Tip #2: Search For Your Lost Cat When The World Is Asleep
A scared or shy kitty will be more likely to reveal herself when all is quiet. This means late at night or early in the morning .
Go out with a flashlight. You can take a few cans of cat food with you . Stand out in the open and pop the cans, or shake her treat jar.
If you have a normal feeding routine, repeat it while searching nearby areas. For example: If you feed her canned food at night, take a can of food and a spoon and walk around calling your kitty and tapping the can with the spoon.
Searching when all is quiet has other advantages as well. Calling out with your voice, shaking a treat jar, or popping a can of food will all be better heard by your hiding cat. If youre lucky, she will come running when she hears these familiar sounds.
Photo Credit: Lucas Allmann via Pexels
How To Find A Lost Cat With A Microchip
Many people assume that a cat microchip will help them locate their cat immediately if they go missing. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Unlike a microchip, a GPS cat tracker helps you find your lost cat in minutes by letting you follow their location in real-time.
To find a lost cat with a microchip, youll need to wait until someone finds your cat and brings them in to a shelter or vet where the microchip ID can be read.
If your contact details on the microchip ID are up to date, and if youre lucky enough to get a call about your missing cat, youll be reunited.
You can use the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup or the US Pet Chip Registry to learn more about microchip registry and missing pet identification.
While a microchip is a security must-have, it does not actively help you search for a lost cat or guarantee that they will be returned to you.
What To Do If Your Indoor Cat Escapes Outside
You are home and someone opens the front door. Your cat scoots out, turns the corner of the house and vanishes! What do you do?
First off, you go after your cat, but you don’t run, and you don’t make loud noises. Try to keep the cat in sight, but normally when an indoor cat gets outside, the smells and the sounds tend to be overwhelming and the first thing they want to do is hide close to home. Any loud noises like shouting their name or clapping your hands will tend to further startle them. If they stop and look at you, drop immediately to a kneeling position, don’t look them in the eyes and stretch your hand out. Using your calmest voice, call the cat. If there are no distractions around you, they will sometimes come right to you.
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Feline Temperaments That Influence Distances Traveled
Temperament influences actions. How a cat behaves when in its normal territory will influence how it behaves when it becomes lost or displaced into unfamiliar territory. In addition to posting flyers and checking the cages of local shelters, encourage cat owners to develop a search strategy based on the specific behavior of their cat. Here are guidelines to use:
Contacting Local Vets And Shelters
Perhaps your cat has already been found and brought into a vet or shelter. Call local vets and animal shelters to ask if anyone has brought in a cat matching your cats description. Leave them your number, so that they can call you in case your cat is eventually brought in.
Also check shelter websites people often post missing cats theyve found here.
You might find these regional resources useful in your search to being reunited with your lost cat:
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Use Caution In Offering Rewards
Sad stories have been told about cruel extortionists who extracted large cash rewards from grieving pet owners under the premise of having “found” their pets. If you advertise with a reward, leave out one or two pertinent identifying details of your cat Don’t leave yourself open to false hopes, and by all means, don’t wire reward money until you see your cat.
How To Find A Lost Cat: Whether At Home And Outside
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Its impossible to describe the feeling when youve lost your cat. The entire world screeches to a halt, you stop breathing, and all you can think about is how to find your lost cat baby. Unlike dogs, cats are quiet. This makes them a lot trickier to locate, especially outdoors. Trying to catch the sound of a frightened mew amidst weather, traffic, and other animals can be almost impossible. Meanwhile, your cats first instinct is to hunker down and hide. With no obvious clues to go on, whats the best way to go about finding your lost cat?
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What To Do When Your Cat Is Not Coming Home
If your cat is not coming home, do not hesitate towalk around your neighbourhood calling its name. Hearing your voice might remind your cat that a loving family and good food is waiting for them. If it is not responding to your calls, it has probably ventured further away. It is important to keep in mind that the earlier the search begins, the higher the chances of finding your cat.
What Should I Do If My Cat Is Missing
Having your cat go missing can be very distressing for cat owners. However, there are steps you can take so that if the worst happens and your cat does go missing, you have a better chance of finding them.
Dont wait for your cat to be lost first! While your cat is safely at home, you should make sure that:
- Your cat has proper identification, including a microchip and, ideally, external identification such as a safe quick release collar with a tag that displays your name and contact number.
