TNR turned indoor cat escaped and i can’t catch her

General

On September 1st around 9pm my 2 year old (TNR converted into indoor) cat escaped. The first night around midnight I found her 6 houses down from me underneath a shrub approx 30 feet away.. I foolishly tried to chase and grab her so she ran from me. I didn’t wanna disorient her so I just stopped chasing and she of course outran me. The very next morning I set up a humane Havahart cat trap (filled with wet food & my dirty socks full of my scent) in the area I saw her last. I don’t know if it’s because she was once a TNR cat, she’s fully aware of the trap and is not falling for it, but she didn’t budge from her spot. I let her be all day and eventually moved the trap closer to my front door step. Around 11pm she started approaching my trap but the noise of me opening my front door startled her and made her run away. I checked up on her again at 2am and I finally gained her trust after softly calling her name and shaking treats for 10 minutes. Before I knew it, she was on my front door steps and so close to my door … but my flight or fight reaction kicked in. I tried to grab her by her neck scruff and pick her up but she fought back. She kept meowing very loudly, squirming, scratching me and her collar broke off so I eventually let her go and she sprinted even further away from me & my house this time. She went the opposite direction of where she was last. And to make matters worse, now rather than being 30 feet away and in my eyesight she’s now 100 feet away and I don't know what shrub she’s hiding under. I feel awful that I attempted to grab her and disorient her. Now I'm convinced she doesn’t feel safe around me and will never return. I’ve checked her old hiding spots multiple times and she’s nowhere to be found. I'm convinced she’s still near my development but I fear: (1) I’ll never regain her trust (2) I'll never be able to successfully trap her and bring her back in. I know it hasn’t been a full 48 hours just yet but I am beyond worried for my girl. She was a bereavement pet for me and my family after my father passed. We love her so much and every night that passes she’s not sleeping in my bed devastates me. I feel like my life is crumbling. Since she’s escaped I’ve only been able to sleep in 2 hour intervals a night and because I'm so anxious. I am also constantly nauseous and have little to no appetite due to the stress of it all. I miss my baby so much. I’ve put up flyers door-to-door and still have the trap set up as I type this message. I’ve posted on my neighbor/ community facebook groups. I put food and water out this morning on my front porch just in case she’s fully outsmarted the trap-cage and is avoiding it completely. I don’t want her to starve or dehydrate. I hope she has the courage to come around when I'm not around at the very least. I truly am convinced I scared her really badly. I don’t know what else to do or who else to reach out to. Please give me advice on what to do next, catching her, what I'm doing wrong and how to cope with all this.

Posted Sep 3, 2025, 5:07 PM UTC

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