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FOOD & WATER
Cats can survive without water for three days, and surprisingly can go without food for as long as three weeks! Not to worry, it’s likely not to come to that. Cats are very resourceful. They can usually find water whether it be from puddles, dripping faucets, accumulated rain water, sprinklers, or some other source.
Cats are natural hunters. For food they may catch mice, bugs, birds, rummage through garbage, or follow other cats to the food source. There are plenty of good Samaritans out there that feed the strays. It is also common to have neighborhood feral feed stations set up. When my cat escaped when we had just moved, he was lost for a month and a half. He came home fatter than ever as if he hadn’t missed even one meal!
DEFENSE TACTICS
Cats are far from helpless & defenseless. Equipped with laser-quick paws and razor-tipped claws, these natural born killers are the stuff of every bird and small mammal’s nightmare. They are fast runners and usually able to outrun most dogs and if the can’t outrun them they can usually outsmart them. When you witness a dog going after a cat the end result is usually not the cat in the dogs mouth. They can jump up to six times their body length and can climb up a tree quite effortlessly.
AVOIDING PREDATORS
Cats are predatory creatures. That being said they also know they can become prey. One of their best defenses is to avoid detection. The widest bone in their body is their skull so they can pretty much squeeze into any space that their head will fit through. Cats are masters at hiding. They like the cloak of the night to keep them concealed. They know how to be extremely quiet and while hiding may even close their eyes making them virtually invisible.
For these reasons don’t be surprised if your cat doesn’t come running as you shout his name through the neighborhood. If he’s in survival mode his goal is to remain hidden and not call attention to himself. You screaming could be interpreted from your cat as a APB alerting the vicinity to his vulnerable state. It may force him deeper into hiding.
INTERNAL HOMING DEVICE
Some cats are equipped with an internal homing instinct. It is thought they can perceive direction using something beyond the five ordinary senses of taste, smell, sight, touch and hearing. They are able to instinctively navigate their way home even when lost, or misplaced. Theories posit that cats may be among those animals able to sense the Earth’s magnetic fields. Also, the presence of iron in mammals’ inner ears and skin may act like a natural compass. There are countless stories of cats traveling miles and even across states to get back to their old home. So if you’ve moved you might want to check your old place & alert neighbors of your former residence to keep watch.
