Missing unnuetered cat for 11 days worried sick

Question

My Sweet Boy Bel   First I want to thank you for what you do. I am overwhelmed with guilt & worry about my 1 year old male cat who is the love of my life.  I've made a horrible mistake & my little guy is paying for it!  A little over a year ago I found 4 one week old kittens under my shed. I have never had a pet because I am seriously allergic especially to cats. I started calling around to see who would take them & nobody wanted them due to care they would need. Most shelters told me they would be euthanize & this was never an option.  So I took of work & with help of friends & family we bottle fed them for 6 weeks while my husband peed & pooped them.  2 girls & 2 boys were now our children & my Prayers were answered and no longer allergic to cats.  Now comes the part where I have really made a very serious mistake.  The 2 girls were spayed but the boys were not for several reasons or should I say excuses.  One would be sick which cost hundreds of $ then the other one would be eating right before we were due to go into surgery etc... Now one of my male cats have sprayed my entire home and my other male cat has been missing for 11 days and I am sick and have spent every minute searching, flyers, knocking on doors, putting information on every website I can find, alerting all vets etc... One of my neighbors just told me that my sweet boy will never come home due to my other male cat??  Please help me!!  I can't sleep, I am completely out of my mind with worry. I don't know where to go or what to do.  Am I really never going to see my precious boy again?

Answer
Hi
I can totally understand your worry and anxiety. However you must realize that it is entirely possible that your missing male cat has decided that there are simply too many cats at home and he has gone off to find his own territory.

It could be of course that he has gone off in search of females and if this is the case their is a chance he will return.

However my advice would be to have your other male cat neutered ASAP. The fact that he is not could well be contributing to the other cat staying away. you will also have to clean everywhere inside that you think may have been sprayed.

At the same time keep calling for your other cat, put something outside with either your scent or the cats scent on it. If he is in the neighborhood this will help him find his way home.

11 days may seem like a lot but it really is not for a un-neutered tom cat. Instinct is strong and can make them wander far from home. All you can do is hope that he will return. if he does, keep him, inside and have him neutered straight away.

I cannot give you any guarantees that he will return. But cats are smart, if he decides not to return he will find a new home somehow. A neighbor of mine recently found a cat living in her shed. He was micro chipped but was found out to have been missing for a year and has been returned to his family who have since moved away. Cats are smart and can look after themselves if need be.

Fingers crossed that he returns though.

best wishes Kate Author of www.our-happy-cat.com