- All of the details for your cat on the microchip database and ID tag are up to date at all times.
- You have a current photograph of your cat to help find and identify him/her .
- You have a plan ready to help you find your cat if he/she does go missing. Prepare this plan before something happens; you will probably be a lot calmer and thinking more clearly to make sure you make a good plan to help you find your cat when your cat is not actually missing! Having the plan ready will also save valuable time. If the worst happens and your cat does go missing, act quickly and follow the plan you have prepared.
Your missing cat plan should include the following:
-
A thorough and well-conducted physical search is the most effective way to find a missing cat:
- Conduct a thorough search of your house and backyard for your cat.
- Notify your neighbours and get permission to conduct a thorough search of their properties for your cat too.
- Alert and visit local animal agencies .
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How Do I Get My Cat To Come Home
If putting out the word about your missing cat hasnt worked, there are some great tips and tricks to try at home. Cats are heavily reliant on scent and leaving out items that may entice them back to you is well worth an attempt. Things to try include the following:
- Leave your cats favourite toy or some of their unwashed bedding in the garden
- Leave an unwashed item of your clothing, which will have your scent on it
- Place any used litter from your cats litter tray outside, or perhaps the contents of your hoover for a smell of home
- Shake a box of their favourite biscuits or treats
- Keep calling your cat, leaving enough time for them to hear you and be led home
Helpful Tips For How To Find A Lost Or Missing Cat
My cat has gone missing several times. Luckily, we’ve always gotten him back. Here are my best tips on what to do if your cat goes missing.
From putting up posters and walking the neighbourhood to plying social media with missing-cat posts, there are lots of effective ways to look for a lost cat.
It’s a desperate time when your cat goes missing. My cat Freddie has gone missing 3 timesfirst for 5 days, then for 14 days and the last time for 10 days. He is normally a cat that will come back home every one to two hours and never wanders far, so I was extremely worried each time he went missing. However, those experiences taught me a lot about how to get a cat back.
If your cat is missing at the moment, please take advantage of what I have learned and try my tips to get him back.
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Strategies For Finding Lost Cats
One study found that 15% of pet owners had lost a dog or cat in the previous five years, and 85% had been reunited, but people were more likely to be reunited with a dog than with a cat . In this study, 59% of cats were found by looking in the neighborhood and 30% came home on their own; only 2% were found at the local animal control.
More detail on search strategies is found in a questionnaire study conducted by The University of Queensland and Missing Pet Partnership . In this study, a third of missing cats were found alive within 7 days, and half after 30 days. By 61 days, only 56% of the cats had been found, and beyond this only a few showed up.
Of the cats that were found, most had not gone far from home. Indoor-only cats were found 39m from home, on average, and indoor-outdoor cats 300m from home . For all the cats , the median distance from home was 50m, and 75% of cats were found within 500m.
What this means is that if your cat is missing, you should search very carefully close to home. Being cats, you will not be surprised to learn that some of those that were found turned up waiting by the door to be let in. Cats were often found in nearby hiding places such as hiding in a yard, in bushes, under decks, or inside sheds. Cats that were considered curious were the most likely to be found in a neighbors house.
Here are some tips to help.
Putting Up Lost Posters
It is also very important to let your neighbours and any passers-by know of your cats disappearance. Put up lost posters and hand out flyers with a picture of your cat, any distinctive signs, and your contact information.
Put up lost posters on electric polls, on your supermarket noticeboard and slip flyers in letterboxes. Do not forget to ask your neighbours to check their garage and garden shed, your cat might have gotten stuck in there.
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Start At The House Work Outward
OK, assuming you didnt see your cat jet out the door, Albrechts first tip is to make absolutely sure your lost cat isnt still in the house. Once, a family contacted her, convinced a bobcat had killed their missing cat. After a few days, the family opted to adopt a new kitten. The homecoming of the mewing kitten triggered a noise from the houses chimneywhere the first cat was stuck.
Once youve searched inside, start searching around the outside of your house, under decks and porches, and in other smaller places where a cat could hide. If you own an indoor cat, its very likely they will be somewhere near your house, Albrecht says. If that search doesnt yield results, head over to your neighbors. But, she says, dont just ask whether theyve seen the cat, ask to search around their house like you did at your home. It might mean getting a bit dirty on your hands and knees, using flashlights to peer into dark places. Its up to you, not your neighbor.;
They’re just not going to care that much to do that, so you need to do that, Albrecht says.;
A 2017 study on missing cats measured how far away from home 477 cats were found. The median distance was about 50 meters from home. For indoor cats, the median distance was 39 meters128 feetaway.;
Cats with access to the outdoorsones who might roam around the neighborhood freelywere often found farther away. Their median distance was measured at 300 meters, more than three football fields away, according to the study.
