Our beautiful Simba has gone missing

[T & P]

Our incredible, adorable cat Simba went out early in the morning of May 15th and hasn't come back. Even though he comes in and out as he pleases he has never, by any stretch of the imagination, stayed away from the house this long.

I am gutted beyond description. I remember many a comforting words I've given over the years to other urbanites in similar situations about it's early days and it might come back yet, but that feels so meaningless now...

He's extremely friendly and a looker, so for all I know he might have been snatched by someone though I'm aware other, worse scenarios are quite possible

I've contacted everyone from vets to Battersea to the RSPCA and I've plastered my street with posters and put leaflets through letterboxes asking folks to check their sheds, but to make things worse Simba's brother is almost identical to him which is going to mean a lot of false sightings.

ETA: we live on Romola Rd, off Norwood Road between Tulse Hill and Herne Hill

ETA: Further edit to change the date from 15 June to 15 May.

In the two hours since I put the posters up I've received two calls from locals and both were quite sure they saw Simba, not his brother. I don't want to get too optimistic but at least it gives me a glimmer of hope.

If any Urbanites think they've spotted him somewhere please let me know. He knows the area pretty well and if it has got lost he must have gone quite far.

 

[spanglechick]

June 15th

not yet (not being pedantic, but i nearly passed the thread by cos i though it was old).

best of luck finding simba. poor little cub...

 

[oooomegrapes]

shite, thats rotten luck, he looks like a lovely boy

happy vibes to you

xx

 

[moose]

I do feel for you. Hope he comes home soon. I assume you mean May 15? If so, he's not been gone long and could just be having a little adventure.

 

[ScallyWag II]

are any of your neighbours away on holiday? maybe he's snuck into their shed and is stuck...happened to some mates of mine, their cat was missing for a week, turned up very hungry but fine.

hope he turns up for you

 

[oryx]

Good luck with getting him back.

 

[T & P]

not yet (not being pedantic, but i nearly passed the thread by cos i though it was old).

Thanks for that actually. I have just realised I've put 'June' in all the posters and flyers I've handed out already

My head wasn't really with anything today.

Hopefully people will realise it was a mistake and take it genuinely. We're now putting the month May through the remaining posters and tomorrow I'll change some of the ones that are already up.

And thanks for all messages so far. I guess one can keep a bit of hope. I certainly heard of cats returning after 3, 10, 20 days though those cases are sadly not too common.

 

[The Pious Pawn]

hope you pet turns up safely , will keep my fingers crossed .

 

[janeb]

Keep the faith, I lost one of my beloved cats for 3 weeks and he turned up safe, sound but quite a lot thinner - suspect locked in a shed somewhere,

 

[trashpony]

Hope he's okay

 

[Fledgling]

It's always bad when a pet goes missing, we lost 2 guinea pigs in bad circumstances once though managed to hang on to the cat (one just made a bid for freedom when I opened the hutch, poor guy). I hope you find him soon, he's a really nice looking cat. Is it a pedigree? Sometimes and sadly people steal cats that are or appear to be pedigree. Ours was a tabby so no one would do that.

 

[madzone]

2 of my cats disappaer for days and days on end - don't give up hope. Reenie has been out of the house for about a month now but I see her walking through the fields and up the track - reckon she's gone feral My black cat, Bruin, has been gone for about a week and in a weeks time he'll stroll back in follow me everywhere and drool on me for a couple of days and then go again. When I was a kid my cat got in the boot of a tourist coach and got driven god knows where. It took him 2 weeks to get home but he did. It's a horrible feeling - I feel for you.

 

[beeboo]

What a beautiful cat - keeping my fingers crossed

 

[T & P]

Well I've got a card this morning from one of the neighbours who phoned last night, saying she saw Simba again this morning in her garden and that she's pretty sure it was Simba, not his brother. However this is literally two doors down from us and both cats spend time in her garden so I remain skeptical.

I had to make the most difficult call yet- to the rubbish collection people to see if they had picked up any dead cats in the last few days. Luckily there had been nothing for weeks.

 

[geminisnake]

Hope Simba is ok and turns up safe.

Our cat disappeared for the summer a couple of years ago, we think it was a territory thing, ie she was being bullied out of her own territory!! Now I hiss at any cats that come into the garden. I object to our cat being bullied!

