Concord, CA Lost Female Cat, Matilda Is Missing

Facebook Community Response

HappyCatLady .

2 months ago

💖🐱Dear guardian 💖🐱 glad you are not giving up 🙏 Continue to take action in person. Cover all possibilities… ‘Lost cat’ Lulu was lost when her guardian was hospitalized from a car accident on a busy intersection in San Francisco.. After 2 months lost, LuLu was still within the block when the guardian FINALLY agreed to flyer the blocks and to call for her at 3AM at night - she came running to him after 2 months lost! Skinny, tired and dirty but so happy - she is recovering purrrfectly! 'Lost cat' JiJi was found after missing for 4 MONTHS! Cats will remain for months and months doing their best to survive. ‘Lost cat’ Stubbie was lost for over 1 year - ultimately we lured him to wet food with camera aimed and then humanely trapped him from that location the next sunset while sitting in the car watching the trap door - I learned that Stubbie was still very close to home after 8 months per a neighbor who reported seeing the same black cat with no tail. We trapped him 15 blocks away - he was lost for well over 1 YEAR! Had the guardian listened and lured with food by the escape door - he wouldn’t have had to struggle on the streets through rainy winter…. 1. CONTINUE leaving wet food and fresh water bowl at sunset where kitty escaped/exit point - lost cats search for a food source - you must be a consistent food source even if you're feeding other lost/stray hungry cats. Continue to use your motion activated wifi camera pointed at WET food and water bowl replenished nightly. If you don't have a WIFI camera aimed 2. I emplore you to get one. A MINI BLINK camera on amazon is $29 and works great! So many cases guardians were ready to give up then finally set a camera (whether wifi to your phone or a WILD LIFE camera with batteries no wifi) and after some days / weeks they Spot their cat eating on camera! .. after MISSING for weeks AND months. .Spotting kitty eating the food on camera changes everything - then we know the next step is to use a humane TRAP to capture their cat because kitty is in survival mode, HIDING from all humans - even from the guardian they love. 3. If there is ‘sighting’ from a neighbor not on your block, you must get a camera aimed at wet food at that location to confirm ON VIDEO that it is indeed your cat THEN you can plan to trap kitty from that location - wet food placed by sunset will get kitty to stay there (get a 2nd camera there ASAP to confirm) 4.. REPLACE worn out flyers that are posted on both sides of LAMP POSTS around your block and POST UP FLYERS on both sides of lamppost SEVERAL blocks out in ALL directions from your residence (or where kitty escaped from). 5.. I encourage you to talk to your neighbors AGAIN in person to remind them your kitty is still missing and that you need their help to keep an eye out. 6.. Deliver updated FLYERS to every single residence every apt within every building starting with your block and expanding outward several blocks in all directions. Tape the flyer directly onto front doors or down the side of mailboxes neatly folder and use painter's tape (won't harm) Every day I get texts from people who find their cats while calling /searching at night long after a month. 7.. Continue to call for your cat at night / early morning … make any noise kitty is familiar with whether it's keys jingling or treat bag crinkles or simply your calm voice ...it may seem hopeless to do this but I am telling you everything you do helps! 8/. Check nearby shelters ONLINE DAILY and IN PERSON weekly IF YOUR SHELTER does not post on the cats online (some cats are NOT posted online at the shelters - find out!) FLYERS all over the neighborhood and going door to door to talk to neighbors is KEY in spreading the word to the exact people who COULD spot kitty! 8. ADDING AT LEAST 1 HUGE NEON SIGN in front of your residence is highly encouraged in order to get a possible sighting. A BILLBOARD even better! The biggest mistake I have learned in the last 6+ years finding lost cats is people thinking the cat is getting taken care of somewhere when the cat is doing it's best to survive and they stop taking action..no more flyering..no huge posters. no talking to neighbors again..they stop searching at night .. you must do the opposite! Your sweet kitty needs to be spotted and the best way is to lure with wet food and get another neighbor to do the same - must have a camera aimed or you won't know who is eating the food. Even cats that have been with their guardian 15 years WILL HIDE FROM EVERYONE ..Lost cat Tommy was found after 4 months - the guardians finally started aiming a camera at the wet food they were leaving out every PM and finally spotted her a week later then trapped her using a humane trap I lent. Other folks Created BILLBOARDS using vinyl and tape and huge photos of their cat - and kept FLYERING 1 block at a time…kept talking to neighbors on each street getting more than 1 person to check RING cameras and leave wet food and water out AND THAT - was what ultimately got their cat spotted . Don't give up. I’m so sorry for all the stress and worry...kitty is out there..needs your consistent action Sending you LOVE, HOPE and unwavering DETERMINATION 🐱🙏💖 damia

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HappyCatLady .