Your Cat Was Displaced
Your cat may have jumped onto an openvehicle or a parked RV and was unintentionally transported away from itsterritory. In the worst-case scenario, your cat may have been transportedacross the country. This is why its important that pet cats are given updatedidentification tags. Finding a cat with a microchip can also be helpful in such situations.
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They Become Trapped And Can’t Come Home
Cats are curious. They wander through open doors or windows and crawl inside sheds, basements, inside parked RV’s, and other structures where doors are open. When the owner secures the doors and windows, the cat is trapped. They also climb or are chased up trees and telephone poles, or even onto the roofs of houses, where they become too afraid to descend. Unless they figure out how to back down a tree or pole or they can jump down, these cats will need to be rescued.
Get Help From Neighbors And The Internet
Pawboost.com is the website Ive seen referred to more than any other because it sends its own neighborhood alerts to Facebook and emails everyone who has signed up to be notified about missing pets in your area. This will create a link that you can easily share and include within your other social posts.
Another reason I recommend Pawboost as an early step is that they will turn your lost cat post into easy-to-print fliers for handing out, putting on bulletin boards, and distributing to local retailers, coffee shops, shelters, vet practices, and 24-hour emergency vets. ;Below is an example of the lost pet;flier Pawboost creates with your post.
If someone finds your pet, they may also post to Pawboost, so take a little time to look through the posts in your area and immediate surroundings.
Other important places to post include sites like Nextdoor.com and the Ring Neighbors app . This will alert your direct neighbors to keep their eyes out and allow them to contact you directly if there are sightings or if anyone has caught footage of them on their security cameras. In your posts, ask neighbors to also check their own sheds, yards, and garages.
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Tip #4: Set Out Food And Water For Your Lost Cat
This comes down to a basic survival needs. Eventually, your kitty will need to start looking for food and water .
When it comes to food, the stinkier the better. Think sardines, tuna, or other types of foods with pungent aromas. Please note putting out food may attract unwanted animals scaring or possibly endangering your cat.
Consider setting up a wildlife camera pointed at the food and water. This way, you can see if your cat has stopped by to eat, which is a strong clue she is probably hiding somewhere very close.
Photo Credit: FOX via Pexels
Offer A Reward For His/her Safe Return
Its up to you whether youre in a position to offer a reward, but if you are, then out this on your posters.
You dont have to state how much the reward is, but by offering a cash reward acts as an extra incentive for people to search for your cat. It also shows that youre serious about getting him/her back.
I personally had $100 in mind as a reward for when my cat went missing. But, in the end, I didnt need it as she came back on her own, so I donated it to a local cat shelter instead.
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Top 10 Tips For Finding Lost Cats
Of the many cats Ive known over the years, Ive lost four. Two never returned. I know the heartbreak of looking for and missing a beloved cat. My cat Coco went missing many years ago in Toronto. I canvassed the neighborhood, put up posters and felt her presence nearby. I kept looking and calling but she was stuck up a tree, so high up I couldnt see her and she refused to make a sound. Finally, after being in stranded up a tree for two days and two nights, someone called me from the flyer who said hed seen her. A neighbor found the longest ladder Id ever seen and since the fire department didnt rescue cats, I put my fear of heights on hold and climbed up. With one hand on the ladder, I dangled Coco by the scruff of her neck from my outstretched arm to avoid being shredded and climbed down. A small crowd had gathered and cheered. Coco was rescued safely.
Cats seem to have a sort of homing instinct which in some cases have guided cats to travel hundreds of miles back to their home. Most indoor-only cats tend not to travel far. While an adventurous indoor/outdoor cat is more likely to roam, a scared cat may not trust their inner compass, get confused and get lost. Once a cat has wandered out of their comfort zone anything can happen to scare them further: Barking dogs, wildlife, loud traffic noise, teasing school kids, the list is endless.
Top 10 Tips For Finding Lost Cats
8) Visit all your local shelters even if say they dont have a cat of your description.