Housepets!

Looking through the search history is something that is done after the police do an initial sweep. They show up, search for evidence then ask about the computer. They probably check his phone first but if it’s passcode protected then they’re out of luck. Them turn to the computer history to Check for message rooms, online chat groups, sketchy websites, anything that to lead to answers that to help find him.

If he left the browser open to some kind of website about human-animal transformation then that could go a long way of getting his mother to at least question what he was saying. If that did happen it might spike her curiosity to look through the history to at least see “what was that crazy squirrel doing on the laptop?”

I have found that when a situation requires a certain character to put the pieces together and be smart about something to solve a mystery they end up not getting the correct answer or being completely dumb.

When expecting sensible actions by his mom, don't forget her Karen hair.

When you say Karen, are you referring to Karen Walker?

Karen hair is the "can I speak to a manager" haircut.

Admittedly I have to say I never heard of that.