 

[Pingu]

although aimed at dogs some good advice here

http://www.doglost.co.uk

 

[Stigmata]

One of ours tends to go off in a huff whenever we go on holiday and not reappear for days after our return. But as other people have said, cats frequently get shut in sheds and garages and stuff by accident, and they can turn up days later none the worse for wear.

 

[May Kasahara]

Best of luck - he's a lovely looking boy. Just to add a hopeful note, one of mine went missing for a week, very out of character, and I was tearing my hair out over it but she reappeared 5 days later with no fuss at all. I think she had got lost in the Tesco carpark next to our flat!

I'm sure you already know this, but it might be worth going out very late at night/early morning and having a walk around, but not calling - apparently good sightings are often made this way as cats will be out hunting, especially if they're used to regular meals. Or if you have a litter tray, you could sprinkle some of the used litter around the edge of the garden and nearby - if he's got turned around, he might be drawn back to the familiar scent (sounds weird, but I'm assured it works).

 

[Looby]

Just to echo what everyone else has said, I'm sure Simba will come back in his own time but I do know how upsetting it is not knowing where they are.

Our cat Ron used to disappear for 3-4 days at a time, it turned out a neighbour was feeding him. We put a leaflet through everyones doors saying that he had a medical condition that needed regular medication or he could die. Bit sick I know but it worked.

We now keep them in at night, it was a struggle at first and we used to spend hours every night looking for them and trying to coax them in. Now they wait outside the door when they are ready for dinner and bed. We haven't had to take them to the vets for a year as they don't fight and they don't get tempted into other peeps houses like they used to.

Good luck.

 

[T & P]

Thanks for all the support.

I made a bizarre and a bit disturbing discovery earlier. I noticed a cat collar (one of ours) on the side alley of the neighbour's front yard. It was attached to a large plastic bag- a plastic bag that belonged to us as well.

Our cats lose their collars regularly and for what's worth both my girlfriend and I believe the collar Simba had on was a different colour to the one I found on the alley. Also the bag looks dirtier than you would expect if it had only been there for a couple of days. But the fact that the collar metal ring was attached to a hole on the plastic bag, almost as if the hole was carefully made by somebody and the ring put through it, makes me wonder whether Simba had been taken forcefully by somebody.

But then, why go through the trouble of attaching the collar to a plastic bag, even if it was ours, and dumping it unceremoniously in a secluded area that isn't even mine? No ransom note, no nothing.

I really am going mad here.

 

[Looby]

God that's awful T & P, could it be a neighbour who has seen the posters and thought they'd wind you up? I'm sure it doesn't mean anyones got Simba.

 

[Cloo]

On no! Such a lovely moggy, too.

Males, especially young ones, can go walkies sometimes, even if they're quite attached to people, so hopefully he's just off on a big explore.

 

[gaijingirl]

What a beautiful cat. I feel dreadful for you. I really hope that Simba turns up and I'll be keeping my eyes open for him.

 

[dogmatique]

Fingers and paws crossed...

 

[polly]

oh no t&p, i'm so so sorry but as many have said, ours once went for a couple of weeks and, although all our neighbours assured us they'd checked their sheds, she showed up in one. according to the rspca woman we spoke to, people very rarely snatch cats. keep us posted and really hope you find him soon.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Any luck with Simba?

 

[Hellsbells]

Sorry to hear about your cat. But honestly, don't give up hope. My cat went missing and just turned up at the back door about a week later, very thin and scraggly and looking very upset and sorry for herself. We think she got trapped somewhere as her paws were all bloody and her claws mangled - as though she had been desperately scrambling her way out of a hole or something.

It was a really really horrible week for me though so I know how you must be feeling. I hope he comes home soon

 

[frogwoman]

our cat went missing for about nine weeks once and then turned up on our doorstep ...

 

[frogwoman]

hope simba turns up soon ... but cats often disappear for a time, even if it seems out of character ... so it might not be anything to worry about

its good that you've put posters up though and if people are ringing in saying they've seen him...are the sightings all around a similar place, or are they in lots of different areas?

 

[Stigmata]

I reckon they nip off for a fag with the other cats now and then.