Colorado Springs, CO Lost Female Cat, Ghillie Dhu Is Missing

Facebook Community Response

Annette D.

10 months ago

Tips specific to cats: The main way a cat who has never been outside can find its way home is by smell. Same for a cat who has gone missing from a place it doesn’t know. But this also helps with indoor/outdoor cats who have managed to get displaced and disoriented. It needs familiar smells leading back to the house (or in the area cat was lost from) dirty clothing/ towels/ sheets from the owners. Do this immediately (from wherever the cat got out) to keep your cat in that area. Replace with other dirty clothing every couple days. Tear up dirty clothing and drop every 600-800 feet (at least) in a radius leading back to where the kitty was lost from (if not home). Put their favorite bed, blanket, toys or even cat tree on your porch. If an outdoor kitty, could be hurt nearby so look high and low in hiding places. Put kitty’s favorite bed or cat tree outside to bring him/her home as they will recognize their smell. Also leave out fresh water 24/7 and food when your cat is used to eating. Your kitty should be nearby initially but will begin to roam looking for food, water and shelter so putting out food at his/her regular meal times is important. Be very careful leaving food out overnight if you live in an area with predators. THIS ONE IS SUPER IMPORTANT. Borrow a humane trap from a rescue or shelter if possible and put some of your dirty clothes inside so your scent is on them as well as some stinky wet cat food or tuna. Never leave a trap unattended as whatever is trapped can become bait for another animal. Go out late at night w catnip, stinky mackerel a carrier and towel and read out loud softly. it is always best not to actually call your cat’s name. Cats instinctively know that they can become prey. When your cat is hiding in silence, avoiding predators real or imaginary, the last thing he wants is for you to focus attention on him. When you call his name, he instinctively feels that you are shining a spotlight on him, pointing him out to any predators in the area, as in the example of the little birds calling attention to the Screech Owl. Calling your cat’s name will probably increase his anxiety. Even if he wants to be with you, his fear of predators will outweigh his drive to come home, in most cases. In a few cases, calling a cat’s name has worked, but given the potential for making things worse, you shouldn’t risk it. There are other ways to attract him to you. Might be too scared to come when s/he hears her/his name but if s/he just hears your voice in general s/he may come back out. they stick within a mile or two of home usually. Leave food out regardless. Take a red or low light flashlight and look under decks, sheds, anywhere low for a pair of eyes. Kitty could be hurt and hiding so look high and low. Kitty will likely be nearby especially in the first day or two. If you have other cats in your house record their sound and play it outside when it’s quiet. Download a cat sounds app and try some of those meows. Just make sure you listen to them before you play them outside because some of them can be a bit angry sounding. Sadly, indoor/outdoor or just outdoor only cats always come home...until they don’t. Kitty could be hurt nearby so look high and low and everywhere. Please keep them safe by keeping them inside. When an indoor-only cat goes missing, they are likely hiding in fear and are usually not too far from home, at least initially. A house cat is most likely to seek shelter near or in human structures as opposed to taking off into the woods/fields, etc. On the other hand, when an outdoor-access cat goes missing it usually means that something happened to prevent the cat from coming home. These cats may be trapped, injured and hiding or deceased nearby. Or they may be displaced and lost farther from home, which makes them much more difficult to find and therefore you need to immediately consider a much larger search area.

Annette D.

