Irvine, CA Lost Male Cat, Merlin Is Missing

Facebook Community Response

Angela S.

3 weeks ago

So sorry to hear about your cat. Since he is an indoor and cat. He is going to be in survival mode and and in hiding. He will most likely not make contact with other people even if he is friendly. When indoor cats get outside, they typically do not act like how they do inside of the house even with their own owners. Your cat is most likely very close to your home. Most indoor only cats are found within 2.5 houses of the house they escaped from. Indoor only cats will be hiding out during the day and typically come out at night when it's dark and quiet as they feel more safe. The best thing to do is to talk to your neighbors during the day to see if they have seen your cat. Do NOT rely on social media. The best way to find your cat is on foot by talking to people during the day and looking outside very LATE at night. See if your neighbors can leave their garages and sheds open for a few hours. Your cat may not come out right away once the doors are opened. This is because when cats are in survival mode, they typically do not act normal. Your cat may be scared to come out when others are around. You can also print mini flyers and attach them to your neighbors' doors if they are not home. You can use painter's tape so that it is easy for the homeowner to remove. Also, post on Nextdoor to alert neighbors. Please make sure that your cat has a way to get back into your house 24/7. You want to leave open a garage door (including the door that goes from the garage to the house) sliding glass door, or window that they exited from as well as some of your recently worn clothing outside of the entry way. ***Do NOT put your cat's litter box outside as it can attract predators.*** You will have the best chance to find your cat from 11 PM until 6 AM. Cats become most active at 3 AM. Use a flashlight and shake a bag of their favorite treats while CALMLY talking (in a normal voice) to your cat. This website below ⬇️ has fantastic tips for locating missing cats from a woman experienced in cat rescue as well as templates for missing cat flyers. 🐱 ✅Go to top of page where it says, "Click here for Important Tips on how to find your Lost Cat." www.happycatlady.com Best wishes!

Angela S.

3 weeks ago

TIPS TO HELP FIND YOUR LOST CAT: - Check the house thoroughly as they sometimes hide in the house in unexpected places. -Check underneath your cars, in the car engine area, wheel wells and around the bumpers. -Ask neighbors around you to check garages and sheds as they can sneak in undetected. -See if your neighbors can leave their garages and sheds open for a few hours. Your cat may not come out right away once the doors are open. This is because when cats are in survival mode, they don't always act normal. Your cat may be scared to come out when others are around. - Put a piece of your unwashed clothing outside the last door he/she exited the house from and leave that door open at night so that they can get back inside. - Hang flyers with his/her picture and post all over your neighborhood & surrounding areas. - Take the flyers door to door asking if anyone has seen him/her. -Walk your neighborhood especially at night calling his/her name and listening as he/she may be hiding in the bushes or under something. - Take a flyer to the shelter. - Put a sign in your yard with his/her picture stating he/she is missing. - Check the shelters in person. - Review shelter's found reports. - File a lost report with the shelters. Indoor only cats and limited outdoor access cats never go far. They go into survival mode and hide in silence. They will not always respond to you, most do not. Between midnight to 5am are ideal times to find a missing indoor only cat. 3 AM is the best time to find a cat as this is the time they become most active and responsive. ***DO NOT leave litter box outside, it can attract predators and aggressive Tom cats.*** Place some recently worn socks or shirts outside your home, & especially around the point the cat exited the house from. Your scent will attract your kitty. Leave a way for your cat to get back inside 24/7: If you have a garage, place your recently worn clothing items or shoes near the garage door and crack the door enough for the cat to get back in. If your cat exited a window, leave the window open for your cat to get back inside. Because indoor only cats hide so well they are not as likely to be killed by a predator. Don't give up, it can take weeks to find a missing indoor only cat. Use a flashlight as late at night as you can to look in trees, under cars and in bushes. Try to look for the glow of the eyes. Calmly call your cat. Make mini flyers and hand them out to your neighbors. Most people don't pay attention to posted flyers. It's VERY important that you look for the cat as late at night as you can. If you have other cats, watch them. If they are spending a lot of time looking out a certain window, that’s a good indication the missing cat is in that area. Wildlife and motion activated cameras are also helpful. You may want to leave some wet food just inside of the door as well. Kibble tends to attract raccoons so it's not recommended. If you get a camera that is pointed at the door, you can see if your cat is coming to feed at night. One lady's indoor only cat was missing for 3 weeks and it was coming to eat the food but was too scared to come inside. She didn't know that it was coming back to the house until she got a camera. She had to get a trap to get the cat back inside. If you decide to trap, make sure that you do not leave the trap unattended as doing so makes the cat very vulnerable to being attacked by predators. Sending prayers for your cat's swift and speedy return. 💕🙏💕

