Jean C.
4 years ago
FINDING INDOOR ONLY CATS WHO ARE LOST
(Information provided by animal rescue -- hope it helps)
Indoor only cats rarely travel far - they seek an immediate hiding place (under a deck or porch, under brush, in a garage or shed) and hunker down out of fear. Immediately start searching around your house as well as your neighbor’s houses with a flashlight (get on your hands and knees and shine the light under decks etc) - shake a treat bag and call it’s name and listen for a possible soft meow. (they are too scared to come out)
They can stay in this spot for weeks! Indoor only cats RARELY come out during the day - they only come out after dark and into the wee hours of the morning. Be sure to check the surrounding trees as cats are often chased up trees and will sit up there for days and days….
What we have had great success with is this: Open your door throughout the night and call it’s name - often they will come running back in! Sit outside on your deck/porch and walk around your property and call it’s name during the night… and the number one thing that seems to be working is to leave the door ajar for it to get back in during the middle of the night! (Lock all your other pets away for the night!) Most cats have been coming in on their own between 2-4 am! Put all their smelly stuff (see below) near the door outside and inside as well as food!
Hang LOST posters immediately and give one to every neighbor as too many people just assume when they see a cat that it is a stray - if they know you are looking for your cat they will be extra vigilant and want to help. Ask them to take a photo of any cats they see in your area –sometimes people think it is your cat but it is not.
Cats have an amazing sense of smell - put its litter box, bedding, your dirty clothes/shoes, and a tiny bit of strong smelling wet cat food outside to attract your cat. You can trail their dirty litter from their box around your property line….we just heard of a tip of blowing a fan out the house window so that your house smells waft through the outside air to attract them back.
Set a Humane trap (like a Hav-A-Heart wire trap) bait it with smelly cat food….this is sometimes the ONLY way to catch a scared indoor only cat AND IT WORKS!
DO NOT GIVE UP! It could take days, weeks or months but your cat is out there and you must keep up the search and spread the word with posters, speaking with neighbors, social media etc!