3 months ago

💜🐱I’m so sorry kitty is still missing. Please do Not lose hope or stop taking action. Lost cat Sonia showed up on her guardians camera to eat food she was putting out every night - AFTER 5 weeks! She then trapped her. 💜🐱 Lost cat ‘Ninja’ was found within the block after 71 days of us searching for him! He was 6 houses away after 71 days!💜🐱Lost Cat 'Sneaky" was reunited after 113 nights! 💜🐱 'Lost cat Alan' on Pawboost was reunited after 129 days! His guardians wouldn’t give up and didn’t stop searching …a neighbor spotted ALAN - a neighbor they had spoken to while going door to door - it was the 3rd time they had done the rounds reminding neighbors their kitty was still missing💜🐱 Don't give up. Keep taking action. Post up more flyers Make GIANT SIGNS...Don’t give up the search 💜🐱 🐱PRINT more flyers to post up on lampposts 1-6 blocks out in all directions and replace the ones on your block if the old ones are worn .... put new flyers in the "clear sheet protectors" with the opening facing down so they last …(previous post shows example - you can buy at fedex print store, target, staples or amazon) 🐱TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBORS AGAIN - yes going door to door to remind your dear neighbors that your cat is still missing and you are needing their help to spot kitty more than ever - people have short memories - they DO need to be reminded. Talk to dog walkers on your street - they are outside at all times and have helped me spot lost kitties I was helping with many times....It's never a waste of time talking to neighbors ..the more eyes you have the better...ask them to take a photo and call text you any hour of the night - and not to approach Kitty or they might scare him. 🐱CONTINUE TO CALL FOR KITTY at night and early mornings (sunset to sunrise) .set your alarm for 1am, 3am 5am and call calmly with stinky wet food...walk around the block and call for kitty as you walk BACK LEADING HOME ...NOT leading AWAY from home. 💜💜PLACE A CAMERA 💜💜motion activated (with night vision ideally) - pointed at bowl with wet food (and water) near outside the door and review camera footage daily - you can't believe how many times a cat will return home and has no way of getting back inside and/or the owners stops going out at night so the cat disappears back into the night...or the cat just remains outside even with the door slightly open (in a survival mode) This has happened recently in multiple cases where a guardian catches their cat on camera after weeks of no sightings …then they either end up going out during the same time every night or they end having to humanely trap their cat because kitty kept running away from the owner. (once back inside the survival mode turns off and they are back to being purry cozy kitty) Place wet food out with a camera (that will snap images or video upon movement) you may see other cats, raccoons and other creatures eat the food..that's ok...keep refilling the WET food as he may turn up one of these nights - I’ve done this many times and always SO happy I did because the camera gives the hope you need! (raccoons LOVE dry cat food so wet food is better) you can buy motion sensor camera on amazon over night - connect to wifi...OR a wild life camera with playback feature (battery operated - no wifi needed) . 🐱Once kitty is spotted on camera or by your neighbor then you can sent a HUMANE CAT TRAP - which must be monitored every single second it is ‘set’. You can RENT a trap from the SPCA or borrow a trap - ask folks on Nextdoor (cat owners group) if anyone has a trap you can borrow (If you live in SF I have one to lend you) Sometimes cats are caught on camera eating and NOT coming inside even when the guardian has left the door open..some cats stay in a kind of survival mode (like a switch was flipped) which helps them survive but sometimes gets in the way with them returning inside on their own. It could take days/weeks to get them on camera but once they find this source of food they will return…and some nights it will be different cats or raccoons…they all watch each other from afar…once caught on camera you can set a trap and monitor it from a distance making sure you don’t trap another creature. 💥💥BUY CAMERA: Mini Blink WIFI camera $35 : https://a.co/ihc7BSy OR WIRELESS Waterproof BLINK: https://a.co/d/cDeKLXz IF NO WIFI: Wildlife/Trail camera (battery operated) check footage manually daily https://a.co/d/a4Rqqdp requires 8 AA lithium batteries (buy extra) + Micro SD Memory Cards: https://a.co/d/44AXvel 💜💜 VISIT IN PERSON 💜💜the shelter’s closest to you every 5 days (FOR San Francisco ACC it’s best to check 24petconnect.com and their website and CALL to ask if ALL their FOUND cats are showing on their website. Some cats will end up at your animal shelter and some will never show up - we just don’t know how LUCK plays out so this is why you must COVER ALL POSSIBILITIES.There are SO many FOUND cats brought in every single day. Some are not shown online this is why you have to physically go in and check for yourself. MANY lost cats are reunited long after a month. Many cats end up at a shelter after their guardian has unfortunately stopped checking and that is just heartbreaking. ⭐️POSTCARD Delivery service; ANOTHER $OPTION (especially if you are unable to go door to door flyering) ⭐️to help spread the news in your neighborhood to the closest 1000 residents: https://lostpetcards.com/ The guardian of Lost cat 'Leila' used this service and a few days slater a neighbor 2 blocks received the postcard and contacted her because her cat had been visiting her backyard and she was feeding her - ‘Leila’ has been reunited with her loving human!! https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2530343453770639&id=697221290416207 This is a family owned company who will send a Lost Cat Postcard (with photo and info) to the closest 1000 residents from where kitty escaped - this is an extremely efficient way to make sure your neighbors are aware your cat is missing - and your contact info is readily available if they spot kitty. I've used this service 3 times so far and always happy I did . It’s pricey but worth it. I paid for this mailing service for a cat already missing for weeks after getting lost the same day kitty was rehomed and I needed to spread the word to neighbors as quickly as possible as I came onto the case late - weeks after kitty was already missing. Someone spotted her after a week, because he received a postcard!. We received several calls …some were false sightings so it’s important to include on the postcard “Please take a photo and call if you THINK you see my cat..(Please do not approach kitty - call me!) The other 2 times I used the service I received sightings within 2 weeks, one kitty was found within the block (and I’d already flyered door to door on the block) The way it works is you submit a form online https://lostpetcards.com/ then they will email you asking to confirm informatino, then they will send you a draft postcard and show you the zone that USPS will cover based on original location (they’ll show you on a map) 2 days later POSTCARDS will be delivered to the nearest 1000 neighbors, including apts and businesses (1000 is the minimum) at the cost is $650 – be sure to include much of the same wording asking neighbors to check garages, sheds, crawl spaces, trees etc and offering a reward for a PHOTO of your kitty - similar wording to the FLYER TEMPLATES you can download on www.happycatlady.com. 💜🐱🙏 Stay strong, stay determined🙌 Don’t let anyone tell you to give up! 🙏 Damia Foti🐱🙏💖

