15 GREAT TIPS ON HOW TO LOCATE A LOST CAT
1. Kitties usually stay close by their home. Indoor kitties aren't used to being outside, and they have not had time to mark their path with their scent (kitties do this by rubbing their face on things), so they usually don't go more than 100 to 300 yards from their house, then they hide in a bush or some small dark place and just sit and wait. Even if you call them, they may not come because they are freaked out and scared. This is also true for indoor/outdoor kitties that don't venture far from their backyard usually. If something spooks them, like a hawk or coyote, and they run, they would not have had time to mark their path back to your house, so although they are outside sometimes they may have gotten off their normal path and it will be harder for them to find their way home. Sometimes kitties do wonder further from home, it is usually when pushed out by territorial strays (we will discuss trapping them later), or if you have recently moved to an area, they don't yet understand this is their new home, and may be trying to find their old home. Don't panic if that is the case, while looking for their way to the old place, they will be marking their trail and could come back around to the new place at some point if you put stuff outside that smells like them and you to help them recognize their new home. It is very important to remember that your cat is most likely not going to know you at this point. He is completely freaked out, so don't run after him, it will chase him further away. When you do grab him he may scratch you because he is in survival mood, not loving house cat mode. Wear long sleeves and gloves. If you have time, sit and talk softly to him to calm them down and reassure them it is you and it is safe.
2. Put things outside that smell like you and like your kitty. Put things outside that smells like your kitty, like his bed and maybe something that smells like you, a towel, shirt or blanket. His or her litter box is a great thing to put outside too. Leave it dirty if it is. One man also put his worn shoes outside. We all know how kitties love to rub on our shoes, cause they smell like us. As soon as the man put his smelly shoes outside his cat came back. Another person just told me they put the cat tower outside, and within an hour their cat was back home. They have a very good sense of smell. His things outside let him know this is the right house. Kitties are low to the ground, and all our houses look the same, so they rely on their sense of smell to guide them.
3. Walk around the neighborhood calling. You don't even have to yell, kitties have very good hearing. Even if he doesn't come out right then he may have heard you and will later be able to catch your scent and follow it back to your house later. I had a women tell me last night that her son walked all around the neighborhood calling her kitty, and a few hours later the cat did come back. I'm sure he followed her son's voice and scent home.
4. Pass out fliers to neighbors and talk to everyone, especially kids and dog walkers. Pass out fliers to neighbors and ask them if they have seen a kitty or maybe heard a kitty crying. Kids are great ones to check with, they are outside a lot and see all kinds of things. Talk to kids. It is a great idea to offer kids $20 if they find your cat and can tell you were he is. Don't have them try to catch the kitty, it will just freak the kitty out more. But kids love money and will turn it into a game to try and find the kitty. When I finally found my Nicholas there were some kids playing nearby and they told me they had seen Nicholas yesterday trying to get into an apartment that looked like mine, but was a building off. If I had talked to them soon, I would have found him a day sooner. We found my friend's kitty 28 days after the pet sitter had let him out by accident by passing out fliers to every condo in her complex, and talking to everyone we saw. It was 300 condos, but we got countless leads from it. Many people had seen the missing kitty but didn't know he was missing until we talked to them, even though fliers were up. People tend to ignore posted fliers, the personal touch is best if at all possible. Or at least place a flier under their door mat. Do not tape them up that tends to piss people off, and may pull off paint, and you want everyone on your side, because no matter what you do some people will always hate cats.. For my friend's cat, on day 28 of his disappearance, we finally learned from one neighbor that a little old lady had taken the cat in thinking it was her little girl cat (that was dead for a long time, but she was old). We would have never know what happened to him if we hadn't talked to all those neighbors. You should also be aware that we did have to call animal control to have the cat scanned to prove he was ours and not the little old ladies. So, if you cat is not already chipped, do so when he/she gets home. If you want to get the neighbors on your side, bake some cookies and knock on doors with fresh cookies and say you want to enlist their help to keep their eyes and ears open. Talk to people walking their dogs. Dogs pick up on kitties and they are out often two times a day with their owners. We got a good lead on another kitty from the owner of a Dalmatian who said her dog was interested in something in a bush. Talk to joggers. A man I helped found his kitty by talking to a jogger who had seen a little kitten in the bushes. It was his lost kitten. My favorite story so far is about a couple looking for their cat for a week an had given up figuring he was gone forever, then they got my email and started talking to everyone in the neighborhood and handing out fliers. Within a couple of days they got a call from a lady driving down the road who saw a cat crawl into the sewer drain. She called her husband who still had the couple's flier they had passed out and it was the missing kitty. Kitty was reunited with her family, but it would have never happened if the missing kitties family had not walked around and talked to everyone and passed out flier.
