Hammonton, NJ Lost Male Cat, Mittens Is Missing

Facebook Community Response

Deirdre G.

1 year ago

Trap & camera are key!!! Our boy was finally trapped after 45days! Seen almost nightly on camera. Local the entire time!! Don’t give up! CHECK GARAGES ETC!!

Xiao J.

1 year ago

Pray to God for Mittens safe return home 🙏❤️

Jan H.

1 year ago

I apologize as this is a lengthy read and there may be some repetition. I’ve copied and pasted 2 posts with some great tips I’ve seen others post in the past: Leave the door or window that he escaped from slightly open or at least be close to it or use a baby monitor so we that you can hear him should he return on his own. Put smells of home nearby (your used pillow/pillowcase, dirty laundry). If you have a garage, leave the door open about 8". Sprinkle the contents of your vacuum bag around the door he escap no ed from and wherever direction you think he went. Cats are most active at dusk and dawn and get more brave when there is less noise and people. The vacuum contents, dirty laundry (used bedding has lots of scent) will help to get him back into home territory Physically search your yard and your neighbours yards. Cats move along the edges of buildings, hedges and landscaping. Start looking both left and right of where he escaped. Search under hedges, bushes, long grasses, under decks, porches, sheds and BBQ and patio furniture covers, ditches, under or up inside trailers and cars. They like to huddle on the inside edges of tires and are hard to spot there. Indoor only cats typically hide in SILENCE. You could be standing right next to them and calling and they will most likely not come out. They instinctively hide to protect against predators and aggressive cats. Cats have detached collar bones, so if a cat's head can fit into a gap (about the size of your fist), so can the rest of the cat! Look for gaps under porches and decks. Use a flashlight to search hidden areas even in the daytime. If you can't see inside (under a deck for example) put your cellphone inside the hole and take a video of the whole area inside or use an inspection camera. Cats move around so be sure to continue to search the same hiding spots. Mine was found under a bush by the door even though I had checked there often! Kitties are more brave at night when the sounds of traffic and people quiet down. Actively search at night with a good strong flashlight. Their eyes make excellent reflectors at quite a distance! Don't forget to look up in the trees. Most are found after dark between dusk and dawn. Use the daylight hours to let all the neighbours know and ask permission to search their yards and sheds. Remember that cats can easily travel under and over fences, so define your search area to include a radius of 2-3 houses surrounding where she escaped to start and expand the area if he isn't found. He may have snuck into a shed or garage. A scared cat may hide and not meow or come out, so you need to actually look under, behind and on top of shelves and equipment. Ask to do this yourself, as your neighbour may not be thorough. Don't frantically call your cat. Instead go outside at dusk or later in your yard and your immediate neighbour's yards while talking on your phone or with a family member. Bring a plate of smelly food or treats. I use tuna or sardines with a bit of hot water on it to make it extra stinky. Walk around slowly. Don't go too far or move too fast. Stay in each area for awhile and turn every few minutes so your voice carries in a different direction. Listen periodically for faints mews. Hopefully he will be reassured and come out of hiding. If you see your lost cat, do not chase or try to grab him. Sit down on the ground to make yourself smaller. Try to lure him closer to you with food. Keep your voice soft and don't make any sudden moves. He will be very anxious and may not recognize you right away. Be sure to let him smell you before you attempt to pet or pick up. If you decide to pick him up, be sure to hang on tight and don't let go no matter what! Here are some