Damia F.
3 years ago
Hello dear neighbor,
I’m so sorry about your sweet cat. I’m a fellow cat lover with 3 shy indoor cats and I’ve been helping neighbors find their lost cats during COVID. May I kindly share the following information I put together after helping quite a few people reunite with their kitties. I found all this information eye opening and helpful in successfully helping us get our dear lost cats home…
Helpful Video → https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=388310901737884
https://petfbi.org/i-lost-a-cat/lost-cat-action-plan/
Post on Nextdoor.com, Knock on your neighbors doors TODAY- do not wait a day; give them your contact info and ask if YOU can check their backyard, garage, shed (people don’t seem to look as well as you!). Ask them to keep checking and If they see kittie ask them to call you right away and careful not to scare the cat. Make a flyer. You can find a templates on petfbi.org and order prints online for pick up at your local fedex store for example.
Mistake #1 is WAITING to start looking for your lost cat... check around your premises thoroughly and don’t expect kitty to meaow when you call kittie’s name. Knock on doors ... call for the cat in a ‘normal’ voice late night after 10pm-2am AND early morning 4-6am...this is when cats tend to come out of hiding. Set your alarm to get up every 2 or 3 hours tonight and go outside and call out for the kitty and wait a bit. (HUGELY SUCCESSFUL)
Leave the front/back door open (depending which door the cat is used to using or whatever door if the cat ‘escaped’ from) It is so important for the cat to be able to slip back in when it decides it's safe enough. Cats go into ‘survival mode’ as they are both predator and prey and they will sometimes hide 1-5 neighbors away for days/week if they got spooked by a dog or..? Many times they are only 1-3 houses away...
Routine searches for your kitty is important – go out at the same times day/nights so kitty knows when to expect you and knows that it’s you! I can’t tell you how many times a kitty will hide even though their human owner is calling – kitty gets scared and survival mode sometimes interferes with getting ‘found’. Also, have a core search area and expand from that depending on circumstance…more time past might mean to expand your search or if you cat’s normal territory (if outdoor indoor) is more than a block – only you will know. Kitty is depending on you to keep searching. Cats are regularly trapped in people’s garages or side of houses so it’s important to search near where kitty was lost. It will get repetitive …don’t lose hope. Read about how others have found their cats after weeks/months…If A cat has escaped in the backyard - which backs into the backyards with various fences and homes (San Francisco) knock on the entire block circling around in case your cat jumped a fence but now can’t get back - this happens! We’ve had to hop a fence to find a cat stuck in a neighbors’s yard for a week!
At home, Leave the door slightly open (starting NOW) and all day/night ...the cat could very well sneak back when everyone is asleep - I can't tell you how many times this has worked for our neighbors.
Another thing that has worked ..aside from leaving a door/garage slightly open all day/night depending on where she escaped front or back of home...tonight if the owner simply sat just outside when it's dark (or in garage if owner has one and that’s the side the kitty escaped) and have a normal conversation (warm jackets) The conversation can take place inside the garage with the garage door open all the way...and if the cat is hiding nearby and hears a normal conversation may feel safe enough to return...When it’s your bedtime, leave the garage door slightly open enough for kitty to get in if she/he returns later at night...Also important to leave food and water and bed and litter box in garage...basically wherever the cat can get back in.
https://lostpetcards.com/I used this service to send 1000 ‘lost Cat’ postcards to the closest 1000 residents. it’s pricey but worth every dollar. Be sure to include on the postcards to ask folks to check their garage, basements, sheds, backyards.
Report your kitty ‘Lost’ on nextdoor, facebook, check petharbor.com, the shelters…SPCA, ACC. Report the cat lost on phone apps
Pawboost’, ‘Finding Rover’ and ‘shadow’. The Apps also give the choice of featuring the pet (for $) or sending mass notifications to further spread the word.
Sending you prayers and love dear neighbor...
warm & fuzzy regards
damia foti
1839 18th Ave, SF Ca 94122
650.339.6619