5. Check closed garages. Ask people to check their garages, or you can listen to garages as you go by. A woman I helped found her kitty in a neighbor's garage because she heard her kitty meowing from a garage and turns out he had been in there 3 days, the people who lived in the home had not gone to their garage over the weekend.
6. Use a flashlight under bushes and dark places, even during the day: It is hard to see kitties who are hiding especially under dark bushes or under houses. Use a flashlight, even during daylight hours and shine it into the dark places. The light will reflect off their eyes. I found my Nicholas in the next set of apartments from mine, under a bush by scanning the area with a flash light. I must have walked past him 50 times until I caught his eyes with the light. He would not come to me he was so scared, I had to crawl under the bush and get him, and he just started crying he was so scared.
7. Sleep with the windows open. Two people I helped found their kitties by sleeping with the windows open. The kitties were coming back around at night when they felt safer but their owners had been asleep and the house was locked up tight, so the kitties would leave and hide again during the day. One man found his kitty in the yard next door by hearing a faint meowing in the middle of the night. This was five weeks after the kitty got lost. Another person found their kitty crying by their garage door during the middle of the night. If you don't feel safe sleeping with your windows open visit a HomeDepo and they can get you locks that allow you to leave the windows cracked.
8. Pay attention to strays or neighbor cats in the neighborhood. If there are strays or neighbor cats that are in your area, your cat may have been forced out and not allowed back in. Cats are very territorial, and your lost kitty is already scared. If the cat belongs to a neighbor you can ask your neighbor if they can keep the cat in for a few days to see if your cat comes back around. If it is a stay you may need to trap it. You can order a humane trap from Amazon.com. The ones I use are called HavaHart and they have a front snap close and a back open that allows you to put food in. They are about $60 bucks. Watch a U-tube video on how to set up, where to place, how to put the food in, etc. Or you can email me and I will give you instructions. You will need to contact your local shelter to see how it will work after you trap the cat. Do you bring the cat in to them, or do they come and get the cat. Many shelters are now trapping, fixing and releasing back into the same area if the cat is determined to be feral. If the stray is sick or injured they will put him down, and don't feel bad about this, it is the most humane thing to do. Kitties can live a long time injured miserable and in pain, you don't want to prolong their suffering, so you are actually helping by either getting the strays some help, or sending them to heaven. Who knows, the stay may be someone else's lost pet and you may reunited them. Many people give up looking for their kitties way too soon, and the kitties try to live outside alone as best they can, but you could be responsible for returning them to their home.
9. Check the shelters every day. Check the surrounding shelters every day. Most have pictures on line, if not you can call, or go down. Your kitty may not look exactly like you remember if he has been outside. He could have lost weight or his fur got dirty. I found a cat outside once and brought it in the house and my roommate jumped up and said "How did Alex get outside?" It was my own cat and I could not tell. She had fallen off the patio and was all dirty. Also don't count on the chip always working, they don't, and different shelters have different readers or the chip may have moved over time. When we found my friend's cat after 28 days a little old lady claimed he was her cat so we had to call animal control to run the chip, but it didn't register. Different manufactures of chips don't always show on different scanners. We had to take the cat to the vet with his teeth x-rays to confirm he was her missing cat. Check shelters out of your area too. Shelters only have to hold unidentified cats for 3 days, that includes weekends. Five days if they are chipped and you do not respond right away or your information associated with the chip is old. Shelters are overcrowded so they will not hold your cat. Some people know this and decide to take lost pets to shelters that aren't as high kill and pretend they found the pet in that city instead. So check all shelters. OC Shelter also lists on-line dead cats found. You should check that too. The other shelters will tell you if you call.
