So, we have a cat who is my DH's garage buddy

[Bettie]

she was a stray and kind of adopted us, so she lives in the garage where he does woodworking. She romps around outside while he's working and comes in when he shuts down.

Her favorite thing has been to sit on my lap and get petted for as long as I'm over there.

But, while we were out of town for a few days, someone broke into the garage and stole some stuff. It was probably very loud too and she ran off. Now, 8 days later, I found her.

She's fearful, skinny, and seems to have a problem with one of her front legs. However, my friendly sweet kitty is really scared and, while she ate and let me pet her a little, when we tried to put her in a carrier for a trip to the vet, she flipped out.

She went up above the rafters (where she sleeps) and has not been down since. She hasn't used her litter box or eaten anymore.

So, is it probably normal for her to be sleeping up there or do I need to get one of the ladder climbing humans in my household to climb up and take a look for her up there?

I want to be patient, but I'm worried about her.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

[Phoenix61]

1. If her leg was ok, I'd say leave her but...

I’d call the vet, get some knock out drops to slip in her food, then take her in.

[Bettie]

2. We found her yesterday afternoon at around 2

so, I figure she could still be sleeping.

The vet said I can bring her in whenever I capture her and they'll take a look at her, unless they are out on large animal calls.

Do you think she could have just been sleeping all this time? She was missing for 8 days.

[mnhtnbb]

3. If she wasn't eating during that time, I'd get her in to the vet asap

Depending on her age, cat's kidneys will start to shut down if they don't eat for several days.

Hope she's ok.

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. This is true

Cats are "obligate carnivores". They must eat enough protein every day or they will start to get fatty liver disease.

If she won't come down, try tempting her with something smelly like canned (cat food) tuna. You could also try feeding her baby food meat from a spoon. Anything to get some food in her and get her to the vet.

[Bettie]

14. We still can't catch her, but she is

eating and drinking. She's still getting around and is fast. My son was able to get her to come by him and let her scratch her head.

He said she's got a wound, but it is clean and not leaking, just a pink, healing wound.

She won't come near me, probably because when I grabbed her to bring her in, I touched the wound and it probably hurt. I hope she'll eventually forgive me.

Of course, once she comes by me, I'll have to grab her and put her in a crate to take her to the vet, but she seems to be doing well. She had loose poop for a day, but that seems to have resolved too.

[Phoenix61]

4. I'd get her to the vet as soon as I could.

Infections can get ugly fast and there’s no way of knowing when she hurt her leg.

[gab13by13]

5. You have to have a plan for getting her into a carrier,

even a timid tame cat like I have will fight tooth and nails to stay out of that carrier, and they know when it's time for a trip to the vet.

You need to be patient for a bit and keep feeding her, that's how you gain their trust. You really should get her to the vet. We have 2 outside cats, one is pretty tame but the other is iffy. Glad we got them both to the vet, we had them neutered and found out that the one had feline leukemia, I think that was it. So since the 2 outside cats got along we didn't listen to the vet to have the cat put down. He has been living the life of Riley for 3 years since that advice.

I suggest throwing a towel over the cat when you are ready to get it into the carrier and push towel and cat both into the carrier and have the carrier ready, the quicker it happens the better. I screwed up on the 1 outside cat when I went to push him into the carrier he stuck out his back legs and pushed the carrier off the porch.

Patience is a virtue. Oh, a 3rd cat showed up outside and I can't get near him/her, but I feed him away from the other 2 outside cats. Don't believe this cat will ever come close to me, but I keep trying.

[Bettie]

6. She was super friendly

before she ran away. The people who broke in used a crowbar and made a mess, I think it was very noisy and then she was on her own for 8 days, so she's not herself at all right now.

DH is going to go over and do his usual puttering around in hopes she comes out. But yes, we need to get her to the vet as soon as we can...even with a bad leg, she's FAST.

Even when she was hiding in the culvert, once I sat down, she came for some petting, but I had to grab her to take her home.

[gab13by13]

7. If you keep feeding her she will come to you.

I feed the outside cats and because I do I can pet and comb them but the one won't let my wife pet her.

[tblue37]

9. If all else fails to get her into a cat carrier,, I once had to carry a cat from a

friend's house to mine so she could stay with me. I used a pillow case.

You'd need someone to hold her in the pillow case in the car.

Or if you have a top-loading carry case, you could use the pillow case to put her into the carry case.

[Bettie]

10. At this point, we can't even catch her

before this, she was a really friendly sweet cat, now she wants nothing to do with us....hopefully she'll calm down if we leave her be for a day or so.

[tblue37]

11. Put food & water out when you go to bed (both wet & dry food). She might feel safe to

come down to eat of all is quiet & no one is moving around.

[happybird]

12. How is your kitty doing?

Have you managed to catch her yet?

[Bettie]

13. Haven't been able to capture her

but, we saw her yesterday. She's been eating, drinking, and using her litter box.

I scattered some catnip around and it seems to have helped her calm down some, but she doesn't want anyone near her. I put a carrier next to her "spot" and have sprinkled nip on it too, in hopes that I can get her to the vet on Monday.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Hope you can reach your traumatized kitty, and get her some help. She's really worth it. 👋

[Bettie]

16. Yesterday she came out and

let me pet her...actually, demanded that I pet her.

She seems to be healing and I think if I'm patient, I'll be able to get her in a crate and to the vet this week. She has cleaned herself up and aside from a limp seems to be mostly her old self, just a bit more skittish.