Very Sad Day Since Friday

[kufan]

I have 4 cats. Two of them live with my mother and two of them live with me. When I moved out and got own house, my mother couldn't BARE to lose all her pets (even though they were mine, LOL). So, we made a deal that she could keep two cats and I would take two with me! She kept the two that love to be together and seem to be with her more than me. And I took the other two since they were my special stray cats that I nutured back to health.

Unfortunately, my mother calls me up Friday afternoon VERY upset. Our one cat, Balls, was crying, moaning and growling very bad. Any time they would touch the back of him, he would scream. So, we knew we had to get him to a vet immediately. I rushed over to her house so we could take him into our vet before they closed. You could tell he was VERY SORE and in some kind of pain, but as we sat there getting him ready to go and calling the vet, he would walk a bit and seem OK, then he would plop and scream!!

We put him into the pet carrier and headed out the door on our way to the vet. As soon as we got outside, the carrier door SPRUNG RIGHT OPEN and he zoomed out of that carrier in SECONDS flat! We were NOT ABLE to catch him. My mother got in her car and I kept running to catch him. He was literally running so fast through the big backyards that we lost sight of him.

This happened FRIDAY. It is now Monday and our beloved cat is no where in sight. We have searched the neighboorhood, put up signs, called the local shelters and knocked on neighbors doors. Nobody has said they have seen them or can help us.

He is not an outdoor cat, so he for one is not use to being outside (he was a stray and lived outside for the first year of his life which makes us feel better). But above that, he was in severe pain!! Something is wrong with him and now he is lost outside in this big old world. We are so afraid that he is laying somewhere lost in severe pain.

Every day, we have searched, searched and searched. We hope he is OK and he turns up somewhere. We miss our Balls and are so worried about him since he is in such pain.

Please send good thoughts that we find him safe and sound. As of right now, we are about to lose all hope, considering how much pain he was in!

[jazzcat]

I'm so sorry. I hope you find Balls soon and he is okay. I'm sure you and your mother are very upset. I can just imagine how I would feel if that happen with one of my guys.

(((HUGS)))

[catmandu]

The Pet Angel Search and Rescue Squad is on the case, and will try to convince your poor scraed Cat, that the best place for him is his home.
I would put out a humane trap with his favorite food, so they can guide him into it.
We are praying for that Poor Cat,

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I sure hope he's okay and that you'll be able to find him or that he's able to find his way home. Please continue to keep us updated about him. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent his way.

[G535]

I do hope you find him soon. Fingers and claws crossed here that he's ok.

[Laura's Babies]

Porr baby, lost, alone and in pain.. COME HOME BALLS!

[zoey]

I hope your kitty comes home soon!!! And gets help for his injury.

[Reachoutrescue]

Wow. I hope you find him soon. Good luck.

[Catty1]

Have you left food out for him? Any news at all?

[kufan]

We left food out on the back porch to see if it would be touched and it hasn't been. We are still looking but with no luck.

Today, we are going to call the local shelters again to make sure he wasn't found or picked up somewhere again. I don't trust them enough to call me back as they said they would on Saturday. So, we are going to actually go into the place and look for ourselves.

[kufan]

We called the city police station today and they are trying to tell us that they don't even have a person that picks up cats or dogs. We live in a small town, but not THAT small where they don't worry about lose animals. We called a few shelters on Saturday thinking that is where our cats go when picked up, but now we are just confused. The police station said if somebody saw the cat hurt, they could have taken it to the vet for medical care - the vets around here treat found harmed animals.

I am so worried that he went somewhere to die and whoever finds him will just pitch him or he is hiding somewhere in pain.

This is just terrible. I was really hoping he would show up. The other cat, his buddy, knows something is wrong. She NEVER crys at the door to go out, but now she wants to go outside.

Do you think it would be too risky to let her out to see if she finds Balls? We have a name tag on her, but we wouldn't bare if we lost her too. She acts like she knows where he is!!

Any ideas?

[Catty1]

Do you have a roll of string? Attach one end to her collar, give her lots of lead, and follow her. Can't hurt! Catmandu has a cat, now passed on, that found one of his little lost girls that got out...literally wanted out and went to where she was and led her home!

Try it!

Have you called the vets too?

HUGS and PRAYERS!

[momcat]

Any news yet? Have you tried calling him or talking to him while searching? It just might be worth a shot to let your other kiitty outside to help look for Balls. Does your other kitty walk on a leash or anything like that? I say go for it but be sure to keep her somewhat restrained then follow her lead. I mention the leash or a suitable substitute so kitty won't take off on you. It is quite possible that she knows where Balls is. Prayers for his safe and speedy return already being prayed. Please let us know what happens?

[kufan]

Thanks you two! The string sounds like a good idea. It will give her lots of room to go ahead of us but a good way to keep her with us so we don't lose her either. She is acting like she wants out to go get him. She never cries at the door like this. We may just try this and see if she brings any luck.

We are also going to go call the Vets around here and see if anybody brought him in.

We have take numerous BIG walks all day long since Friday and he is nowhere to be found. Yet, we found numerous other cats wandering!

I will def. keep you all updated. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. We are beginning to lose all hope.

[Lizzie]

Were you able to try Catty1's suggestion.

I should have responded to this thread sooner, sorry! because your cat may have what my cat had since the symptoms are very similar. Seshat fell (startled by another cat a the top of a climber), not very far, but landed awkwardly instead of her usual graceful way. She seemed fine, then suddenly she was on her side literally screaming with pain, writhing and stretching out her back, growling at me and screaming more as I picked her up and into a carrier to race her to the emergency vet. While there, she seemed back to normal. They x-rayed her, checked her out, and put a bandage on her lower leg saying she might have broken her toe. Back home, she jumped out of the carrier before I could stop her and then dropped to the ground with more loud cries and writhing. This went on intermittently all night and I took her to another vet the next day. The vet there said it sounded more like she had jarred her back and we could only wait for her to get well by herself. And, day by day, she did, although there were always times over the years when she would step between floor levels and I'd see her stretch out her back with some obvious pain.

All this to say, that if this is the problem with your cat, he is probably hiding most of the time but is able to move around when he needs to, so not as lost to you as you fear.