LostCats

Missing Pet Partnership has great recovery tips and information on lost cat behavior. While the return-to-owner rate on lost cats is only 2%, with an understanding of basic lost cat behavior, perseverance, and hard work, you can greatly increase your chances of recovering your lost cat.

EVERY CAT REGARDLESS OF INDOOR OR OUTDOOR STATUS SHOULD BE MICROCHIPPED AND WEAR A COLLAR, ID TAGS & BELL AND HAVE A CURRENT PHOTO!!

“But my cat is an indoor cat” It takes 2 seconds for indoor cats to slip past you or rip out a window screen. Train your cat to stay away from the door through use of spray bottle or noise maker. A good idea is to bang the aluminum screen door or other noise maker before entering the home – the noise usually frightens cats away from the door. Keep window screens in good repair - check screens for tears or small holes which cats will pull and tear at. Belling a cat will alert you to their presence.

The most important thing you can do is to spay or neuter your cat! In addition to many health and behavioral benefits, this will decrease the urge to get outside and seek a mate.

A lost indoor-only cat WILL NOT come when called, will not answer an owner's call, and will not meow for a good week or so. They are SCARED. They will not show themselves, will not emerge during daylight hours, and will not allow themselves to be seen or found during this time. In the few instances where owners or neighbors have gotten a glimpse of their lost cats, the majority of cats immediately fled. This behavior in some cases will continue up to 2 months, possibly longer.

Research indicates that most lost indoor-only cats are hiding much more closely than most people realize, generally within a 2-3 house radius from their home. They hide in sewers, under storage buildings, between fences and under decks - in the smallest and most unlikely places you can imagine. These cats are frightened and revert to feral cat like behaviors - hide, stay quiet, and don't move.

An outdoor unspayed or unneutered cat (shame on you!) may be roaming the neighborhood looking for mates. An outdoor cat who is missing for more than a day is cause for concern. (What Your Indoor Cat Misses link to document).

It is also strongly recommended that feral cats in managed colonies, be identifiable through microchips, photos, and left ear-tips.

The single most effective way of finding your cat is an IMMEDIATE search of the area. Search thoroughly day and night in your own yard, garage, shed and porch and ask neighbors for permission to do the same in on their property. Call out to your cat so they hear your voice and know you are there. Be sure to bring along a flashlight to look under decks and in dark, cramped spaces. Look in, over, around, and behind everything. It is important that you immediately place articles of bedding, clothing, litter boxes, fur from brushes in your yard that will draw your cat back to his scent and yours.

Begin the trapping process as soon as possible after losing your cat. Set one or more traps nightly for at least 4-8 weeks.

Talk with each and every one of your neighbors as soon as possible and ask them to be on the lookout for your cat. Distribute flyers offering a reward with a photo to each and every house within a 3-4 block radius, increasing the radius every day. Post larger flyers on each block. Talk to everyone and give them a flyer - the postman, the paperboy, and all the kids in the neighborhood. Deliver flyers to all the local rescue groups, pet stores, veterinary offices, shelter and animal control facility in your town. Also post your cat's information at pets911.com, petfinder.org, and any local lost pet clearinghouses.

Go immediately to the shelter and physically look for your cat. Shelters are overwhelmed with animals and calling isn’t enough. Shelters in Pennsylvania are only required to hold stray cats for 48 hours before euthanizing although individual shelters may have longer hold periods sometimes up to 7 days. However, when trapped, many cats can act as ferals and may also be immediately euthanized. Most shelters are extremely busy, so make it a priority to physically go to your shelter every other day to see if your pet has been turned in.

From personal experience, it took 3-4 weeks to recover one of my cats when a neighbor 3 blocks away identified him from a flyer distributed door-to-door. The cat came late at night to eat from their cat’s dish. It took another week to trap him. Another of my cats who unknowingly slipped out the door was found in 3 days hiding in an old car in my next door neighbor’s driveway.