10. Rescues are not supposed to take in strays by law. There are tons of cat rescues around, we see them in all the Petcos and PetSmarts. Your cat will most likely not be there. They do not take in strays that were found, it is against the law. All strays or lost pets must go to the shelters. All rescues have contracts with shelters and it is from the shelters that they are allowed to pull cats who have been owner relinquished or who have been at the shelter long enough to determine no one is coming to claim them. If you check the shelters every day you don't need to waste your time running from PetSmart to PetSmart checking those cats. If you think your cat may be at one of the "rescues" you can check "Petfinder.com" and see if any of those cats match yours.
11. Lost away from Home: If you were traveling with your pet when he/she was lost, or the cat was at someone else's house when he was lost, use the tips above using either the house the cat was lost from, or a safe spot near where he/she was lost as a "home base." Put out their bed and litter, your clothing, toys, and some water. I caution against putting food out because you don't want to attract other animals, they may keep your cat out of the spot by being there. Make it a place that your cat can find and wait for you there. You need to check it regularly to see if it is being visited by your cat. You can sprinkle light baby powder on the ground surrounding the spot so you can check the paw prints to see if the area is attracting a cat or another creature. If you feel it is your cat, you can wait there for the kitty to return, or you can get a trap set up. I would set it up at night and just sit in your car and wait. If it is a wild animal you catch you will need to release it, so be sure you a familiar with how the cage release works, and wear tough gloves. If you catch another cat I would take it to the shelter, it may be someone's lost pet that you just rescued, and that cat may have been keeping your cat from coming around to the area. If you lost your pet in an industrial area talk to the security guards they know the area well and will know if a cat is showing up and where.
12. If your lost cat has a cat friend at home. If the cat you lost is close to one of your other cats at home, take the cat you have at home out in a secure carrier and walk around with him or sit with him outside. Hopefully the other lost cat will hear and smell him. This idea has worked for three people so far. Worth a try.
13. Sometimes cats do wonder further away from home: From helping people find their kitties for the past few years I have learned that there have been some rare occasions where the cat has wondered further than 300 yards from their home. What the people did who found their kitties further away from home was to put signs up at local businesses in the area, or pass fliers out to local businesses, like grocery stores or gas stations. Since there is a lot of traffic in and out of those types of areas having your information there may reach more people. Someone also told me that they drove their car very slowly around areas further away calling her kitty and that worked, the kitty eventually followed the sound of her car, which he was familiar with, home.
14. If your kitty was lost while you were away from home on vacation: I have helped many people find their kitties that were lost by accident by a pet sitter while they were on vacation. If your kitty was lost while you were on vacation you will most likely find him/her if you do the above tasks, especially putting stuff outside that smells like your cat and you (shoes, litter box, cat tree, towels), and you walk around calling them. Your kitty had most likely come by your house several times while you were gone, but because it didn't have your active noises, voices and smells, he didn't realize it was the right place. You just need to remind him you are there and he will make his way back.
15. Social Media - Facebook, Nextdoor and PawBoost Lost & Found: Post pictures of your pet on Facebook and ask your friends to pass around. They may know someone who knows someone who say your kitty. Also, a new neighborhood site called Nextdoor is for neighbors in your surrounding area. We have gotten tons of tips from posting lost kitties on Nextdoor. PawBoost is also a good one that shoots out emails to other animal lovers and they will keep an eye out for your lost kitty. On Craig's List be sure and post under "Lost & Found" as well as "Pets." When you list on Social Media and Craig's List be sure and include the word "CAT" in your posting. Don't be cute and just put "my baby" or "kitty" or the cat's name. Not all people are kitty lovers and won't think to do a search using the word "Kitty," they will search "Cat." Help people to help you. It has also been suggested to talk to your vet and they may be able to put a sign up in their offices. Also the postman, they travel all over and see lots of things. If they knew what your kitty looked like they would know it wasn't just a neighborhood cat out and about. Another lady just told me last night that she got her cat to come home by brushing the other cat that remained in the house and collecting the hair and placing it all around the outside of the house. Great idea, and it worked. Within three hours her missing cat came home.
