Cats do run away from home: for a couple of hours, for several days, but many owners have encountered this behavior. Even though they have excellent navigation skills, it is still a cause for concern. Many owners simply don't understand why this happens. Is the cat unhappy? Where did he go? Find out the 11 main reasons for running away, and find out how to behave in such a situation.
So, here are the most common reasons for running away from home:
- Reproduction
- Sense of territory
- Hunting instinct
- Changing of the living place
- Double life
- Your cat is not sterilized
- Distractions
- New family members
- Appearance of the second animal
- The cat feels more comfortable elsewhere
- The cat is stuck somewhere
Reason 1: Your furry is running away to breed
Let's face it: cats need to reproduce. When they are in heat, or they sense that there are cats nearby that are also on the prowl, they go searching. Their keen sense of smell easily allows them to detect other cats, and here no obstacle will deter them.
If there is no one nearby ready to breed, the search area may increase.
This is why your pet may be away from home for several days.
Good to know: Some cats also go missing when they are about to give birth. They find another place away from everyone, where they build what looks like a nest to prepare for the birth in safety, where no one will disturb them.
How do lost cats find their way home?
Many people have probably heard or read incredible stories about cats that find their way home on their own, covering vast distances. They yearn for home, where they were loved, caressed and fed. There, at home, where it was warm, the cat was surrounded by relatives, which is why the cat, who suddenly became homeless, had such a strong desire to get back into his usual habitat.
So how do cats get lost and come back?
A very interesting story is the story of the Thai cat Semyon, who was lost by his owners in Moscow and spent several years reaching his home in Murmansk. And it all started very well. Semyon's owners and their children were going on vacation from the northern regions to the south and decided to take their tailed pet with them so that it could frolic in the warm sun. Vacation time flew by unnoticed, the owners and children were tanned, stronger and looked great. The cat also spent his time usefully in laziness and bliss.
On the way back to Murmansk, at a family council, it was decided to stop for a day in Moscow to repair an old car. When we were already leaving the capital, we discovered that Semyon had disappeared. At what moment this happened was not noticed. While the adults were busy fixing the car, curious children looked around. The cat probably jumped out of the car unnoticed; he was tired of sitting in the car with so much noise and strangers all around. What to do? The whole family grieved, but decided not to return to Moscow, since the likelihood of finding a cat in a city of millions was zero.
Photo: pixabay.com
Returning home, Semyon’s owners felt empty for a long time without their beloved animal, and the children began asking their parents to take a new cat into the house. Soon a new tailed tenant appeared in the house to everyone's delight.
They began to slowly forget about Semyon. But the cat could not forget his “native land” and moved from Moscow to Murmansk. The journey turned out to be very long for the small animal, it lasted six and a half years! During this time, the cat walked more than two thousand kilometers. How he managed to avoid many dangers on such a long journey and what he ate remained a mystery.
One day, the head of the family discovered a skinny and dirty creature near the door, meowing desperately, trying to enter the house. As soon as he succeeded, the “great traveler” Semyon quickly ran to the kitchen to the familiar bowl of food. After a hearty lunch, he hopped on the TV - his favorite place to relax. Nothing has changed in the habits of the kisarik during the years of absence. Based on this story, the film “Love Story” was made.
Monument to the cat Semyon in Murmansk Photo: kotizm.com
A similar story happened in the USA. The owner of the cat Thomas was a big fan of traveling around the country. One day she was getting ready to travel through a mountainous region for several days and decided to take Thomas as her companion, since at that time there was no one to leave him with. Kotofeich traveled a little and escaped at a nearby parking lot. The hostess complained about herself, but continued her trip. It turned out that Thomas decided to return home from his trip on his own. The return took about seven months. During this time, the cat walked about five hundred kilometers and returned home safe and sound to the delight of its owner.
Why do some cats return home, while most of the lost ones disappear forever? Zoologist F. G. Frick was one of the first to become interested in this problem. The reason was one incident that occurred in the early 20s of the last century.
He went out into the open air and took a domestic cat with him, putting it in a bag. While walking, she jumped out and ran away. It was about 8 km from home. Fortunately, in the evening Murka returned home safe and sound. The scientist decided to conduct a series of scientific experiments with a cat. He took her to different places located at a distance of 2-5 km from the house. The smart animal always found its way home.
After F. G. Frick, many other researchers began to study the problem of returning cats home. Some experiments were particularly cruel. For example, cats were injected with drugs and taken far from home. However, even under such conditions, some animals returned home.
