Kitties On The run: Cats Who Found Their Way Home… By Lorrie Hartshorn. Keep a window or something open so he can hop in if he drops by at some point when you're not at home / don't notice him being around. A week later, their mother didn't want the cat anymore and asked them to take him far away. In September 2015, we put on a new screen door to our porch. Think positive thoughts. Months later, when they returned to retrieve Howie, they were told that he had run away. That way, when you get him in the carrier . Cats can find their way home, but it can take a long time even if the cat is still in the local area. That may take the dog a lot longer to find home...if ever. Cats have a homing ability which uses the angle of the sun and the Earth's magnetic field. Can`t comment too much on cats , because I have never had one to train or study and observe its level of intelligence and how it uses its senses to find its way home. Indoor cats, if gone missing, often make their way back home sooner or later. The sad truth is that these stories are very rare and in reality only around 2% of lost cats are ever returned to their owners. Genetic Positioning Systems: How Cats Navigate Animal Adventurers . They may use magnetic fields just like birds do to find their way north and south. I have heard recently she ran away from her new home 2 months ago 25 miles away, will she be able to make her way home or have I lost her for good, I am heart broken. Usually, when your cat gets missing, she does not lose connection tens of miles away from home. Whether they were picked up by other people, suffered a tragic accident on their way back or are unable to orient themselves through their dog senses, the chances of them making it back home safe are low. This behavior is known as “homing” and is well documented in pigeons and some other animals. Earn the dog’s trust with slow, deliberate movements. May 6, 2013 #4 ondine TCS Member. If the dog moves away from you, track it from a distance, keeping it in sight at all times. we were worried for about three days untill our neighbor called and say the cat showed up back at their house. If you’ve ever had a cat escape and run away from home, you know how upsetting it can be. Even if the cat had traveled 30 miles outside of a car, the chances are very very VERY small. Let’s learn more about feline homing instincts and discover how cats find their way home. The cat makes use of its senses and instincts in order to make a path and then retrace its steps. When his family moved over 100 miles away, he somehow managed to find his way back to what he regarded as home. Take Sooty for example. If your cat is missing, you probably heard that you should put out their cat litter box or spread dirty litter around your yard to help them find their way home. yes, i once had a cat that liked to be at my neighbors house, well, when we decided to move, we took our cat with us and when we got just around 15 miles away that cat jumped out out of the car and started running. Another important concept to address when discussing whether cats can find their way home if they get lost is whether they actually have a desire to do so. Cat owners often wonder how their cats can find their way home if the animals have never been outdoors before. Can Dogs and Cats Find Their Way Home? (don't worry, this story has a happy ending). A lost cat usually ventures out only at night and moves slowly from safe hiding place to safe hiding place until finding home or getting picked up by someone. Your cat could have been hit and killed - lost a cat myself like that 10 years ago. Some people believe cats have a preternatural ability to find their way home. Clipper will freak out in the carrier - that's understandable. Even if the cat had traveled 30 miles outside of a car, the chances are very very VERY small. I would like to remind anyone that reads this going forward the importance of getting a microchip in their pet. In 2011, researchers at the University of Illinois Extension school conducted a study to see exactly how far cats roam away from home. They try to protest but it didn't help. Unfortunately, unless the cat has experienced the way home from 30 miles away, no it is barely possible. Share ; Subscriptions; Sign Out; By. Dogs and cats often wander some distance from their homes and usually manage to find their way back. Tests have shown that cats will not have any problems finding their way back within a 2 to 3 miles radius from their homes. Unfortunately, unless the cat has experienced the way home from 30 miles away, no it is barely possible. However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they could find their way home from a mere 2-3 miles away as well. Most indoor-only cats tend not to travel far. Cats have different navigation systems than dogs. So, they took him to stay with relatives who lived more than 1,000 miles away. How does he know the ones he dropped off are not coming back? so i'm sure you cat can find its way home. Some cats have homing skills so well developed that they are capable of finding the way back home over immense distances- in extraordinary cases, over dozens or even hundreds of miles. Aside from putting up signs and talking to neighbors, there are a few tricks to lure your cat back home. I’m not sure if they can. Both human-owned kitties and feral cats were tracked during the two-year study. A word of caution - make a vet appointment for him first. Since mice can find their way home over distances greater than a mile, I have no doubt that chipmunks can as well. Of course some dogs do get lucky and find the route home from many miles away. Capturing a lost dog can take