Eau Claire, WI Lost Male Cat, Poncho Is Missing

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Rita K.

10 months ago

Don’t wait for your kitty to come home. Start searching now! Go outside and look under porches, decks, bushes and cars. Check window wells and storm drains. At night use a flashlight. The eyes will reflect the light. They typically don’t go far, but they do move around so you’ll need to search same areas multiple times. Cats also have an innate sense of smell. They should be able to follow their scent trail home. Put out food and water and familiar scented clothing or blanket. Alert your neighbors, local police, vet clinics, shelters and mail person. Put up signs and post on Nextdoor and any other neighborhood pages. Hoping you get your kitty back soon. ❤️ If your cat is an indoor/outdoor cat, please consider keeping your kitty inside only. The risk of them not making it home is a reality. There are far too many dangers outside. Owls, hawks, coyotes, cars, toxins and horrible people are a threat every single day. I really hope your kitty makes it home. 😔😔😔

Chaucer's P.

10 months ago

Sharing💕Please set up a live trap (near where your cat escaped) baited with Sardines in water...very smelly so scent will carry far and hopefully your cat will follow it back home and into the trap. Make sure trap is monitored by someone! If possible, set up trail cams in the area so you can monitor what animals are frequenting the area…you might just catch a glimpse of your cat. Also go out with a flash light when the sun sets...look under cars, decks, porches, bushes, in dx sheds/garages, beneath hanging branches and up trees (in case cat was chased). Post on Next Door App, and other Facebook community pages…the more eyes keeping a look out the better! Give flyers to local businesses, groomers, pet stores, vet clinics, and mail carriers, delivery drivers like UPS & FedEx since they are in the area daily and may see your cat. Displaced indoor cats tend to hunker down nearby where they exited the home. They only move farther away to search for food or get spooked. Hand out flyers to at least 7 houses in each direction, including houses the next streets over (backyard neighbors). Find out who feeds the community cats in your neighborhood/community because if your cat found that person’s feeding area he will be less likely to keep wandering because it is a known food source. At night, when it’s quiet, sit outside close to where the cat escaped and read a book/magazine out loud, your cat may hear your familiar voice and follow it back home. Don’t get discouraged, keep looking!!!! Hope your cat is found safe and sound soon💕 Also like to share this information regarding litter boxes: Kitty Litter Myth NOVEMBER 27, 2017 by KAT ALBRECHT Many web sites (and even some pet detectives) recommend that if your cat is lost that you spread cat litter, cat feces, or scent articles of the cat owner around the home that the cat is missing from. The concept is that your cat ran away or is out of the area and by putting something with your scent on it (a dirty t-shirt, dirty underwear, etc.) in your yard, it will attract your cat and encourage him to come back home. Some also advocate putting out dirty cat litter or feces—as if the cat needs this cue to help him find his way back home. The MAR Network does not advocate this practice for the following reasons: The first reason we don’t recommend the kitty litter method is that the urine/feces scent could attract aggressive cats into the yard where a missing cat could be hiding. Cats are territorial and when an indoor-only cat escapes outdoors, that cat is often hiding within the territory of another (outside) neighborhood cat. Dirty cat litter can attract community “tom” cats (intact male cats) or other territorial neighborhood cats and that scent could predispose them to want to defend their territory, drawing them into the area where a displaced cat is hiding in silence. These territorial cats are put into defense mode when they detect the pheromones from another cat’s urine and feces, causing them to be ready to fight. These cats are then more likely to beat up and chase the lost (displaced) cat from his hiding place, making a recovery more difficult. However, using cat food (and a wildlife camera) will draw a territorial cat in also, but the scent of food will not likely trigger the same level of aggression / readiness to fight as urine and feces would. None of this has been proven in a scientific study (yet), but it is the opinion of the MAR Network that you are better off investing time and effort in conducting a physical search for your lost cat and using wildlife cameras or a humane trap than you are in putting out dirty cat litter. You can likely find many on-line testimonials from cat owners who claim positive results from scent luringtering dirty cat litter or feces in their yards or placing their cat’s litterbox on their porch. It is more likely that these cats returned home due to one of two factors: a behavior called “The Threshold Phenomenon” (described above) or simply due to their temperament than due to anything that they smelled. Cat owners mistakenly associate the fact that their cat returned home due to a scent lure (dirty cat litter) when, in fact, their particular cat would have returned home on its own anyway with or without a scent lure because it finally reached its threshold (indoor-only cats hiding in fear) or the cat was trapped somewhere and finally got free (outdoor cat trapped in neighbor’s garage, up a tree, etc.). As stated earlier, in many cases a food lure (placed inside a humane trap or set down on the ground with a wildlife camera pointing at it to capture photos) is the best type of lure to use and is a highly effective recovery method. Another scent that could help (at a humane trap) is to spray Feliway, a pheromone that helps to calm stressed cats. The final reason why the MAR Network does not advocate using dirty cat litter as a scent lure for cats is the most important one: it is a passive approach to finding a lost cat. Cat owners might believe they are “doing something” by placing dirty clothing or cat feces in their yard. Some Internet folklore posts have claimed that “cats can smell a mile away” and advise you to simply put your cat’s litterbox outside, claiming “it works!” However, scientific research has shown that these cat owners would have a higher chance of recovering their cat by conducting an aggressive, physical search of their yard and their neighbor’s yards. We understand that it is less intrusive to your neighbors to set out a dirty cat litter box on your porch and hope that your cat will come home than it is to ask your neighbor permission to enter their yard and to crawl around under their house or deck, but a physical search of your neighbor’s yards (and baited humane traps and/or digital wildlife cameras) is the most effective recovery method for finding a missing cat.

