Furbabies
Cat Care Site

Finding A Lost Cat

The Basics

If your cat goes missing, start with a thorough search of your house. Then begin calling your cat outside. Shake his or her favourite dry food box or tap a can of catfood with a spoon. Talk to the neighbours and visitors to the area. You may need to put up flyers or advertise in the local paper.

Do not give up hope. Some cats have been known to reappear weeks or months after they first went missing. Once your cat has been found, remember to tell the people you asked to help look, and take down any flyers you put up.

Hiding Places

Before you begin searching the streets in your neighbourhood, check that your cat is not hiding somewhere within your house. Cats are very good at finding hiding places, particularly small dark areas, out of view. Even if you think a spot is too small for your cat to squeeze into, be sure to check it, you would be surprised at how small a cat can become to fit into small spaces.

Here is a list of places that you should check.

Airing cupboard/hotwater cupboard - cats may be attracted by its warmth, particularly in cold weather, check behind piles of towels and linen
Attic
Bookcases - your cat may climb behind the books and fall asleep
Chimneys
Closets
Cupboards and cabinets - check behind and inside them
Drawers - even if you think they're too small for your cat to fit in or haven't been opened in a long time (your cat may still find a way in)
Empty boxes - cats love to hide in boxes
Filing cabinets - check behind and inside them
Kitchen appliances - cats may hide behind or underneath the dishwasher, refrigerator or stove
Mattresses - check for any holes where a cat could have climbed in
Recliner Chairs - look underneath the chair and also up inside the chair in case the cat is sitting on a ledge
Refrigerator - a hungry cat may have slipped into the refrigerator unnoticed to find a snack
Suitcases

Outdoor Hiding Places

There are several places outdoors that a cat may find as an attractive hiding place.

Cars - cats may climb into cars if the windows are left down
Garage - check under cars, behind boxes. Get the neighbours to check their garage too
Garden shed - if the shed was left open when you were gardening, the cat could have easily slipped in unnoticed. Ask your neighbours to check their garden sheds too
Trees - while cats will happily climb trees, some cats are not very good at getting back down
Trucks - cats may climb into the back of a delivery truck to explore it

Searching For Your Cat

Make up flyers with a picture and description of your cat. Distribute the flyers to houses in your neighbourhood. Take flyers to local vet clinics, animal shelters, feed stores and pet stores. Attach copies of flyers to trees in your area, within a 2-3 mile radius. Take flyers to the local school.

Check the streets each day. Walk through the neighbourhood calling your cat.

Place an advertisement in your local paper/s.

Talk to the garbage men and mailmen for your neighbourhood to check if they have seen your cat.

Contact animal shelters in your town and in close-by neighbouring towns.

Contact the local cat club.

Offering a reward may increase the chances of your cat being returned, and may also increase the size of the search party.

Preventative Measures

Make sure each of your cats wears a collar with an ID tag attached, containing at least a contact phone number.

Microchipping is a permament tamperproof form of identification. A microchipped cat can still be identified even if its collar falls off. A tiny microchip is implanted under the skin on the neck by your veterinarian. The code contained in the chip is recorded in a computer database along with your contact details. Veterinary clinics and animal shelters have scanners to read the chips.

Remember even an indoor cat may accidentally get lost outside.

References

Gair A, Caring For Your Cat, London: Harper Collins, 1997

Page S, The Complete Cat Owners Manual, Australia: Readers Digest, 1997

Taylor D, The Ultimate Cat Book, Great Britain: Dorling Kindersley, 1989

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