Lauren E.

3 weeks ago

I lost my kitty Nicholas at an Irvine apt complex 15 years ago. At that time I could find no information on how to find him. Luckily I found him three days later. I put these tips together to help others find their lost babies. TIPS TO FIND YOUR CAT: 1. Kitties usually stay close by their home, they hide in a bush or some small dark place and just sit and wait. Even if you call them, they may not come because they are freaked out and scared. 2. A cat's world is centered around scents. They will not be familiar with the outdoor scents because they have never been there before. To help them smell their way home, put things outside that smell like home, like you. A used towel, dirty shirt, dirty shoes, the kitties bedding. Leave the items out and sit with the door open as much as possible. If the kitty comes back in the door just remain calm and talk to the kitty normal until you can close the door behind him. 3. Do not put food out, you will attract other animals that may keep your cat away. You can walk around with smelly food or shaking treats, but don't leave it outside. 4. Walk around the neighborhood calling your kitty normally. Don't use a panicked voice, it will scare the kitty more. Best to only have people whose voice your kitty would normally come to. They will not come to a kind stranger helping you search. The kitty will catch your scent and hear your voice, and follow it back to your house. Most cats are within 200 cat yards. Which means if there is a fence, you couldn't get over, you would go around, but the cat could go right over. So keep that in mind when checking out 200 yards. 5. Pass out fliers to neighbors and talk to everyone, especially kids and dog walkers. It is a great idea to offer kids $20 if they find your cat and can tell you where he is. Kids love money and a challenge. 6. Check closed garages. Listen for meows when you call. 7. Use a flashlight under bushes and dark places, even during the day. The light will reflect off their eyes. This is how I found Nicholas, in a bush I walked by at least 20 times and didn't see him until I used the flashlight. 8. Sleep with the windows open, you may hear them crying at night. Lost kitties feel safest coming out late at night-early morning. 9. Check the shelter every day. 10. If your lost cat has a cat friend at home, take the cat or dog you have at home out in a secure carrier or on a leash and walk around with him or sit with him outside. Hopefully the other lost cat will hear and smell him. Dogs are good at finding lost cats. 11. Social Media - Facebook, Nextdoor, CraigsList, and PawBoost Lost & Found. 12. Vets have told me that indoor kitties that get lost are too scared to come out of hiding, even for food. It could be at least 10 days before your kitty gets hungry enough to come out of his safe hiding spot, so don't give up too soon. Once kitties do come out they will make a big circle around the area trying to find something that smells like home. So the more you walk out from your house and back, like a wagon wheel formation, the more your scent out there for kitty to follow when he gets brave. 13. If you have a garage, leave it cracked open, kitty may find his way back in. 14. Be careful of scammers. There are terrible people out there that pretend they have your cat but can never find time to meet up with you to return the cat. They are trying to make you frantic to give them money. 15. Check trees too, just found my cat 20 feet up a tree, couldn't get down. 16. Check inside, cabinets, closets, behind books. We have found cats sitting behind books on shelves, sleeping inside clothes in the closet, and in a hole in the wall behind a wall unit. 17. You can purchase a Havahart cat safe trap from Amazon. Watch the video on how to use it. Do not leave it unattended because you don’t want to try and release an angry raccoon. If you watch for a distance you can chase off wild critters. Have a plan if you catch another cat. This other cat may be keeping your cat away. So hopefully your shelter will take him. Maybe he is lost too and you saved him. Or maybe he is a stray and having a check up at the shelter will benefit him, and give your cat a chance to come home if this cat was keeping him away.