1. Kitties usually stay close by their home. Indoor kitties aren't used to being outside, and they have not had time to mark their path with their scent (kitties do this by rubbing their face on things), so they usually don't go more than 100 to 300 yards from their house, then they hide in a bush or some small dark place and just sit and wait. Even if you call them, they may not come because they are freaked out and scared. This is also true for indoor/outdoor kitties that don't venture far from their backyard usually. If something spooks them, like a hawk or coyote, and they run, they would not have had time to mark their path back to your house, so although they are outside sometimes they may have gotten off their normal path and it will be harder for them to find their way home. Sometimes kitties do wonder further from home, it is usually when pushed out by territorial strays (we will discuss trapping them later), or if you have recently moved to an area, they don't yet understand this is their new home, and may be trying to find their old home. Don't panic if that is the case, while looking for their way to the old place, they will be marking their trail and could come back around to the new place at some point if you put stuff outside that smells like them and you to help them recognize their new home. It is very important to remember that your cat is most likely not going to know you at this point. He is completely freaked out, so don't run after him, it will chase him further away. When you do grab him he may scratch you because he is in survival mood, not loving house cat mode. Wear long sleeves and gloves. If you have time, sit and talk softly to him to calm them down and reassure them it is you and it is safe.
2. Put things outside that smell like you and like your kitty. Put things outside that smells like your kitty, like his bed and maybe something that smells like you, a towel, shirt or blanket. His or her litter box is a great thing to put outside too. Leave it dirty if it is. One man also put his worn shoes outside. We all know how kitties love to rub on our shoes, cause they smell like us. As soon as the man put his smelly shoes outside his cat came back. Another person just told me they put the cat tower outside, and within an hour their cat was back home. They have a very good sense of smell. His things outside let him know this is the right house. Kitties are low to the ground, and all our houses look the same, so they rely on their sense of smell to guide them.
3. Walk around the neighborhood calling. You don't even have to yell, kitties have very good hearing. Even if he doesn't come out right then he may have heard you and will later be able to catch your scent and follow it back to your house later. I had a women tell me last night that her son walked all around the neighborhood calling her kitty, and a few hours later the cat did come back. I'm sure he followed her son's voice and scent home.
4. Pass out fliers to neighbors and talk to everyone, especially kids and dog walkers. Pass out fliers to neighbors and ask them if they have seen a kitty or maybe heard a kitty crying. Kids are great ones to check with, they are outside a lot and see all kinds of things. Talk to kids. It is a great idea to offer kids $20 if they find your cat and can tell you were he is. Don't have them try to catch the kitty, it will just freak the kitty out more. But kids love money and will turn it into a game to try and find the kitty. When I finally found my Nicholas there were some kids playing nearby and they told me they had seen Nicholas yesterday trying to get into an apartment that looked like mine, but was a building off. If I had talked to them soon, I would have found him a day sooner. We found my friend's kitty 28 days after the pet sitter had let him out by accident by passing out fliers to every condo in her complex, and talking to everyone we saw. It was 300 condos, but we got countless leads from it. Many people had seen the missing kitty but didn't know he was missing until we talked to them, even though fliers were up. People tend to ignore posted fliers, the personal touch is best if at all possible. Or at least place a flier under their door mat. Do not tape them up that tends to piss people off, and may pull off paint, and you want everyone on your side, because no matter what you do some people will always hate cats.. For my friend's cat, on day 28 of his disappearance, we finally learned from one neighbor that a little old lady had taken the cat in thinking it was her little girl cat (that was dead for a long time, but she was old). We would have never know what happened to him if we hadn't talked to all those neighbors. You should also be aware that we did have to call animal control to have the cat scanned to prove he was ours and not the little old ladies. So, if you cat is not already chipped, do so when he/she gets home. If you want to get the neighbors on your side, bake some cookies and knock on doors with fresh cookies and say you want to enlist their help to keep their eyes and ears open. Talk to people walking their dogs. Dogs pick up on kitties and they are out often two times a day with their owners. We got a good lead on another kitty from the owner of a Dalmatian who said her dog was interested in something in a bush. Talk to joggers. A man I helped found his kitty by talking to a jogger who had seen a little kitten in the bushes. It was his lost kitten. My favorite story so far is about a couple looking for their cat for a week an had given up figuring he was gone forever, then they got my email and started talking to everyone in the neighborhood and handing out fliers. Within a couple of days they got a call from a lady driving down the road who saw a cat crawl into the sewer drain. She called her husband who still had the couple's flier they had passed out and it was the missing kitty. Kitty was reunited with her family, but it would have never happened if the missing kitties family had not walked around and talked to everyone and passed out flier.
