Yesterday sometime in afternoon our Bengal escaped the apartment we were moving into. We thought she was closed in room with other cat apparently that was not the case so sometime between moving a lot of furniture from one apartment to other 12pm-4pm she got out. Here is my total panic, she is a shy cat does not like you walker to her she will walk to you when she wants attention. She is terrified of anyone that is not my wife or myself. She has always been an indoor cat and has never been outside. She is a Bengal and i feel is totally ok with running wild for days and then finally realizing she is no were close to house..... i checked under sheds i have left food out last night with a bed. but knowing her personality i bet she got as far away from house with all the chaos of furniture moving, appliance moving, strangers coming in and out. So please help what can i do?
That happened to me I searched for days and was crying! The next day I was putting toilet paper underneath the sink in an upstairs bathroom, there he was. I was pissed but relieved 😅
When we moved into our new apartment one of our cats disappeared out of thin air, we were distraught. Once we had given up looking outside for the night and sat down in silence, heard odd noises coming from the ceiling. She had gotten into a crawl space between our first story apartment ceiling and the second story apartment floor. Must have been having a good time because she did NOT want to be found.
The apartment has recessed lighting along a shelf that goes throughout the apartment, you would never know there were little openings up in there. We could not find a furniture arrangement that prohibited our cats from getting to it, they did some insane acrobatics no matter what we did. They would literally wake us up by getting up there and walking to above our bedroom and yelling through the ceiling.
We finally got a ladder, chicken wire and nail gun and covered up 7 openings in that recessed lighting. Took 3 hours! They love that super high long shelf, but now they can’t into the ceiling.
Always check around your new place for tiny openings and hiding spots!
It's possible she actually IS still in your new place. Cats are very good at finding corners to hide in. If she's shy, she may have crawled into or onto some hidden spot to hunker down until she feels safe. My first kitten disappeared for two days. Turns out she crawled under my nightstand (I didn't even know there was a space in it until this).
To check if she's still inside --> Clean out the litterboxes and put out a specific amount of food. If there's more cat shit or food eaten than your one cat could make/eat in a day, then you know you still have two cats in the house, even if you can't locate one.
As far as finding her outside, go out at NIGHT to look for her. Cats are most confident when it's dark and quiet. You won't likely get her to come out of hiding in broad daylight with cars, pedestrians, dogs, sirens, etc.
Wait till after sundown and go out with good cat treats and call (softly) for her, walk the block nice and slow. Bend down and look under cars, porches, etc. Some cats will stay hidden until they see your face. Just seeing your shoes go by may not give her the confidence to come out and go to you if you pass by her hiding spot.
Also, post flyers in the new and old neighborhood, put them up in vet clinics, shelters, and put an ad up on craigslist. Sending well wishes your way!
Don’t forget to search in trees. My boy ran away recently and I found him on top of a tree near my house.
Check the app Nextdoor. Check out the r/ for you area. Start calling the vets and shelters in you area.
Have you checked near your old place? My guy escaped once after I recently moved house, I found him making his way to my old house. No idea how he knew the way.
Bengals are very smart that’s why
I lost my bengal for about two days after I moved, was completely distraught, put out posters etc and then she walked down the stairs like nothing had happened, figured out she was just hiding on top of a wardrobe for two days because she was so frightened, there is good chance they are in your apartment just call out to them calmly and be as quiet as possible, I really hope you find your cat
Have you checked all the spots in your new place that they could hide? I moved into a new apartment and thought my bengal had gotten out while moving furniture. Turns out she found an open space next to the dishwasher and crawled all the way behind it. Took hours to realize where she was.
Are you on Facebook? Many cities have multiple lost and found pet groups. In my area I have literally seen someone collect a group of people from Facebook to help find the cat. And even the people that can’t leave work/home to help will see the picture of your and give you possible sightings. I wish you the best of luck!
Try putting her litter box outside. She will recognize it and come home.
I had a cat that hid in the rafters of the new house. And I've heard that cats will make their way back to there old home. So keep checking and check with local vets. Check the micro chip.
The rafters happened to me. Took me a while to find him, he was not allowed in that room too so he must have slipped in. My gf was panicking outside shouting his name.
I think he was hiding from his hyper "little" bengal brother!
Join Nextdoor! They LOVE finding lost animals.
Keep your spirits up. We Bengal parents are particularly fearful. Whenever my boy isn't inside, which he refuses to do, I track his AirTag and knowing how far he is from our home is worse than not knowing where he is. At least your cat isn't particularly friendly and won't let just anyone pick him up. Is he chipped? Collar and tag?
Put neon poster board signs in your yard and parked cars that's how my cat was returned to me. Post on petfbi.org and Craigslist lost and found
Put the litter box outside
One left-field option: she may still be in your new place, just really well hidden.
I have had cats disappear for a day or more at a time when weird stuff (including house moves) happens and they freak out... 100% certain they had gotten out somehow, and then halfway through the next day emerge from some cats-only dimensional portal and demand breakfast.
This has happened several different times, different cats at different times of my life.
If she *has* gone outside, she might be nearby and just hunkered down. If she doesn't want to be found, you won't find her until she does.