Gerrie B.

3 weeks ago

Shared on FB. ✨💙🙏🏻💙✨

Karen K.

3 weeks ago

📷 View photo on Facebook

Karen K.

3 weeks ago

📷 View photo on Facebook

Rosemary P.

3 weeks ago

URGENT YOU MUST USE EVERY SPARE SECOND YOU HAVE TO LOOK FOR YOUR CAT. It is extremely dangerous outside and unsafe as you know. It’s my ministry to help people so please if you can do what I’m asking you to do. First of all if your cat was indoors it will be very close to home. Indoor cats are terrified of being outside. They are close to home hiding somewhere. Often they will be hiding in bushes or under something or jump your fence and go into the neighbors backyard. They can also go into your neighbors garage. Please knock on all your neighbors doors today and if they’re not home, go back in the evening and see if your cat is over at their house. This is critical. In addition, most importantly, you must post hundreds of flyers everywhere. Post on all lamp posts and stop signs for miles and miles. The tape that holds them up the best is duct tape. Scotchtape is flimsy and often the flyers fall down. You must make sure these are up every single day. Many people have reported because they had flyers up someone saw their cat roaming and called the owner. It saved their Cats life. In addition, not everyone is on Facebook so it’s critical that you post every day on all lost pet sites and nextdoor.com your neighborhood watch. It’s also critical that you call your local shelter because often people will drop Cats off there. Call the shelter more than once and be sure you fax a flyer over there. When it gets dark out, you must go out at night with a flashlight and look for your cat. Call its name and listen for meows look everywhere with the flashlight. Leave your garage door cracked open so your cat has a way to come back in your house. Also walk for blocks sometimes Cats can be blocks away in someone’s yard. I pray to God that you find your baby as soon as possible. It’s always good to have a tracker on your cat which tracks where they are. Crack, a garage door open.

Alex S.

3 weeks ago

https://socalpetrecovery.com/

Beatriz E.

3 weeks ago

Sharing ❤️

Kimberley S.

3 weeks ago

🚨 LOST INDOOR CAT – URGENT TIPS TO HELP BRING THEM HOME SAFELY 🚨 If your cat has gone missing and is usually indoors, here are critical steps to take: 🏠 Create a Safe Way for Your Cat to Return • Leave a door or window open (ideally the one they escaped from), even overnight - cats often return in the quiet late-night or early-morning hours. • Crack your garage door slightly to allow safe entry. • Place your worn, unwashed clothes up off the ground outside - your scent can help guide them home. • Do NOT place food, water, or litter boxes outside - these can attract other animals and deter your cat from returning. 🐾 Help Them Feel Safe • If you have other pets, keep them secured in a separate room to avoid scaring the missing cat away if they return. 🧭 Search Nearby and Alert Others • Cats typically don’t go far - they may be hiding under decks, in bushes, sheds, garages, or yards close to home. • Talk to your neighbors and ask them to check around their property. • Request that neighbors check doorbell or security cameras (like Ring) for sightings. 📣 Spread the Word – Not Everyone Uses Social Media • Put up physical signs ASAP - include a clear photo and contact info. • Post online in multiple places: • Facebook (your page and local lost pet groups) • Nextdoor • PawBoost Lost & Found • Ring Neighbors app ⚠️ Beware of Scams • If someone contacts you saying they have your cat and asks for money or asks you to verify a code, do NOT respond - this is a scam.

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