Photo: pixabay.com
Several years ago, a German ethologist conducted an interesting experiment. He collected their pets from cat owners, put each cat in a separate box and drove them for a long time along a complex, winding route. Then he took the pussies to a field where a labyrinth closed at the top with many exits was built. It was assumed that in this way cats would not be able to navigate by the sun or stars. During the experiment, it turned out that most of the cats chose the exit that was directed towards their house.
The results of the experiment were reported at an international ethological conference. However, most scientists were skeptical about this message. It was hard to believe that when the cats were driven along a confusing route, they “remembered” the path of the van with all the turns, and then “restored” the route in reverse order.
American zoologists repeated the experiment of their German colleague with the only difference that during the trip the pussies received sleeping pills and slept like the dead. After waking up, they all successfully went home.
Photo: pixabay.com
Since then, many different experiments have been carried out with cats, and they all showed an interesting fact: our whiskered-tailed pets are very sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field. It is this feature that helps pussies find their way home. To test this hypothesis, scientists attached a strong magnet to the cat's body. It turned out that in this case they completely lost the ability to determine the right path.
A large number of experiments made it possible to put forward several hypotheses as to why some murkas are able to find their way home. However, we still cannot answer this question with certainty. Cats are mysterious creatures. Science has yet to make many discoveries about cats, which have been human companions for many centuries.
Tags: interesting fact, cats, domestic cat, smart animals
Reason 2: The cat is driven out of the house by a sense of territory
Cats sense their territory, and in their minds it can occupy an area larger than your home. Sometimes felines include surrounding areas in their “home perimeter,” such as your street, a neighbor's garden, or the entire neighborhood.
Interesting fact : cats consider any place where they feel comfortable to be “home”.
So if you see your cat sitting on your neighbor's window, don't worry.
Good to know : Do you have a lot of cats in your area? They often get into fights. Some cats fiercely defend their territory, and your pet may go in search of a new one. If your cat feels threatened by another on her territory, she may be away longer.
How to pray for pets correctly
According to Orthodox doctrine, the Lord created animals almost simultaneously with humans, therefore there is a close relationship between them. Believers have long prayed for animals when they were lost or sick, because:
- needed labor;
- felt their responsibility for lower beings;
- became attached to their pets.
In most cases, the prayer worked - the animals recovered or returned home, which strengthened people's faith in the power of the Creator.
When a cat disappears from home, their owners are ready to do anything to ensure that the animal comes home alive. They independently search for him in the surrounding area, interview passers-by, post notices with signs, post information on the Internet, but often this does not give positive results.
Believers in search of a missing cat ask God for help. But a number of rules must be followed:
- one can pray for their salvation in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense they cannot be saved;
- when addressing God and the saints, you need to put up an icon, not a photo of a cat;
- You cannot give notices for animals in church;
- prayer should be without despair, but with trust in the Lord that nothing bad will happen to the pet, he will live;
- be patient if the cat does not return immediately.
Reason 11: The cat got stuck somewhere while walking
If you let your cat go for a walk, it is normal for him to disappear into the street every day. But keep in mind that cats are very curious.
Good to know: while exploring the territory, the cat may get stuck in some narrow place: in a hole in the fence, in a pipe, etc.
This is where a GPS tracker comes in handy! This way you will always know where the cat is and will help her if she gets into trouble. The real-time tracking feature will always help you determine its location. Are you afraid that a tracking collar will cause trouble for your curious pet? Worry no more! The modern mechanism automatically releases when pressure is applied, but the collar is easy to reattach.
What to do if a cat runs away
- Start your search as early as possible. If she ran away in the evening, then you need to start searching in the evening and not wait for dawn. This will give you a better chance of finding your cat without delay. The more time passes from the moment of escape, the less chance there will be of detection.
- Ask your neighbors at the entrance who is at home and show them a photo; a photo from your phone will do. It may well be that someone saw a domestic cat and took it in for a while.
- Interview the neighbors who live in your and neighboring houses.
- Warn as many people who live nearby as possible about your disappearance, leave coordinates, or warn where advertisements with your contacts are posted.
- It is especially important to interview those people who have dogs. While walking, they might have seen your cat, or your dog might have spooked her. In this case, check which direction the cat ran. Be sure to leave your coordinates so that next time you can be contacted immediately.
- Elderly people on benches in the yard. This is someone who no one can slip past unnoticed.
- Print and post missing cat notices. The ad must contain a photo of the lost person, nickname, age, gender, description of appearance, and special features. People often respond well to rewarded ads. Pay special attention to public places; be sure to post notices at bus stops, poles, and entrances.