5. Check closed garages. Ask people to check their garages, or you can listen to garages as you go by. A woman I helped found her kitty in a neighbor's garage because she heard her kitty meowing from a garage and turns out he had been in there 3 days, the people who lived in the home had not gone to their garage over the weekend.
6. Use a flashlight under bushes and dark places, even during the day: It is hard to see kitties who are hiding especially under dark bushes or under houses. Use a flashlight, even during daylight hours and shine it into the dark places. The light will reflect off their eyes. I found my Nicholas in the next set of apartments from mine, under a bush by scanning the area with a flash light. I must have walked past him 50 times until I caught his eyes with the light. He would not come to me he was so scared, I had to crawl under the bush and get him, and he just started crying he was so scared.
7. Sleep with the windows open. Two people I helped found their kitties by sleeping with the windows open. The kitties were coming back around at night when they felt safer but their owners had been asleep and the house was locked up tight, so the kitties would leave and hide again during the day. One man found his kitty in the yard next door by hearing a faint meowing in the middle of the night. This was five weeks after the kitty got lost. Another person found their kitty crying by their garage door during the middle of the night. If you don't feel safe sleeping with your windows open visit a HomeDepo and they can get you locks that allow you to leave the windows cracked.
8. Pay attention to strays or neighbor cats in the neighborhood. If there are strays or neighbor cats that are in your area, your cat may have been forced out and not allowed back in. Cats are very territorial, and your lost kitty is already scared. If the cat belongs to a neighbor you can ask your neighbor if they can keep the cat in for a few days to see if your cat comes back around. If it is a stay you may need to trap it. You can order a humane trap from Amazon.com. The ones I use are called HavaHart and they have a front snap close and a back open that allows you to put food in. They are about $60 bucks. Watch a U-tube video on how to set up, where to place, how to put the food in, etc. Or you can email me and I will give you instructions. You will need to contact your local shelter to see how it will work after you trap the cat. Do you bring the cat in to them, or do they come and get the cat. Many shelters are now trapping, fixing and releasing back into the same area if the cat is determined to be feral. If the stray is sick or injured they will put him down, and don't feel bad about this, it is the most humane thing to do. Kitties can live a long time injured miserable and in pain, you don't want to prolong their suffering, so you are actually helping by either getting the strays some help, or sending them to heaven. Who knows, the stay may be someone else's lost pet and you may reunited them. Many people give up looking for their kitties way too soon, and the kitties try to live outside alone as best they can, but you could be responsible for returning them to their home.
9. Check the shelters every day. Check the surrounding shelters every day. Most have pictures on line, if not you can call, or go down. Your kitty may not look exactly like you remember if he has been outside. He could have lost weight or his fur got dirty. I found a cat outside once and brought it in the house and my roommate jumped up and said "How did Alex get outside?" It was my own cat and I could not tell. She had fallen off the patio and was all dirty. Also don't count on the chip always working, they don't, and different shelters have different readers or the chip may have moved over time. When we found my friend's cat after 28 days a little old lady claimed he was her cat so we had to call animal control to run the chip, but it didn't register. Different manufactures of chips don't always show on different scanners. We had to take the cat to the vet with his teeth x-rays to confirm he was her missing cat. Check shelters out of your area too. Shelters only have to hold unidentified cats for 3 days, that includes weekends. Five days if they are chipped and you do not respond right away or your information associated with the chip is old. Shelters are overcrowded so they will not hold your cat. Some people know this and decide to take lost pets to shelters that aren't as high kill and pretend they found the pet in that city instead. So check all shelters. OC Shelter also lists on-line dead cats found. You should check that too. The other shelters will tell you if you call.
