Kitty, don’t roam -- please stay at home!

Heartbreaking things happen: for instance, a cat can get lost or just plain disappear.  Then: what to do?

Lily

How can the cat’s person – always loving but now also distraught -- find the missing feline?  It’s an unhappy situation to be in.

Knowing where the cat was last seen would help.  No need to search the neighborhood if it’s certain no doors or windows were opened since the cat was last spotted in the kitchen.  S/he’s somewhere in the home – and that’s challenge enough!

If there’s general uncertainty about where the cat was last seen, and equal uncertainty about the feline’s favorite haunts both inside and outside the house, that presents a bigger problem and may require a wider search.  The pet’s family can choose from among multiple approaches to take.

First, let’s hope the cat was microchipped on arrival (with the number noted and saved), and second, that good cat photos are on hand.  If Y on both, that will make “Lost” signs and contacts with shelters and rescue groups much easier.  (A cat collar with breakaway clasp is a good addition.)

If the cat was trained to “come” on command (with treats as obedience rewards), that could be invaluable in case s/he’s somewhere in the home and able to hear voices calling her.  With luck, she’ll respond, reappear and be welcomed back.  

If a pet parent doesn’t have a plan for finding the cat before he goes AWOL, here are some possible steps for both inside and outside. 

In the home (which can include basement, garage and any shed-like buildings), check seemingly very small and inaccessible spaces that cats are marvels at getting into.  Same with closed rooms and closets where a cat may have been exploring when the door was closed without knowledge she was there.

That goes for places in the garage and any vehicle, where cats seeking warmth sometimes settle in, out of sight. 

An outdoor search opens things up considerably. It’s common knowledge that  missing cats are often found close to home, hiding quietly when scared or injured and often not meowing when called.

Two things to do outside the home: set up a humane trap (possibly borrowed from an area shelter or rescue group) and keep watch so if the cat ‘bites,” s/he won’t have to be there long.  Also, leave a bowl of food outside, to attract that errant feline.

Loki

Search categories outdoors can include in-person action: post signs with the feline’s picture, use door hangers, knock on doors to alert neighbors, notify area rescue groups, visit local shelters in person (remember: cats usually don’t last long in shelters before being euthanized), inform workers in the neighborhood (landscapers and mail carriers are in positions to notice animals on the move).

Social media offers myriad ways to spread the word about a missing cat: Facebook, of course, including some communities with lost pet pages there, and Nextdoor, a free network for neighborhoods that offers a lost pet post and the pet directory.  Helping Lost Pets.com is another online means of searching.

From Catster magazine and Catster.com, check out (1) 13 tips on how to find a lost cat; (2) The search for Phoebe: Tips to find a missing cat and (3) 8 ways to keep your cat from escaping outside this summer.

Other places to look for a missing cat or get ideas for how to look include Mission Reunite.org/find a lost cat; PetFBI.org; and MissingAnimalResponse.com.

Then there’s always the case of the cat who decides to go home – back to his last home, that is.  Pray for that feline.

To start considering all these possibilities only after a cat disappears could impede success.  The best approach is to have a plan ahead of time so you can move quickly as soon as the cat’s clearly “outta here.”  

An even better idea is simply making any family cat “indoor only,” for everyone’s sake.

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Please help improve this post: tell us about other/better ways you used to find a missing cat and what methods here sound good – or not.  You can comment at 1moreonce.blogspot.com.