Marcia G.
1 month ago
IF YOUR CAT GETS OUT
🐾📌 Please Take Our Tips:
TAKE OUR SUGGESTIONS NO MATTER HOW CRAZY THEY SOUND TO YOU
Put a pile of unlaundered clothing, bedsheets , pillowcases and socks in your lawn...and hang some from your fence/bushes.
Empty the contents of used litter box and household vacuum cleaner bag/canister across the lawn.
Leave bowls of smelly food out - tuna/sardines, rotisserie or Kentucky fried chicken
Turn on BBQ - cook hot dogs and bacon.
SCENT IS EVERYTHING !! Do these things right now!
FLIERS MUST GO UP ASAP TO GET SIGHTINGS. Every pole/tree/neighbors stoops/porches. Offer reward. Give fliers to mailman, UPS drivers, fed ex drivers, etc.
Local supermarket, dry cleaners, drug store should have a flier.
Call local precinct and report the cat as lost.
Ditto for shelters. You must visit shelters - the person on the phone doesn't know every pet brought in.
Delegate to friends so that you get the posters up ASAP!!!!
Go out searching, especially when it's dark and quiet - early AM and later in evening.
Carry tuna and heated Kentucky Fried Chicken for scent.
Bring a bag of treats to shake when you call out its name and then just stop and listen for faint meowing. We've recently reunited cats that were stuck in neighbor's sheds/garages!
Look under bushes, in/behind sheds, or neighbor's porches with flashlight. It'll make the cat's eyes glow so you can spot it.
Don't drive around! If your cat is an indoor only cat, it hasn't travelled more than 2-4 blocks away. Look on your neighbor's properties.
Written by Josephine Chianetta
This is from a study that was done on lost cats:
Cats are very different from dogs when panicked. They are territorial and your cat’s territory was inside of your home. Once a cat is transplanted into unfamiliar territory, fear sets in and it seeks shelter because it is afraid. They panic immediately and look to hide usually near the escape point or within a 5-house radius of their home where they've never been before. Cats that are afraid (and cats that are injured) will seek areas of concealment such as under a deck, under a house, under a porch, or in heavy brush and they will not meow! Panicked cats hide in silence. Silence is their only protective measure from predators. They can stay concealed for days, sometimes weeks!
Just because you don’t see or hear your cat DOES NOT mean he or she is not right there, hiding in fear from the loud noises, etc. they will not meow! Meowing would give up their location to a predator. Their behavior has nothing to do with whether the cat loves you, whether it recognizes your voice, or whether it can smell you–it has everything to do with the fact that a frightened cat will hide in silence!
The Threshold Factor: This is an interesting behavioral pattern that Missing Pet Partnership has observed with displaced cats. Many of these cats initially hide in silence, but eventually break cover and meow, return to their home or the escape point (window or door), or finally enter a humane trap. While some cats take only hours or a few days to reach their threshold, many others take several days (typically ten to twelve days) before they break cover. We suspect the threshold is reached due to their thirst, although more research needs to be conducted into this behavior.
In an attempt to capture your cat, use humane traps in your yard or in your neighbor’s yard where your cat is likely hiding in fear. If you choose not to, place small amounts of cat food (and water) and hopefully you’ll eventually be able to determine where the cat is hiding.
Written by Donna Harmon McNeff