- Post a missing person notice on the Internet on various websites. Use both photos and videos of your lost animal.
- Place an ad in the newspaper.
To whom should petitions be addressed?
You can pray to the martyr Tryphon, the holy martyr Blasius, the martyrs Florus and Laurus.
Martyr Tryphon
The martyr Tryphon lived in the 3rd century. in Asia Minor, the Lord gave him the gift of casting out demons and healing the sick thanks to his strong faith in God, to which he sought to lead everyone. This greatly irritated the pagan emperor, who ordered Tryphon to be captured and subjected to cruel torture; he bravely endured it and was executed.
He did not stop working miracles even after his death: during the time of Ivan the Terrible, his falconer Tryphon missed the royal gyrfalcon, serious punishment awaited him, but after praying to his heavenly patron, the martyr Tryphon appeared to him with a bird in his hand. Waking up, the falconer saw a gyrfalcon nearby.
The prayer to the martyr Tryphon is also relevant for cat owners, he helps to return them home safe and sound. It sounds like this:
It says that the saint promised before his death to help everyone who resorted to his help; it comes soon, as cat owners who see the return of their missing pet can see.
Hieromartyr Blasius
He was the Bishop of Sebaste, who was at the head of church power during the time of the persecutor of Christians, Emperor Diocletian, which did not stop him from helping people, for which Bishop Blasius was executed.
During his life, he happened to live in a cave on Mount Agreos, where wild animals often came to him, which Blasius was not afraid of, but treated, if necessary, by laying on of hands. Ordinary people turned to him with requests for the return of missing animals, which were immediately fulfilled.
Nowadays, people often call upon Saint Blaise in prayer, who helps not only to return the animal home, but also to calm down the owners:
Martyrs Florus and Laurus
These saints were brothers, lived in Byzantium in the 2nd century, earned their living by simple labor and professed Christianity. The Lord gave them the opportunity to heal the sick, which allowed many people to gain faith. The ruler was angry and ordered them to be burned, but the remains of the saints remained incorrupt and were transferred to Constantinople. In Rus', after the discovery of their relics, cattle stopped dying.
People who have lost a cat can pray to the martyrs Florus and Laurus to calm their nerves and wait for the pet to return:
The disappearance of a pet is always perceived as a tragedy, but believers should not fall into despair. They should know that in the Orthodox faith there are prayers for all occasions, and their pets will return home unharmed after turning to the appropriate saints.
List of effective spells
When a pet goes missing, owners rush to post up advertisements promising a reward, warn neighbors, and run around the yards beckoning the fugitive. There are strong rituals and prayers that help a pet find its way, and support the owners in their search.
Conspiracy to return the animal
The ceremony is carried out early in the morning, before dawn, during the waxing moon. You need to stand in the place where your pet has always loved to rest, and say these words.
Plot to return the cat.
Universal rite
They turn to magic not only to find cats. Owners of dogs, birds, hamsters and other small animals can read a universal conspiracy. To perform the ceremony, you need to get up before dawn, sit near an open window or vent if it’s cold outside. Introduce your pet and say these words.
Universal conspiracy.
On the cat's bed
Another radical way to return what was lost is to use the animal’s sleeping place. You need to take the couch out into the yard, set it on fire, and say a spell.
Spell for a cat's bed.
This option is more suitable for owners of private houses, since it is unlikely that neighbors in multi-story buildings will approve of a fire under their windows.
To prevent the cat from running away
In the old days, owners tried to protect their pets by reading protective phrases in advance. To carry out the ritual, a little hair is cut off from the cat’s head, back and tail and stuffed into the cracks at the threshold with words.
A spell to keep the cat from running away.
Magicians advise the owners of a private house to make a recess in the wooden threshold and hide the hairs in the recess, sealing the hole with a wooden stopper.
Mantra for return
If your pet is very late in its travels, you can resort to a special ritual. It is necessary in the evening to stand near an open window with a lit candle, imagine your pet and say.
Mantra for the return of the cat.
The last word must be drawn out as long as possible; in the East it is considered a powerful spell that brings the lost home.
The appeal goes to the element of fire, so the wick should not be blown out, but extinguished with your fingers. It is recommended to repeat the ritual for several days until the fugitive appears.
How to call an animal home
The ritual will be more effective if you use additional items related to the cat. A bowl and your pet's favorite treat will do. You need to put food in the bowl, place a lit candle next to it and say the right words. Since the flame must burn out completely, it is recommended to carry out the ritual in the evening so that there is some time left for waiting. Such precaution will protect against fire.
A spell to call an animal home.
