Hi

Rafi managed to escape today, have been out calling her, no sign.
I've but her litter tray outside, is there anything else I can do to entice her home. She's never been out before

I think the most common reaction for a cat who's never been outside before, to be outside, is panic. So it's important for you to be outside looking for her, making noise yet, but also listening very carefully. I don't think a litterbox outside will make one bit of difference, but her food dishes may! If you have the ability to cook some meat outside, that may do the trick. Even bringing out some of her favorite treats, and rattling those around or making a big production of preparing those may help. Also... are you SURE she went outside? You wouldn't be the first to assume that their cat got outside when in fact they just got scared by the open door and hid somewhere inside instead.

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The little monsters 3

Rafi came home last night at about 9.30 pm. She had been out for 7 hours, the naughty girl.

I don't think she went far, she came back from under my neighbours fence. They have a not cat friendly dog, so perhaps she holed up until it went inside. I gave her a talking to, and fed her. She then went to sleep

I am so happy to hear Rafi returned! Normally, they do not travel very far as they are frightened and have no idea of what looms outside. I'm sure she was in view of her home. The whole litter box issue confuses me because some experts say it does absolutely no good. Others claim the cat can smell the litter box from miles away and return home. Well, a mile may be an exaggeration. Usually, they tell you to put some of your worn clothing outside. The next time (hopefully, there will be no next time), you can make flyers and hand to your neighbors. Smelly cat food can also help bring a cat (and other critters) to your door. If it is cold out, you can make a warm bed for her at the door she escaped out of. I can't tell you how many people have done that and opened their door to find their pet (dog or cat) in the bed, just waiting to come in.

I know you were panicked beyond belief that she was outside. Thankfully, it all ended well. I hope you scolded her good! LOL

I was literally holding my breath until I saw your follow-up post, saying Rafi returned home safe and sound!

Do you have her micro-chipped?

A couple of years ago, when I was living in the country, I had left the garage door open to get something from the backyard in the early evening (which I had never done before). When I returned, I immediately saw the door to the basement was open (by Diablo) and he was gone! I called and called him, left food out, and then phoned the micro-chip company to report him missing. They suggested I leave out his litterbox (something I would never have thought of). I searched for him all night, went to all my neighbours. No Diablo. I was exhausted so decided to leave the side door to the garage open, as well as the basement door, and tried to get a couple of hours of sleep. When I awoke and opened my bedroom door, he was right there and jumped into my arms! I kissed him up, checked him all over. He was fine, except for a few scrapes, which I cleaned up.

We are now living in an apartment. Diablo loves to wait by the door as soon as I put the key in the lock. I am usually ready for him and block him from getting out! However, this escape artist does manage to get away from time to time and run down the hall, then crouch down and wait for me to come get him! Our little game is I pick him up, "throw" him over my shoulder without holding him as I walk back to our door. Star does not do any of this.

My Raiden is an escape artist as well. He will start running and crying ("I'm FREE") and I carefully follow him, talking to him until he will stop at a shrub to sniff and I grab him. My husband left the front door ajar one day and Raiden ran down the front steps and my husband tried to stop him, which only got Raiden running at full speed. The good thing is Raiden is used to our neighborhood. He was an outdoor cat for six years with his previous owner (lived four doors down from us) and we take daily walks through the neighborhood. He would know how to return to the house if he could. HOWEVER, he would go looking for a cat to fight with. He thinks he's a big bully, but he gets his butt kicked pretty good during a fight.

It is always so frightening when a pet escapes and is outside and you can't find them. Microchipping is only good if someone finds the pet and checks for a microchip. There are many pet locators on the market now -- quite inexpensive. If your cat wears a collar, you might want to try one out. The bluetooth ones have limited range -- you have to be within 100 to 300 feet from the cat, but it's better than nothing. If you are searching and your cat is hiding at a neighbor's house, you would pick it up, although trees, walls, etc. limit the range. GPS finders are out there now and more are coming on the market all the time. They are not cheap or small, but you could find your cat anywhere in the world as long as the battery is still good.