good tips people gave me when they found their lost cats: I know this is a lot to read but please read it it will help you find your kitty Don’t wait until your kitty comes home. The most important thing is go out there right away talking to neighbors and ask if you can check their garages and sheds under sheds, under stairs, decks, trees and uonder bushes and your own backyard, under cars and up trees another cat was found in a garage also check everywhere in your house. Also check in your house in drawers under couches some were found inside the couch behind the fridge and in bat. Cats don’t make a sound when they are scared. your kitty might be locked in somewhere. and putting up posters everywhere even a few streets over and on the end of your drive way with a picture of your cat and your info not everybody is on facebook. . Put a piece of clothing and shoes that you have worn and a cardboard box and food put it outside leave your garage door and bat window open a bit. Have a trail of treats going to your house. Contact Trackers Edge they are on facebook and helped many cats get back home. Use a toy on a string cats like to play and a laser pointer. Some cats came home between 2 am and 5 am. Take posters with your info to all shelters even outsite your area and vets in person and check them every few days; they may identify a male cat as a female cat at shelters and check kijiji and check and join every facebook site in your area people share and comment on them. Not everybody likes cats and they will not check their sheds and garages nor post lost cats. When cats are scared, they don’t make a sound Check construction sites some cats were found in unfinished bats. recently lost cats were found locked in a shed, a garage, stuck under sheds, decks stairs and crawlspace and couldn’t get out. on a window sill, and in a neighbour's bat, in the attic and in a neighbour's car engine , window wells in empty houses and under cars under tarps one was found locked in a camping trailer one was found in a mattres in the house. Someone found her cat DOWN IN A 5 FOOT DRAIN ON NEIGHBOR'S PROPERTY. Some cats get disoriented and can’t find their way home extend your search a few streets over. best times to go look for your cat are dusk or first light. Take a flashlight with you, cats' eyes will reflect back at you. BE CALM ..POSITIVE ..CALL LIKE YOU SEE THEM ..CALL VERY SOFTLY ... CALL OFTEN .. SHAKE TOY TREATS. . Some cats came home between 2 am and 5 am. Some people said the cat came home when the emptied the vacuum cleaner on their lawn. Cats were found between 10 and 20 km away from home please extend your search a few streets over with posters. Some cats were gone for weeks and month and were found so please don’t give up your kitty is out there waiting for you. Also every town has a TNR they feed feral and stray cats find out where they are and check a lot of cats were found at the feeding stations. Good luck I pray your will find your kitty. Is there any places they can get into the ceilings? Or even open vent work? Also check closets or washer/dryer if there is any chance it was left open just a bit. Couches and box springs are another popular place for them to hide. They can be very sneaky! This is what this lady said--- Wow so thanks to everyone advice I literally shook the contents of the vacuum into the air in the backyard softly called her name and sat down shaking some treats 5 mins later I hear a faint meow and she appeared. I now swear by the vacuum at dusk trick. Thank you everyone. Hopefully my neighbors dont think I'm crazy. I've been in their backyards all day. And then shaking the contents of the vacuum into the wind. Lol i cant thank you all enough. A lady said she used my tips and found her kitty under a shed. Another lady made a scent trail with an old smelly tshirts to lure him from the ravine to the front door. This lady said I did the vacuum thing and shook the treats. 3 mins later I heard meowing. Sprinkle catnip around the yard. PLEASE NEVER GIVE UP. I pray you will find your kitty

