My cat has recently been attacked, will he return?

[kelsey]

My cat, a seven-year-old moggy named Smudge, has recently just been attacked by my neighbours staffy dog. He had been asleep under the lounge chair when the dog had come out and started to attack him, however I quickly ran outside in order to prevent this. My neighbour simply stood and watched as this happened, and it took my Step-Dad to pry the dogs jaw open (resulting in him receiving a nasty bite) in order to free my cat.

Smudge managed to release himself with no intervention, and scaled the fence before running off down the usual path he goes down whenever he goes out. He didn't leave any form of blood trail whilst doing this, and wasn't showing any verbal signs of pain and discomfort, however there is a small amount of blood where the dog had obviously hit the cat against the chair - but that is it. I've observed where he ran countless times, and there is nothing, which is kind of what's giving me enough hope to say that he may be alright.

He's ran away before in the past, and was gone for months. My mum found him after somebody reached out to her, he was hesitant to return but it only took him a few hours of being back at home until he realised he was safe.

Since then he's managed to relax a lot more, and is able to come and go at ease (he is never really gone for long, and usually just spends a few days in followed by a few days out). He's been gone since last night, and it hasn't even been 24 hours yet, but given the circumstances I can't help but worry.

We've went door-to-door, contacted local vets, animal sanctuaries that are near by, as well as the RSPCA and our local council; nobody has seen him, nobody has handed him in, and the council haven't been called to deal with body disposal. I can't help but feel hopeful, and optimistic - right now we are just sat outside, hoping he hears us and smells our bacon and just comes running.

Is my optimism misplaced? I was originally anxious when we were waiting to hear whether or not a body had been found, and obviously I was horrified during the entire occurrence, but now that I've thought about it, I can't help but feel hopeful.

It all doesn't feel real to me yet, but I still can't dismiss the feeling, even though everyone else seems to feel like that's it for him.

[Ruth B]

No one can say for certain that he will be back, but there is still hope. My guess would be that he has found somewhere dark and cool where he is feeling safe and is staying there to recover a bit. Even if the attack didn't draw blood he is still going to be hurting and in shock. The biggest problem is if he has run off in a panic he might not know his way back.

You have already done a lot to try and find him, but there are a few other tips that might help. If he had a litter tray, sprinkle any used litter around the garden, the scent of it might help guide him home, the same goes for hanging dirty washing on the line, again it will have your scent on it and that is the scent of home. If he knows his name call him at his standard meal times. Put posters up saying that he might be injured and scared after an attack (you don't need to go into details). If he is chipped phone the company and make sure all contact details are up to date.

Finally, this is something others might be able to advise on more, I don't know if your Step Father getting bitten needs to be reported either to the police or the RSPCA. I don't want to get any dog in trouble, but if he is willing to attack a cat and then a person with out the owner trying to intervene, there is the possibility of a future attack being far worse both for the victim and the dog in question.

Should Smudge return, you might want to consider building an enclosed run, or cat proofing your garden to prevent a similar occurrence taking place.

[Janey]

Hi and welcome. So sorry about your poor cat, I hate to see dogs chasing cats and have witnessed this quite a few times where I live. Without going into details I actually had one of my own cats killed by a dog and one of my ferals, so it’s definitely a sore point with me and I don’t blame the dogs - the owners should keep a track on their dogs, did the dog actually get into your garden? I would be having a stern word with them to keep their dog under control or you’ll be doing something about it and you can. Hopefully Smudge will soon be home, I would think that he’s just gone off to feel safe for a while, he’s obviously been really spooked by this. It’s still early days yet though, there may some tips you’ve not tried yet here:
https://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-m ... lost-found