Missing Cat

Finding a Missing Cat is Not Easy

If you’re a cat person, you know cats differ from dogs in various preferences and behaviors.

What you may not know is cats are harder to find than dogs if they go missing. Of the 710,000 lost pets who are returned to their owners each year, only 13% of those animals are cats. Depending on your cat’s living situation, your chances of retrieving your missing cat may depend on your understanding of cat behavior and how many other eyes you can invite to the search.

Indoor Cats

If you have an indoor cat, your cat is not likely to have gone very far if he or she is missing. Usually missing cats who find their way out of the house stay hidden from sight due to fear of their new, unfamiliar surroundings. As soon as you realize your indoor cat is missing, take a tour around your neighborhood and try to think like a cat. When you are home with your cat, you are already aware of the crazy spaces a cat can hide between furniture, in planters, high in your closet, etc. Unfortunately, the great outdoors just offers even more options for awkward places in which to hide. Look under every porch, between the fences, under gardening equipment, and so on.

Remember, your cat hides when he or she is frightened, so, no sudden movements or loud noises. Try looking for your cat early in the morning when the rest of the world is mostly asleep (around 2AM is recommended) with the treat bag to shake or cans of food to open as you take a steady pace around your neighborhood. Your cat just might come running out from his or her hiding place at the sound of something familiar traveling fast in the quiet of the middle of the night.

There are tricks you can try to lure your cat back home like leaving your socks around outside (they are pungent and smell like you to help your cat recognize you must be near). You could also consider spending more time outside to attune your awareness to changes and movements where your cat is likely observing you from a short distance away. Alerting your neighbors to your missing cat employs more members to your cat’s search team.

Outdoor Cats

Missing cats who have regular access to the outdoors may travel further than indoor cats. If your outdoor cat has stopped coming home regularly, extend your search a mile around your neighborhood. Fliers may help strangers who could stumble across your cat hiding in an odd place. Outdoor cats hide when something in their normal sphere of influence has changed and cause them to feel threatened like another animal picking a fight or perhaps an accident somewhere in the neighborhood. Frightened cats are intentionally trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves and are, therefor, often silent. Putting up posters may help, but, searching for the missing cat as soon as possible is critical to retrieving him or her.

If you have recently moved, you may need to extend your search to your previous neighborhood in case your outdoor cat was spooked by his or her new surroundings and made an attempt to travel back to his or her familiar territory.

Keep in mind most people who find cats, and are not somehow made aware the cat has a family, will not come looking for you. Generally speaking, people assume stray cats are abandoned and rarely verify if a wandering cat is listed as a missing cat before attempting to re-home your beloved pet.

Paw Technologies Can Help Find Your Missing Cat

We know our cats and we have recommendations and tools for you to help bring your missing cats home despite the odds. Since cats are often assumed abandoned, we offer a glow-in-the-dark tag for your cat collar to alert whoever finds him or her of the family who is worried and searching for the cat. We also help you create a poster pdf to print and share – you can make posters to hang in the relevant neighborhoods and share instantly the information about your missing cat on social media to everyone you know. Meanwhile, we will instantly alert the animal shelters, veterinary clinics, and animal rescue organizations within a 50 miles radius of your home about your missing cat to increase the chances of your cat coming home to you.