Winona, MN Lost Male Cat, Bubbles Is Missing

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Dawn W.

10 hours 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 them to come home. Yes, they 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 Minnesota (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.

Nancy A.

2 days ago

This is a compilation of advice from different sources: ASAP!! This is very important!! Get your scent outside! And kitty’s scent! Drape unwashed (the smellier the better!!) clothes or blankets kitty has slept on, on tree branches and shrubs on ALL SIDES of house, and open windows on ALL SIDES. Cats can smell up to a mile away!! . If cat is an indoor cat she or he should be very near still and hiding in fear. • Look under bushes, under porch and under deck including any small place they can crawl into. • Go out at dark with a flashlight and search. •• Leave Point of Escape open with a can of smelly food inside for reentry. • Get a night vision motion detector video camera that sends notifications to your cell phone. (This is how a pet owner knew her cat was outside her home. She had it aimed outside at each door along with the humane trap). The camera brand she used was Arlo. • Some have found downloading a Cat Meowing App and playing it, draws out the cat. Put a pile of unlaundered clothing, bedsheets , pillowcases and socks on your lawn...and hang some from your fence/bushes. Leave bowls of smelly food out - tuna/sardines, rotisserie or Kentucky fried chicken SCENT IS EVERYTHING! 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 cat’s name and then 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. • 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: 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. • 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. (traps must be monitored 24/7, Never set up a trap and leave it unattended). If he chases a laser light try that. One owner was able to get their cat to run into the house by using a laser pointer. Get catnip out. Someone got their cat to come home by opening the catnip. Ask neighbors to open any sheds, rvs, garages, etc. leave them open for a bit with no one around. Cat can hide inside then be too afraid to run out when someone is around. Some successful methods. Go out on your porch or in your yard at “night” (cats feel much safer then) and speak “calmly” and normally (phone conversation for example) so your cat can hear your voice. Do this for a 15 to 30 minutes every night. Bring a food/treat bag to shake every once in a while too if your cat is familiar with that sound. Most lost cats (especially indoor cats) are close and hiding, so you are trying to create a safe and inviting reason for them to come to you. Be silent for brief periods to listen for soft meows. Do not call out their name because they do not want attention drawn to them when fearful. Bring out family scents such as dirty t-shirts, dirty bedding, fur from resident cats or fur combed from a cat tree (smells familiar to your cat that won’t attract off-leash animals that could chase your cat away). It can take days to draw them out so do this every night. *If safe to do*, leave the patio door or window that they escaped from open. Cats often try to return home by the same route that they left. Prop a chair or ladder under a window if it’s very high. ****Take a flashlight and check any areas/enclosures in the area where they might be trapped- a shed, garage, under a deck, inside a storage pod, on roofs etc. Look for eye shine from the flashlight in dark spaces, under bushes, up in trees. Cats are nearly invisible when hiding. *If someone has found your cat, flyers (with a good photo) will provide the necessary information for them to get your kitty back to you. Give to neighbors, local vets, postal carriers and businesses. Put up a poster in your yard too. *Rewards have not proven to help and may result in false leads. If you must, do not post an amount. * Put a large legible poster in your yard or on your door (if an apt or condo) with the same info in case someone is out looking for the owner. If you are in an apt or condo, tell your manager in case someone contacts them. *Check your local shelters, rescues and safe shelters frequently and as soon as possible. *Post on all local facebook lost and found sites, community trade sites and neighborhood sites such as nextdoor. *Notify your microchip company that your cat is missing and verify that your contact info is up to date. *Put a baby monitor by your entrances and keep the volume up on the receiver at night. If your cat comes home and scratches or cries at the door you will hear him/her. Note: Lost cats stay very close for a long time if there are no threats. Please if you insist on letting your cat outside to put a tracker on him/her! It will save a lot of heartache!! If and when your sweet kitty comes home, PLEASE PLEASE consider building a catio!! It will keep your kitty safe and secure and that awful feeling you get when they’re lost will be gone! ◦

Sandy T.

3 days ago

Not sure if this will help, but you could try.. Your cat is most likely hiding finding a safe space. Please place its bedding 🛏 outside, along with the owner's unwashed clothing👚👖 front and back door 🚪with a contents of tuna can 🐟 on each entrance, you can leave your garage door a bit open as well. In case it comes in that way. And leaving food there as well...supervise food outdoors. Leave little bit of your windows 🪟open. So the cat may hear familiar voices. Also vaccumed home 🧹dirt in a stocking hanging it in front and back of home🏡 enterence . You can also add some catnip 🌱in a stocking hanging by your entrances. Show your neighbors 🖼picture of the🐈 cat. 10 houses to the ⬅️ left 10 house🏡 to the right➡️ front ⬆️ and back⬇️ if they spot him to give you a call ☎️ immediately. Also, you can put up a Sign post 🪧with your 🐱📷 picture. In front of your 🏡lawn and to call you or contact you ASAP. Go early ⏰️ in the ☀️morning and shake treats calling the cats name when things are quiet.. Tell neighbors to check their sheds and garage.Just in case it's trapped.. Check under decks and under neighbors vehicles🚗 Also, you can install a camera / Baby monitor 📹 to monitor and see & hear if the cat is around your house 🏡. You can even ask your Local Pet 🐱 Animal Shelter to Rent out a Safe Trap and monitor it.. Post your ad on your phone app NEXTDOOR, & PAWBOOST too ! Praying for a soon safe return 🍀 of your kitty 🙏 ❤️🏡🐾

Kristine A.

3 days ago

They are usually closer than you think, scared/hiding (unless not fixed). It can be over a week before they venture out for food. Don’t rely on neighbors seeing your missing kitty posts. Dawn and dusk when it’s quieter are good times to go looking and softly call for your cat. *Live traps work well but must be monitored often. Talk to all neighbors and physically check yourself all surrounding sheds, garages, under bushes, and decks (5-house radius). Give your mail carrier a pic with phone # on it. Check and post on Nextdoor, PawBoost, PETFBI, and Petco Love Lost. If they come back, chip and clip if not already done. 🐱

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Bubbles is Missing in Winona, MN

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Bubbles is Missing in Winona, MN

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