Help: I’ve Lost my Cat
Don’t panic. There are steps you can take right away to find your missing cat. Start right now and we’ll help you as much as we possibly can.
Take Action to Find Your Cat
- Ask family, friends, and neighbors to help search for your pet as soon as you realize your pet is missing. Be sure to check around your yard and under your deck.
- For a lost indoor-only or timid cat, think like a cat and look at every hiding spot possible in your yard and your close neighbors’ yards. Lost cats will remain hidden and quiet. And, perhaps, are inside the house.
- Dial into the power of your social network. Post information on your Facebook, Twitter, MySpaces, etc. pages to let your friend know.
- Check this website for information on lost cat behavior, search tips, tools you can use, and ways you can find your cat. Practical information that has proven effective for finding lost cats all over the world.
- Visit your local county shelter or the Oregon Humane Society’s cattery to see if your cat was brought there. Bring a color photograph and description of your lost cat in case the shelter accepts lost pet flyers.
- Check the “found pet” ads posted on Craig’s List, Petfinder.com, and your local paper.
- Place a “lost pet” ad in your local paper. Oftentimes, newspapers offer these free of charge.
- Walk, bike, drive, or jog through your neighborhood every day and more than once to find your missing pet.
- Place clothing, toys, litter box, and other items familiar to your pet outside in your yard where she/he might sense it.
- Put signs around the neighborhood or area where your pet was last seen. Include a photo and description of your pet, your phone number, and when your pet disappeared. Make sure you have voice mail to answer those calls. Tip: leave out one identifying feature in your pet’s description, such as a splotch of color on the nose or extra toes. This protects you from pet-recovery scams and is a sure-proof way of verifying that someone definitely found your beloved pet.
- If permitted, post your fliers at these businesses in your area (remember to take them down when your cat is found): gas stations, restaurants/fast food places/taverns, convenience and grocery stores (add an extra poster in their pet food aisles), veterinary clinics/pet groomers/pet supply stores, emergency veterinary clinics, laundromats, churches, and community centers
- In your fliers and ads, offer a reward, if possible.
- Check with road crews - since they work outside all day, they may see a missing pet as well
- Remember, when your cat is found, make sure he/she starts wearing visible identification and talk to your veterinarian about a microchip.
Check out these online resources for more information.
These resources are to assist pet owners and animal caregivers. The contents of external websites are beyond CAT’s control. CAT accepts listings to these web pages complementary to its mission statement and reserves the right to refuse or remove any listings that are not in line with CAT’s mission.
