kilometers and returned home safe and sound to the delight of its owner.

Why do some cats return home, while most of the lost ones disappear forever? Zoologist F. G. Frick was one of the first to become interested in this problem. The reason was one incident that occurred in the early 20s of the last century.

He went out into the open air and took a domestic cat with him, putting it in a bag. While walking, she jumped out and ran away. It was about 8 km from home. Fortunately, in the evening Murka returned home safe and sound. The scientist decided to conduct a series of scientific experiments with a cat. He took her to different places located at a distance of 2-5 km from the house. The smart animal always found its way home.

After F. G. Frick, many other researchers began to study the problem of returning cats home. Some experiments were particularly cruel. For example, cats were injected with drugs and taken far from home. However, even under such conditions, some animals returned home.

Photo: pixabay.com

Several years ago, a German ethologist conducted an interesting experiment. He collected their pets from cat owners, put each cat in a separate box and drove them for a long time along a complex, winding route. Then he took the pussies to a field where a labyrinth closed at the top with many exits was built. It was assumed that in this way cats would not be able to navigate by the sun or stars. During the experiment, it turned out that most of the cats chose the exit that was directed towards their house.

The results of the experiment were reported at an international ethological conference. However, most scientists were skeptical about this message. It was hard to believe that when the cats were driven along a confusing route, they “remembered” the path of the van with all the turns, and then “restored” the route in reverse order.

American zoologists repeated the experiment of their German colleague with the only difference that during the trip the pussies received sleeping pills and slept like the dead. After waking up, they all successfully went home.

Photo: pixabay.com

Since then, many different experiments have been carried out with cats, and they all showed an interesting fact: our whiskered-tailed pets are very sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field. It is this feature that helps pussies find their way home. To test this hypothesis, scientists attached a strong magnet to the cat's body. It turned out that in this case they completely lost the ability to determine the right path.

A large number of experiments made it possible to put forward several hypotheses as to why some murkas are able to find their way home. However, we still cannot answer this question with certainty. Cats are mysterious creatures. Science has yet to make many discoveries about cats, which have been human companions for many centuries.

Tags: interesting fact, cats, domestic cat, smart animals

Chances

It was experimentally found that “geolocation” works excellently for those pets who live in yards and have free access to the street. Stray cats are the greatest aces in this regard. Those cats that never leave the house or apartment find their way home much more difficult.

But even in those pets in whom this ability is not very developed, it can become stronger. To do this, you can take the animal with you to the dacha, but make sure that it does not get lost at first.

Cats can easily determine the path home if they are at a distance of up to 5 km, but as the distance increases, the chances that the pet will return gradually decrease.