10. Rescues are not supposed to take in strays by law. There are tons of cat rescues around, we see them in all the Petcos and PetSmarts. Your cat will most likely not be there. They do not take in strays that were found, it is against the law. All strays or lost pets must go to the shelters. All rescues have contracts with shelters and it is from the shelters that they are allowed to pull cats who have been owner relinquished or who have been at the shelter long enough to determine no one is coming to claim them. If you check the shelters every day you don't need to waste your time running from PetSmart to PetSmart checking those cats. If you think your cat may be at one of the "rescues" you can check "Petfinder.com" and see if any of those cats match yours.
11. Lost away from Home: If you were traveling with your pet when he/she was lost, or the cat was at someone else's house when he was lost, use the tips above using either the house the cat was lost from, or a safe spot near where he/she was lost as a "home base." Put out their bed and litter, your clothing, toys, and some water. I caution against putting food out because you don't want to attract other animals, they may keep your cat out of the spot by being there. Make it a place that your cat can find and wait for you there. You need to check it regularly to see if it is being visited by your cat. You can sprinkle light baby powder on the ground surrounding the spot so you can check the paw prints to see if the area is attracting a cat or another creature. If you feel it is your cat, you can wait there for the kitty to return, or you can get a trap set up. I would set it up at night and just sit in your car and wait. If it is a wild animal you catch you will need to release it, so be sure you a familiar with how the cage release works, and wear tough gloves. If you catch another cat I would take it to the shelter, it may be someone's lost pet that you just rescued, and that cat may have been keeping your cat from coming around to the area. If you lost your pet in an industrial area talk to the security guards they know the area well and will know if a cat is showing up and where.
12. If your lost cat has a cat friend at home. If the cat you lost is close to one of your other cats at home, take the cat you have at home out in a secure carrier and walk around with him or sit with him outside. Hopefully the other lost cat will hear and smell him. This idea has worked for three people so far. Worth a try.
13. Sometimes cats do wonder further away from home: From helping people find their kitties for the past few years I have learned that there have been some rare occasions where the cat has wondered further than 300 yards from their home. What the people did who found their kitties further away from home was to put signs up at local businesses in the area, or pass fliers out to local businesses, like grocery stores or gas stations. Since there is a lot of traffic in and out of those types of areas having your information there may reach more people. Someone also told me that they drove their car very slowly around areas further away calling her kitty and that worked, the kitty eventually followed the sound of her car, which he was familiar with, home.
14. If your kitty was lost while you were away from home on vacation: I have helped many people find their kitties that were lost by accident by a pet sitter while they were on vacation. If your kitty was lost while you were on vacation you will most likely find him/her if you do the above tasks, especially putting stuff outside that smells like your cat and you (shoes, litter box, cat tree, towels), and you walk around calling them. Your kitty had most likely come by your house several times while you were gone, but because it didn't have your active noises, voices and smells, he didn't realize it was the right place. You just need to remind him you are there and he will make his way back.
15. Social Media - Facebook, Nextdoor and PawBoost Lost & Found: Post pictures of your pet on Facebook and ask your friends to pass around. They may know someone who knows someone who say your kitty. Also, a new neighborhood site called Nextdoor is for neighbors in your surrounding area. We have gotten tons of tips from posting lost kitties on Nextdoor. PawBoost is also a good one that shoots out emails to other animal lovers and they will keep an eye out for your lost kitty. On Craig's List be sure and post under "Lost & Found" as well as "Pets." When you list on Social Media and Craig's List be sure and include the word "CAT" in your posting. Don't be cute and just put "my baby" or "kitty" or the cat's name. Not all people are kitty lovers and won't think to do a search using the word "Kitty," they will search "Cat." Help people to help you. It has also been suggested to talk to your vet and they may be able to put a sign up in their offices. Also the postman, they travel all over and see lots of things. If they knew what your kitty looked like they would know it wasn't just a neighborhood cat out and about. Another lady just told me last night that she got her cat to come home by brushing the other cat that remained in the house and collecting the hair and placing it all around the outside of the house. Great idea, and it worked. Within three hours her missing cat came home.