hours, sometimes even days. You can read their amazing stories in the articles below. Put simply, a lost cat might possess the ability to return home, but that does not necessarily mean they want to return, and there are a number of points to cover in relation to this. mirror. He won't keep a collar. There are recorded incidents where at least 3 cats have travelled 1,500 miles to find their way home - one of them even had to swim across a lake to reach his island home! Don’t give up. Just three weeks later, he bolted from his new home and crossed 10 miles of streets, railroad tracks, and other obstacles to find Jade at the shelter. Before long, the kitty will be safely snuggled in the lap of its owner after having a nice meal of cat food. Anyhow, if he's not been outside your fenced backyard before, chances are he'll be scared and trying to find his way home. Additionally, a cat which has escaped is now exposed to numerous risks and dangers including … But don't worry, he'll be fine. Just relying on the power of their senses, cats seem very good at getting their bearings. We still don’t know exactly what makes cats such expert explorers, but we do know that they’re not alone. Sheldrake’s own research, in which he let a dog loose several miles from home, then tracked its location using the satellite-based global positioning system, suggests that the dog just wandered around till it found a familiar landmark. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that a cat can smell their litter box from that far away. One of the most fascinating, but perhaps least understood behaviors of the domestic cat is their ability to find their way home from an unknown location. With the relatively recent introduction of cat passports and frequent flier miles for regularly commuting kitties, you might think that travel is an every-day occurrence for many cats. Although this may be true for feral cats, things are different for pet cats. Not so for these far-flung felines, whose epic journeys will take some beating… Family loses Porsche in storm . However, the distances we are talking about are being many times more. We tend to get preoccupied with news stories of dogs and cats reunited with their owners after traveling hundreds of mile to find their way home. So, he brought him home, and gave him food and shelter. The real question is, can they find their way back if they are dropped miles from home in unfamiliar territory? Anecdotally, I have heard numerous stories of homing in lost cats. Cats seem to have a sort of homing instinct which in some cases have guided cats to travel hundreds of miles back to their home. If you really think he can be an inside cat and you have the time and patience to make that happen, go for it. Speak gently and offer treats if possible – a fast food hamburger goes a long way in these situations! My cat is 2 years old he's been missing for a month-and-a-half will he be able to find his way back home I live in the country a lot of open Woods As expected, the furballs with homes didn’t go quite as far as the feral felines. Cats were tagged with a tracking device and lived in central Illinois. We've moved eight miles away otherwise the first place he'd go would be through the cat flap at the old house. Similarly, the ability of dogs and cats to find their way home doesn’t seem all that miraculous. That’s why news headlines often report incredible stories about cats who were able to find their way home years after they got lost. Cats get lost every day and some may never make it back home. You may have even heard that your cat can smell their dirty litter a mile away. A reason to come home . While dogs often have the energy and motivation to travel miles from their home, cats usually do not venture nearly as far. While they have better olfactory function than humans, the idea that they can find their way home whatever the circumstance is both false and dangerous. As long as the distance is modest and the dog or cat is in a familiar area, the answer to this question is yes. So, the cat was on the motorcycle again, going far away. ­The Hicks family wanted their cat to be lovingly cared for while they went on an extended vacation overseas. Veteran. I don’t think it is possible for a cat to smell their way home over such … Be patient. Feline fine: Cat finds its way home 200 miles away after going missing on holiday. Moggie returned to its owners 63 days after running off . While an adventurous indoor/outdoor cat is more likely to roam, a scared cat may not trust their inner compass, get confused and get lost. [1] Anything is possible and if your kitty is lost the main thing is to remain positive. The life of a stray cat is not an enviable one. The best chance you have of reuniting with your dog if he ever gets lost is by making sure he has a microchip and a dog ID tag and collar. In the "Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal" issued by the CDC, there is a report of a trial that involved one pinyon mouse (P. truei) and 19 deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).. She gets lost somewhere in the environs, that is why she comes back soon very often. If they are house cats, and they get out, then fear might get the best of them. I've just been to the local vets and they've put the poster up, a woman in there with her dog took a couple more to put up in her local shops and my local shops let me put posters up in there window just there too. So, there you have it! Unfortunately, unless the cat makes use of its senses and instincts in order to make a path and retrace. He brought him home, but it can take a long way these! 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