Dawn W.

10 months ago

My heart goes out to you. I have been through it myself. Here are some tips I've put together over years of working with rescue. * Don't wait for him/her to come home. Yes, he/she may do that, but most cats are scared and go hiding in small places, mostly close to home, a few houses or a block away. (They can go a few miles if chased or desperate, mostly in desperation looking for water and food.) They hide under cars, decks, patios, porches, in sheds, drain pipes, stairs, window wells, garages, bushes, woods, up trees, roofs, etc. Walk around calling their name, shaking a treat bag or favorite toy with bell. Carry smelly food to encourage them if scared and hiding. Listen very, very carefully for low meows. Use a flashlight to catch and reflect their eyes. A good time to go looking is twilight and very early morning/pre-dawn, when it’s quiet and calm so they may feel safer to come out and it’s also feeding time. * Talk to and alert everyone you know and that lives in your vicinity, as well as local businesses. Notify and check with animal control/shelters/humane societies and local veterinary offices. Post on and check lost sites, such as Lost Cats of Wisconsin (file your report there to create your free flyer and a post on Pet FBI ), Nextdoor, various community FB pages, Craig's List. Post flyers on corners/posts, in front of your home, and with neighbors, businesses, and anyone in the vicinity. * Put out a carrier or something right outside your door for shelter and safety. Place clothing/blankets with a familiar scent, yours and/or theirs, inside or nearby. * Searching, go out a few blocks, then back close, then out farther and back close. You may miss the cat or the cat may move or may not be meowing. Repeat over and over, looking carefully on the ground for paw prints and for places they might hide. * If you have a garage, leave open with smelly food favorites, water, clothing/blankets with familiar scent, their old litter box in garage. If you have a family dog who is close to the cat, give the dog something with the cat’s scent and then a treat; and then go walking around, watching your dog very carefully. You can even do this with another cat close to home, if you have a cat harness and leash. * Get or borrow a humane live animal trap and set it up with tuna or some other smelly cat food. Be sure to check it frequently. But in extreme weather, do not set it unless you can monitor it constantly and bring in immediately if caught. * And never stop looking! Never give up! Too many give up too soon. It may take weeks or more before you find and/or someone turns in your cat to an animal shelter. Make sure to contact and also GO IN PERSON to your local shelter/humane society to look at all of the cats they have there. Don’t rely on just pictures or the person answering the phone to have all updated info on who they have there. They do their best, but you need to check in person on a regular basis.

Lizzie B.

10 months ago

No matter how long your kitty has been gone, stay vigilant with all lost cat protocols and advice - kitty may have been taken in by a well meaning person and could be very near - keep posters and flyers fresh and communications current with local animal control, vets, and rescues for new leads - keep the faith 💪🏼 Use whatever is applicable in the following for your situation: Extra strength prayers your kitty is safe nearby (cats usually stay in the vicinity) and home very very soon - put their food and shelter outside your door in a protected area and/or in your garage - diligently canvas the area and local businesses with large colorful posters and flyers - contact local animal control, vets, and rescues for any possible leads - cross post on neighborhood/community FB pages for further reach - cats are superior survivalists - stay vigilant in searching and don’t lose hope 🙏🏻❤️💪🏼 P.s. Beware of scammers saying they have found your kitty and to message them your contact information. And also how an Instagram/FB site helped them find their pet - don't click on site. All BS scammers. 🙏❤️💪🏼

Poncho is Missing in Eau Claire, WI

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Poncho is Missing in Eau Claire, WI

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