Many cat owners ask themselves sooner or later what they should do to get their kitty back when they suspect that their cat can't make it back to them on her own.
The following tips have been carried together to help you when you need it and (hopefully) help you to get your cat back.
My Cat ran Away - What should I do Now?
- Stay calm. Cats love to get lost once in a while straying through the city or the forest exploring areas they never saw before. They are as curious as we are ourselves and want to undergo adventures as well. Especially young cats that have never been missing before for a single night are the ones that cat owner's worry about. But just imagine: How were you when you came of age? Weren't you also straying around the one or other night chasing after other teens and giving your parents awful sorrows?
Therefore: If your cat is a young one and just missing for 20 hours it is most likely that she will return in a few hours with an empty stomach and the desire to sleep a whole lot!
- Pick up the scent. Where does your prowl around? Where does she go after she ate something? Where is her favorite tree (from which she probably can't get off)? Do you know how far your cat's territory stretches? Is there a new cat on the block that scared her away?
After two days of not coming back home you as cat owner are finally allowed to worry about your cat. Fill your bags with tasty treats and look for her in her "inner" territory one to two miles around your house. Please don't be afraid to shout her name loudly. Nobody (except of idiotic teens) will think of you as an idiot when you are trying to get your cat back!
Many cats will come back as soon as they recognize their beloved can opener's voice.
- Contact your neighbors. In quite a lot of cases cats don't feed of just one feeding dish (that would be boring, right?). So it might be that she came over to one of your neighbor's dishes and decided to stay there for the holidays.
Apart from that: A lot of neighbors notice cats being on their ground and will tell you if they saw your cat. (You might want to show a photo of her if she's a hard to describe cat.)
- Call animal shelters. The internet as well as the telephone book are of great help here. They will tell you where in your area animal shelters can be found. Those animal shelters take care of straying (or hurt) animals because a lot of people who find lost-appearing pets on their way hand them in. Those shelters can and will help you! Even if they don't have your cat they might give you further tips.
Hang up posters. A very good method to find your cat is to hang up posters with (good) pictures of your cat and some basic information about you and her. You should at least write down your phone number, describe your cat and tell her name as well as other abnormalities. It can even be helpful to mention what kind of character she has.
Sad but true: A lot of people just don't care about your personal loss as long as they don't see a profit from helping you. Therefore a finder's reward is highly motivating for people like that to help you with the search. Everything below 100$ is in most cases not enough for people to even lift their eyes upon your poster. But well, neighbor's children will always help you for a few bucks. If you want more people to help you, though, your reward should be higher.
It's very helpful if you put little stubs with your number and name as well as your pet's name to the bottom of the poster. That way more people will help you because it's less effort to them to write down your number.
The poster should be at least in A4 and you should make at least 20 copies (up to 100) to ensure that everyone sees that your cat is missing.
Good luck!
Picture CC 2.0 by markhillary