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Vanessa A.

3 months ago

Update?

Carrie B.

3 months ago

Immediately (NOW)walk area shake treat bag or Bang on cat food can calling for your cat multiple times during the day-and-night especially when it's quiet out. Look under all bushes and in between houses. Ask your neighbors to check cameras garage, shed backyard. Post on nextdoor, get family & friends to search every day. Search at midnight-5am too call for ur kitten, listen for her meow

Denise S.

3 months ago

Post on Kitty911 East County (K911) too

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Denise S.

3 months ago

Tips for FINDING a lost cat. Cats that are not used to being outside, OR get spooked by someone or something outside, will find the 1st place to hide and HUNKER DOWN in SILENCE. They tend to remain VERY NEAR. Cats that are scared and in foreign environment will often NOT meow/ respond to calls even from their human (at first) ...though Kitty still needs to HEAR you and keep hearing you (until kitty THINKS it’s safe to come forward: that can take several days) - so do NOT stop calling out... Kitty is in survival mode and meowing would give away the hiding spot to predators. Outside is strange for indoor cat..with wind & loud noises. Be patient...Don't give up! Kitty is out there. CALL for kitty consistently throughout the day and ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT from 10:30 PM until 6AM (when it’s quiet, dark and cats feel ‘safer’ to move out of hiding). VERY important as this is how most people find their lost cats. Call for kitty in your NORMAL, CALM voice and wait. Shake treats (if that is something kitty normally responds to). I can’t tell you how many kitties come out of hiding during these late hours…(or you can hear meows then if they are trapped in your next door neighbors garage, shed or backyard for example). Put pieces of your worn clothing outside, post on Nextdoor