'He was gone for 6 weeks—but he never stopped being mine': A lost cat’s escape through a window sparks a tireless search, dozens of posters, and an unlikely rescue from a stranger’s shed

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Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Aug 22, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

Indoor cats are such a funny lot when you think about it. They are of one of the most formidable species to have ever walked the planet, yet when confined to the constructs of a home they become more timid than a wolf who found itself walking down Wall Street at rush hour. Which is certainly the case for the cat in today's story, who leapt out of his home at the sight of an unwelcomed visitor. Now the visitor was actually welcome in the home, it was just the cat who took to them badly, but what madness is it to ditch your home just because a stranger walked into it.

Regardless, this led to quite the tiring chase by his pawrent who held strong through her six-week whirlwind of worry, until one day she found her fluffy feline fur baby bundled up in a stranger's shed. Minding his own business, supposedly waiting for someone to come find him. You know what on second thought, maybe this cat heard the visitor say something about a big game of hide and seek, and the cat took it too literally…
 

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  • 01
    Hi everyone! My cat escaped from my window around 9pm one evening in mid-May. He is a fully indoor cat and got spooked from a visitor. After 6 long weeks, we got him home.
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  • Well, that describes an indoor cat rather purrfectly if you think about it. Well, perhaps the scared indoor cat typecast, at least. To be so freaked out by a single visitor coming into your kingdom that you abandon it is classic scaredy-cat behavior. But, alas, it is likely not his fault that he has been wired this way.

  • 02
    As soon as my cat got outside, he ran into nearby bushes. I searched for him all night and got close to him several times, but he would *not* come close enough for me to grab. At one point
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    my neighbor said he came back to my porch, but when my neighbor shouted for me, he spooked my cat and my cat ran off. I went to bed around 2am, exhausted an unable to find him.
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    The next two weeks were an emotional roller coaster. I put up posters all over my neighborhood, spoke to neighbors, and searched with a headlamp and treats at dawn and dusk. I
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    partnered with the shelter I adopted him from to set humane traps and monitor my yard with a camera. I spread the word online as well, and made sure his microchip info was up-to-date. I left my
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    door cracker every night, as I heard most lost pets return home between 11pm and 3am. I did not see a trace of him and began to lose hope.
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    Cheezburger Image 10545019648
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    Over the next few weeks, I put posters up in a wider radius. I received several tips that ended up going nowhere.
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    One day I got a call from someone who claimed my cat was living in his shed. I visited and was shocked to SEE MY CAT for the first time in SIX WEEKS!! I
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    could've c d from happiness and relief. My cat was nervous and wouldn't come to me, so I set out a trap baited with tuna. Sure enough, he
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    went into the trap overnight and I was able to take him home the next day. He is SO HAPPY to be home. As am I!
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  • What a lovely ending to a rescue story. Usually getting a hold of the cat is one of the hardest parts and then comes all the vet visits and rehabilitation. But in this case we have a wonderfully cut and dry kind of ending with a well-behaved cat who might just be scared of its own shadow.

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    The crazy part is, the man who called me about my cat didn't actually see one of my posters himself. He was chatting with a friend about this cat, and the friend (who lived on another side of town
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    where I had put some posters) sent him a picture of the poster. Here's what I learned, and what I would do if this happened again:
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    Most cats are found within 48 hours. They stay close to home and hide. They are SCARED when they get out. They may not come to you. Leave your door cracked in case they come around, so they can sneak back in.
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    Don't shout, and don't be discouraged if they won't come up to you. They're running on adrenaline.
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    Put posters EVERYWHERE! A poster far across town is ultimately what brought my cat home! Answer every call, follow every lead.
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    For your own sake, it is helpful to keep tabs on what's in your control and what's not. Doing a little something to assist in the search every day / few days kept me going. I
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    went to bed every night telling myself that I did everything I could, and that the rest is out of my hands.
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    Call your local shelters. They offered me a LOT of free assistance, expertise, and gear that would've otherwise been inaccessible to me.
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    Shelters are run by animal lovers and they want your baby back home with you! Overall, don't lose hope! Six weeks is a long long time, and I'm forever thankful to the man who helped get my baby
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    home to me. I'm so thankful that this was just a bad chapter in the long happy book of my cat and me. If you're going through this right now, I wish you the best in your search.
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