Dotti H.

1 year ago

Works! Keep doing! If kitty goes out may travel further. Indoor kitties don't go far from the door they escaped from as they run and hide the first place they find. Typically located within a 5 house radius. Use strong flashlight to look for eye reflection up trees and under bushes even in daylight. Post large neon signs everywhere quickly. Consider leaving the door they escaped from cracked for the kitty to return on their own. Consider leaving a window cracked overnight to listen for meows. Put out owner's scent on unwashed clothing, favorite smelly food, and don't put out litter box. Sit outside at dusk and 🐮 dawn and shake treats. You must actively search for the kitty. Ask neighbors to check their garages and sheds as kitty may be trapped somewhere inside.

Peter H.

1 year ago

petfinder.com/cats-and-kittens/information/lost-and-found-cats/top-10-tips-for-finding-lost-cats/

Seth K.

1 year ago

Shared with prayers

Cathy G.

1 year ago

I pray he is found safe 🙏🙏

Tabby F.

1 year ago

Theresa Sharp it's not him but thank you for taking the time to reach out and please keep an eye out for him

Marita A.

1 year ago

Put her favorite human's used shower towel outside. The scent will carry.

Marie S.

1 year ago

Here are some tips that I found on finding a lost cat...... First, please do not panic, stay calm, your cat needs all of your energy to help bring him home. Indoor cats don't travel far from home. 90% of missing cats are usually hiding nearby, within a 5 house radius of your home. Draw a circle around your home and go out 5 houses in every direction. This area must be searched thoroughly and knock on every single neighbors door. Install a security camera to see if it shows up at night or during the day when you’re not out looking (if you can’t afford one, see if you can borrow one from someone ). Put food and water outside by the door if you think he got out. Check all possible hiding spots on your property and around bushes. Check storm drains, inside sheds, and garages and look up in trees. Check the same spots multiple times. Let your neighbors know and ask if they can check their property, sheds and garages or ask if they'll let you check. Cats are most active in the early morning and late at night. At night look around with a flashlight. A cat's eyes will reflect the light. If your neighbors have a security camera ask if they could check it. Put flyers up around the neighborhood too. Let the local vets know and even go to the shelter that takes in animals from your town. Leave a flyer with both. Let your police department and animal control officer know too in case anyone finds him and contacts them. Leave them with a flyer too. Put out the cat’s bed or towel and some of your unwashed clothing so that they can catch their scent and yours; If your cat is indoor only, you must set a humane trap immediately....(Google local rescue groups in your area to borrow one or call your local shelter and ask them for one or ask them to help you trap). Get lots of cans of tuna in vegetable oil NOT Water, because it is very smelly, and does not freeze in cold weather....if you know the direction your cat went, SOAK the ground with tuna juice from two different directions, one from the direction your car went and one from another direction close by up to the door of the trap & put very little bits of tuna along the way on the tuna juice trail, up to the front of the trap and then very little bits of tuna through the trap to the back of the trap where you leave more tuna on a paper plate .....(on the outside of the trap and through it leave only VERY LITTLE bits of tuna, you want the cat to be hungry and go to the back of the trap); this must be monitored and in the heat must be changed out every hour... do not sit close... you want to be able to see it but you want to make sure your cat comes in close, things should be very very quiet and if it’s getting dark, lights should be low outside and inside the house; On top of the trap put UNWASHED clothes you have worn, (T-shirt/socks) and on top of that cover it with a towel that you also used so all these items have your scent on it; If this is an indoor/outdoor cat you can also use the tuna juice trail leading up to a bowl of tuna… This also must be monitored.... Only people who your cat is comfortable with should be searching for her; Everyone should have a BRIGHT flashlight with them at daytime and night time, search every area thoroughly, checking every inch, lost cars can curl up into such tight balls...look under anything with a tarp on it, pool covers, grill covers, furniture covers, in any kind of a hole or crevice, all the way under porches, under bushes, in bushes, in trees, all the way underneath sheds within that 5 house radius, many cats hide all the way under sheds ... please ask your neighbors if you can search their properties thoroughly, please check all their garages every square inch, under cars, anywhere a cat could hide, sewers, water basins if they are by you, again every square inch... Make up flyers with a really good picture of your car that is large, put “Missing” at the top and the date.. put your phone number underneath in big bold letters that can be seen clearly and the cat’s name… Deliver posters to as many neighbors as you can, also give them out to all local delivery people, the mailman, fed ex man, workers in the area, dog walkers, all of them see so much… Bring them to the local police, animal control, vets offices and animal shelters, starting within a 2 mile radius of your home (you may have to go out further later if your cat is not found) …Also ask all local businesses if you can put flyers up in their windows; put them up for at least a 2 mile radius on telephone poles, etc.; Go to all local animal shelters at least every other day and call them on a daily basis..You must go there yourself because they are overwhelmed and there are Night people that may not realize that your cat has been brought in.. Do NOT put a litter box out as it will attract Feral cats and other predators who will scare your cat away and will catch mouse droppings and bird droppings and change the scent. Go out at night and walk slowly, looking for the shine of your cats eyes with a BRIGHT flashlight, usually they are most active half hour before and after sunrise and sunset.. when you are searching call your kitties name softly and then really listen to see if you can hear him.. remember they are usually within a 5 house radius... If this is the only cat in the home, and you can, leave your screen door open at night & sit there quietly, you’re cat may come right in the door or leave a window open that your cat can come home thru... if you have a garage, leave the garage door open slightly... keep the lights low in and outside your house and keep things inside and outside your house very very quiet, so that it does not feel threatened by coming home; Some cats come home on their own, some you must search for, and some you must trap with a humane trap… Some cats who get out are so terrified they will revert to some feral behavior and hide even though their owner might be very close by and calling...... for these cats you have to trap them. Cats who are indoor/outdoor will also mark their territory with the scent glands from their mouth when they rub their face against a tree, etc. and they also have scent in their paw pads that they will follow to go back home, but when it rains these scents are diminished and then they cannot find their way home. That’s why it is imperative to begin searching immediately for them. There’s a site called LostMyKitty. They offer a service that does Amber alert phone calls to surrounding houses for a fee. If you decide to use this service, choose the free option first. Keep repeating everything and take all of the suggestions. I hope these tips help and you find your cat soon. Your cat wants to come home, keep the faith and don’t give up. See video below. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15zkDNZJnB/?mibextid=wwXIfr