10 months ago

Some tips below for lost pets and also where to post if you find one: Take to any vet or shelter to be scanned for a chip if you found a pet. Alert microchip company if pet is chipped, whether lost or found. If chipped, but the chip does not show it is registered, contact the chip manufacturer company and ask which shelter, rescue or vet the chip was sold to. Then contact that shelter, rescue or vet and they will know who the owner is. Post colored flyers everywhere within 2-3 miles of where s/he got out or where you found. Also post around any areas with sightings. Make them waterproof by covering them completely, both sides, in clear shipping tape, or put them in clear plastic sleeves with the opening at the bottom. Seal the bottom with clear shipping tape. Put flyers or a message in your car windows and a large sign in your front yard. Give a flyer to your mailman, FedEx, UPS and Amazon drivers. Take to any vet or shelter to be scanned for a chip if you found a pet. If you have found a pet, make anyone claiming to be the owner show proof of ownership through photos and/or vet records. Call vets and groomers in your area and provide them with a flyer. Hand out flyers to your neighbors and post the same flyers at gas stations, post office, grocery stores, cvs, Walgreens, pet supply stores, and anywhere else you think people may frequent. I (Annette Davis for others who share this) found a cat once less than 24 hours after it went missing. It was 20 miles away from home. Cats can get in truck beds and car engines so consider ANY cat (or dog) that looks like your lost fur baby. Bang on the hood of cars before starting if you lost a cat. Put a sign in your front yard. Post online as lost (if you are missing a pet) or as found (if you found a pet) to all rescues, lost/found groups, craigslist, nextdoor, etc. Make sure any post includes descriptive words (cat or dog, , color, short or long hair, etc.) so someone can search for and find your post if they find your missing pet and vice versa. Always use a cell phone on your posts/flyers so that people can text. Very often someone will not call but just text. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to reach you. Put a “sighting” as also “found”. A lot of owners don’t think to look for the word “sighting” versus “found”. Search these for lost/found pets after posting. PetharborDOTcom, FindingRoverDOTcom, https://lost.petcoloveDOTorg, NextdoorDOTcom pawboost DOTcom, lostmykittyDOTcom, helpinglostpetsDOTcom, lostmydoggieDOTcom (has lots of missing cats too), also post to these for cats: tabbytrackerDOTcom, wbcatsDOTorg, maxfundDOTorg, happycatshavenDOTorg, tumbleweed country kennels. When you search hsppr online, search found pets as well as shelter pets in both Pueblo and Colorado Springs. - Facebook groups/pages for missing/found pets (If you aren’t in Colorado Springs, check for similar groups/pages in your area): 719 Lost and Found Pets of Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Lost Pets, Colorado Springs Lost Pet Alert, Colorado Lost or Found Pets, Lost and Found dogs of Colorado, Lost and Found Cats of Colorado, HSPPR, DDFL (Denver & The Buddy Center), Colorado Springs Lost Found or Stolen Items, Lost and found pets of manitou springs and old Colorado city, Lost & Found Pets (Castle Rock, CO), Fountain Lost & Found Pets, Falcon/Peyton Lost Pets, El Paso County and Eastern Colorado Lost and Found Pets, pikes peak community cats, the 411 for 719 and all local Pawboost pages. Don’t assume HSPPR will scan for a chip as they don’t always scan scared pets that are unfixed until they fix them. Also when posting to HSPPR, they fall off the website after a few months. I think it’s about two months but I’m not certain. So regularly go and update it or re-post. Set up a scent station with strips of dirty sheets/towels or worn socks. Use worn clothing or dirty laundry so that your scent is present. Put out in a radius leading back to where the animal was lost from and leave fresh food and water. Refresh everything daily. Put food and water out and refresh them when you would normally feed your pet. You want to keep them in the area and not roaming for food. Also put out their favorite bed/blanket and instead of calling them, try shaking a bag of their favorite treats or food and leave a trail back to your house. If you found a dog, put a proper harness and leash on her/him, and make sure you’re not just putting a collar s/he can slip out of, and walk around wherever you found and see if the dog leads you back to a house. You can make free flyers and/or post this pet at https://petfbiDOTorg/#/. You can print these flyers and/or share them online. Please also check the HeLP map frequently to see if this lost pet has been listed with them. These flyers are available in English or Spanish. All of their services are 100% free! Open your garage door a bit and leave fresh water and something that smells like you inside so that your pet has shelter if it’s nearby. Also take dirty laundry and cut up small strips and leave them on a radius trail of your house leading back to your house. More tips: https://www.missinganimalresponseDOTcom/neon-posters/

Mark M.

10 months ago

Hope you find her soon

View Full Discussion on Facebook