Cat keeps getting out!

[Azusanga]

My beautiful Annabelle has gotten out for the last 3 nights. I know she has cause when she comes in she smells like the night (if that makes sense), and she acts all tired like she had been walking all night. Her feet have little scabs on the paws, and the other day I had to actually pull a rock out of her foot, like it was embedded. Thankfully she healed nicely from that. I'm really frustrated because we don't know HOW she's getting out. We have all of the windows and doors locked every night, and she's always sleeping when the last person goes to bed, so it's not like we can follow her path outside. I think she goes out during the day too, since one of my nearby frenemies was saying how she was driving and Annabelle ran across the street and almost got hit. Annabelle has a collar that's too tight for her to get it caught on something, but loose enough that she could get out if it did get caught. I'm really worried guise. What do I do? She is NOT an outdoor cat, since she's front paw declawed and has very little hunting instinct. Plus, every animal she's come in contact in the past 2 years has been very nice to her, from the pigs to the dog.... So she wouldn't know not to approach a 'curious' dog.  

[Vanilla eXee]

Search the house for holes. Doesn't need to be a very big one for her to escape. If you can't find one, do an all night stake out or something.  

[Moth Feathers]

Is it possible for you to contain her in a single room each night/during the day when you're gone? If you changed what room she was contained in every night, then when you would out what particular room has the vulnerabilities allowing her to escape.

As a temporary fix, you could try containing her in some sort of crate at night, though it won't help you find out how she's escaping.

If you have any video cameras, you could put one up in the area you think she might be escaping from as well.  

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

you couldf slowly figure out which room has a hole if you lock her in different rooms every night till you figure out which one it is,shell smell different right? but then she would be able to get out at least one more time,you could also check any vents,or under the house to see,or even block all access to under the house so she can get there,but not out  

[pompoennetje]

Once they had a taste of the outside world, they don't want to go back to be an inside cat anymore.

At least, that was what I experienced with the previous cats I had.  

[Moth Feathers]

Dianda Panda

Once they had a taste of the outside world, they don't want to go back to be an inside cat anymore.

At least, that was what I experienced with the previous cats I had.

True, but being an indoor cat is MUCH better, for both cats, humans, and wildlife. To me, leaving your cat out to roam is irresponsible pet ownership.
And in the Azusanga's case, her cat is declawed, which makes going outside even more dangerous. It's important that she finds out how her kitty is getting out to prevent it in the future.  

[pompoennetje]

Moth Feathers

Dianda Panda

Once they had a taste of the outside world, they don't want to go back to be an inside cat anymore.

At least, that was what I experienced with the previous cats I had.

True, but being an indoor cat is MUCH better, for both cats, humans, and wildlife. To me, leaving your cat out to roam is irresponsible pet ownership.
And in the Azusanga's case, her cat is declawed, which makes going outside even more dangerous. It's important that she finds out how her kitty is getting out to prevent it in the future.

True. I find indoor cats much better as well. That's the reason why I have my two current cats inside. One of them is even too afraid to go outside.

Anyway, I agree with the others. Try to figure out how your cat gets outside. Try locking her up in different rooms and see from which room she can get out off?  

[Azusanga]

Thanks for the quick responces. We've been searching the house thoroughly for how she could be getting out. We can't lock her in different rooms, because the base floor Is VERY open, as in no doors between 5 different rooms open. I'm asking around to see if I can find any large dog crates we can keep her in for now. We're gonna put something on her paws that'll wear off if she's walking a lot so we'll know if she leaves a lot or periodically or whatever  

[Celestial Fireflies]

cєℓєsтιαℓ ғιʀєғℓιєs:

The only ideas I could think of are if your bottom cupboards have holes that go under the house (ours do, for some reason, I don't know why) or if any floor vent covers are loose. I would suggest checking your window screens, but you said you lock all of the doors and windows.

Would it be feasible put down something around the perimeter of the house that would show paw prints? If you could put down something like flour (would that show prints?) you might be able to find the pawprints where she got out. The only thing is that other critters or the weather might mess up the prints.