Adrianne F.
2 years ago
Missing cats:
Put a box outside with a blanket, socks or sweatshirt that you have worn. Shower towels work well too! Cats have a very strong sense of smell and it will help him find his way home. Look for the cat at dusk and dawn (any time a night when it's quiet) using a flashlight. Look under bushes, decks in sheds or garages - especially when it's cold. The light reflects off the cats eyes and you will be able to see them a few blocks away. Shake their bag of treats. My kitties come running when they hear that (and I have indoor cats). Post flyers around the neighborhood. Not everyone has facebook. Also post them at pet stores and other places that have bulletin boards like WAWA. Give flyers to the mailmen and bus drivers in the area and ask your neighbors to check their sheds and garages. Call the vets, shelters and police in the area. Good luck! I hope your kitty comes home soon. If your cat isn't microchipped, please get it done. Mine are indoor only cats but they're microchipped just in case. It's just like getting a shot in the scruff of the neck then you update the information on the website.
Someone else posted this once and it worked. Their cat came home....
When our cat didn’t come home the first day we took T-shirt’s with our smell on them and cut them up and tied them in a big circle going away from our house so that way if he accidentally got too far away to find his way back, if he found one piece of shirt he could follow the scent trail home.
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Try not to shout in a way that might scare or stress your cat. Just talk calmly, I am sure he has not gone far. Set up some traps, you can ask local shelters or vets or buy your own from amazon. Microwave tuna so the smell lures him close to the house. Go out at night around 11PM once everything has been really quiet (or very early in the morning) and calmly search in bushes, under cars, and around neighbors houses with a flashlight. You might catch the gleam in his eyes. Make sure you set up a warm shelter for him with dirty laundry as the scent is familiar.
Put a baby monitor outside where the cat would come in so you can here it meowing.
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FINDING INDOOR ONLY CATS WHO ARE LOST
Indoor only cats rarely travel far - they seek an immediate hiding place (under a deck or porch, under brush, in a garage or shed) and hunker down out of fear. Immediately start searching around your house as well as your neighbor’s houses with a flashlight (get on your hands and knees and shine the light under decks etc) - shake a treat bag and call it’s name and listen for a possible soft meow. (they are too scared to come out) ASK YOUR NEIGHBORS TO OPEN GARAGES AND SHEDS TO SEE IF THE CAT GOT LOCKED INSIDE.
They can stay in this spot for weeks! Indoor only cats RARELY come out during the day - they only come out after dark and into the wee hours of the morning. Be sure to check the surrounding trees as cats are often chased up trees and will sit up there for days and days….
What we have had great success with is this: Open your door throughout the night and call it’s name - often they will come running back in!Sit outside on your deck/porch and walk around your property and call it’s name during the night… Put all their smelly stuff (see below) near the door outside and inside as well as food!
Cats have an amazing sense of smell - put its bedding, your dirty clothes/shoes, and a tiny bit of strong smelling wet cat food outside to attract your cat. I just heard of a tip of blowing a fan out the house window so that your house smells waft through the outside air to attract them back.
Set a Humane trap (like a Hav-A-Heart wire trap) bait it with smelly cat food….this is sometimes the ONLY way to catch a scared indoor only cat AND IT WORKS!
Hang LOST posters immediately and give one to every neighbor as too many people just assume when they see a cat that it is a stray - if they know you are looking for your cat they will be extra vigilant and want to help. Ask them to take a photo of any cats they see in your area –sometimes people think it is your cat but it is not.
Immediately contact your Animal Control Officer and provide photos/description. Also contact local shelters, rescue groups and Vet offices. Post on Facebook on both local, county, & state pages (i.e. “Lost & Found Pets Pa)
DO NOT GIVE UP! It could take days, weeks or months but your cat is out there and you must keep up the search and spread the word with posters, speaking with neighbors, social media etc!
