Clarksville, TN Lost Male Cat, Gary Is Missing

Facebook Community Response

Julia L.

3 weeks ago

Sharing💕Please set up a live trap (near where your cat escaped) baited with Sardines in water...very smelly so scent will carry far and hopefully your cat will follow it back home and into the trap. MAKE SURE TRAP IS MONITORED AT ALL TIMES—ESPECIALLY IN HOT/COLD WEATHER! If possible, set up trail cams in the area so you can monitor what animals are frequenting the area…you might just catch a glimpse of your cat. Also go out with a flash light when the sun sets...look under cars, decks, porches, bushes, in dx sheds/garages, beneath hanging branches and up trees (in case cat was chased). Post on Next Door App, and other Facebook community pages…the more eyes keeping a look out the better! Give flyers to local businesses, groomers, pet stores, vet clinics, and mail carriers, delivery drivers like UPS & FedEx since they are in the area daily and may see your cat. Displaced indoor cats tend to hunker down nearby where they exited the home. They only move farther away to search for food or get spooked. Hand out flyers to at least 7 houses in each direction, including houses the next streets over (backyard neighbors). Find out who feeds the community cats in your neighborhood/community because if your cat found that person’s feeding area he will be less likely to keep wandering because it is a known food source. At night, when it’s quiet, sit outside close to where the cat escaped and read a book/magazine out loud, your cat may hear your familiar voice and follow it back home. Don’t get discouraged, keep looking!!!! Hope your cat is found safe and sound soon💕 Also like to share this information regarding litter boxes: Kitty Litter Myth NOVEMBER 27, 2017 by KAT ALBRECHT Many web sites (and even some pet detectives) recommend that if your cat is lost that you spread cat litter, cat feces, or scent articles of the cat owner around the home that the cat is missing from. The concept is that your cat ran away or is out of the area and by putting something with your scent on it (a dirty t-shirt, dirty underwear, etc.) in your yard, it will attract your cat and encourage him to come back home. Some also advocate putting out dirty cat litter or feces—as if the cat needs this cue to help him find his way back home. The MAR Network does not advocate this practice for the following reasons: The first reason we don’t recommend the kitty litter method is that the urine/feces scent could attract aggressive cats into the yard where a missing cat could be hiding. Cats are territorial and when an indoor-only cat escapes outdoors, that cat is often hiding within the territory of another (outside) neighborhood cat. Dirty cat litter can attract community “tom” cats (intact male cats) or other territorial neighborhood cats and that scent could predispose them to want to defend their territory, drawing them into the area where a displaced cat is hiding in silence. These territorial cats are put into defense mode when they detect the pheromones from another cat’s urine and feces, causing them to be ready to fight. These cats are then more likely to beat up and chase the lost (displaced) cat from his hiding place, making a recovery more difficult. However, using cat food (and a wildlife camera) will draw a territorial cat in also, but the scent of food will not likely trigger the same level of aggression / readiness to fight as urine and feces would. None of this has been proven in a scientific study (yet), but it is the opinion of the MAR Network that you are better off investing time and effort in conducting a physical search for your lost cat and using wildlife cameras or a humane trap than you are in putting out dirty cat litter. You can likely find many on-line testimonials from cat owners who claim positive results from scent luringtering dirty cat litter or feces in their yards or placing their cat’s litterbox on their porch. It is more likely that these cats returned home due to one of two factors: a behavior called “The Threshold Phenomenon” (described above) or simply due to their temperament than due to anything that they smelled. Cat owners mistakenly associate the fact that their cat returned home due to a scent lure (dirty cat litter) when, in fact, their particular cat would have returned home on its own anyway with or without a scent lure because it finally reached its threshold (indoor-only cats hiding in fear) or the cat was trapped somewhere and finally got free (outdoor cat trapped in neighbor’s garage, up a tree, etc.). As stated earlier, in many cases a food lure (placed inside a humane trap or set down on the ground with a wildlife camera pointing at it to capture photos) is the best type of lure to use and is a highly effective recovery method. Another scent that could help (at a humane trap) is to spray Feliway, a pheromone that helps to calm stressed cats. The final reason why the MAR Network does not advocate using dirty cat litter as a scent lure for cats is the most important one: it is a passive approach to finding a lost cat. Cat owners might believe they are “doing something” by placing dirty clothing or cat feces in their yard. Some Internet folklore posts have claimed that “cats can smell a mile away” and advise you to simply put your cat’s litterbox outside, claiming “it works!” However, scientific research has shown that these cat owners would have a higher chance of recovering their cat by conducting an aggressive, physical search of their yard and their neighbor’s yards. We understand that it is less intrusive to your neighbors to set out a dirty cat litter box on your porch and hope that your cat will come home than it is to ask your neighbor permission to enter their yard and to crawl around under their house or deck, but a physical search of your neighbor’s yards (and baited humane traps and/or digital wildlife cameras) is the most effective recovery method for finding a missing cat.

Andi S.

3 weeks ago

A town, or at least a county, would be helpful. These are general search tips and not all may apply in your situation. Search at night w/ a flashlight (eyes will glow). Check up in trees and inside/under things in your yard and up to 4 - 5 houses away. Search garages, sheds, under decks and bushes, in crawl spaces, behind AC units - any place the cat might be trapped or hiding. Many cats go into hiding mode for safety and won't come when they hear their owner's voice but try calling and try either shaking a can/bag of treats or carrying an open (smelly) can of cat food or fish. Put something w/ the cat's scent on the porch (cat bed, scratching post, sofa pillows). Keep your garage door up enough to allow entry. Keep fresh bowls of water out. Put up large missing cat posters (neon poster board works well), talk to neighbors (leave info for those not home), post on all local social media groups and make sure to check with local animal control at least once a week (better to go in person but at least call and send them a photo). If not found at night with a flashlight, go out during early morning, before dawn, as many cats are active around that time. If not found in a few days, you can always buy a humane cat trap but traps *must* be checked multiple times each day, every day. If the cat is microchipped, please make sure the chip company has your updated contact information. And even if the cat has a chip, you still need to check with animal control as chips sometimes are overlooked or migrate down.

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