Take Action When Your Cat Goes Missing!
1. SEARCH every nook and cranny of your house and grounds. First, make sure your cat is really no longer in the house. Your cat may be trapped or hiding because it is sick or injured. Do not assume your cat will meow or come to you. Look inside everything (even places you think they can’t be): closets, drawers, cabinets, air ducts, behind appliances, inside the washer/dryer, under beds, in the hollow under reclining chairs, inside box spring mattresses, behind books in a bookcase, in the drapes, in hidden recesses, basement crawl spaces; in sheds, garages (rafters, too), under decks, in pipes and culverts, dumpsters, garbage cans, in trees, on rooftops, etc. Cats also have an unfortunate tendency to explore new places, like the back of pick-up trucks and they often get accidentally carried off. Consider whether there were any vehicles around that your cat may have hitched a ride on.
2. COMB the neighborhood as soon as possible, and keep looking. Most cats are found within 5 houses from where they escaped. Bring a carrier, flashlight, and more of your LOST CAT flyers.
Calmly call your cat’s name and make familiar/attractive noise, like rustling a food bag or shaking a can of treats. A frightened or injured cat will hide and may not come to you. Pause often and listen. Look under porches, bushes, cars, in trees, on rooftops, etc. Ask neighbors for permission to look in their yards. Your cat may be trapped in a neighbor’s garage, shed, or on a construction site. Show and give your flyer to anyone you encounter: letter carriers, meter readers, school bus drivers, joggers, neighborhood children.
The best times to search are early morning and late evening when there is not much activity.
Go out after dark with a flashlight. Shine the flashlight up onto rooftops as well as down into all hidden recesses and look for the distinctive reflection from the eyes.
3. CREATE a LOST PET REPORT with Animal Services
Animal control is often the first place people call when they have found a stray pet in their neighborhood.
SLO Animal Services can be reached at (805) 781-4400. *You can elect to receive an automated daily report of new arrivals to monitor for your missing cat. Link to file a free LOST PET REPORT online:
4. If your cat has a microchip, NOTIFY the chip company that your cat is lost.
If you can’t find your cat’s microchip info, check this web page for a list of microchip companies; you may recognize the microchip brand when you see it:
https://www.aaha.org/your-pet/pet-microchip-lookup/participating-companies/
5. CREATE a free PAWBOOST alert to notify locals about your missing cat: Pawboost.com
6. FEEDING STATION: Attract your pet back to the house.
Many cats make their way back home eventually, sometimes long after they have gone missing. Cats are comforted by their own scent. Put your cat’s favorite bed, blanket, or cat tree outside. Set out fragrant food (tuna!), taking care that other animals don’t eat it. If at all possible and/or safe and practical, leave a window, door, or garage door open so your cat can get back in. If you suspect your pet is around but not coming to you, sprinkle flour and check for paw prints. Set up a Ring (or similar) camera at your outdoor feeding station; set it to alert you to movements, and monitor the footage every day. More great tips: https://petfbi.org/i-lost-a-cat/tips-to-lure-a-cat-back-home-2/
7. Employ RING cameras (or other security cameras) in your neighborhood.
Ask neighbors to set their Ring or security cameras to include the movement of animals and ask that they notify you of any cats that have been seen on camera. (The camera will have footage to review to verify that it is your lost cat.) Ring cameras have helped locate many lost pets.
8. Post LOST CAT flyers (These have HUGE SUCCESS)
Include a color photo, date lost, and your phone number. Keep it simple; people won’t read posters with too much info. Use large letters (easily visible from a passing car). Cover the flyers with plastic sheet protectors to protect from moisture. A link to an automated flyer creator: https://petfbi.org/flyer.html#/
Post as many flyers as is practical, to posts, community boards, vet offices. Distribute flyers to all homes in your neighborhood, walk door to door leaving the flyers on doorsteps. Post the signs and flyers in conspicuous places like utility poles, intersections, bus stops, nearby schools, laundromats, community bulletin boards, vets offices, etc.
9. POST AND MONITOR Online Lost/Found Pet Forums.
Post your lost cat to ask many online forums as you can, and monitor the Found Cat listings daily. Include multiple photos, date missing, nearest cross streets where they were lost, etc.
Petfbi.org homeagain.com/ lostfoundpets.us/ nextdoor.com
craigslist.org/ (Renew your LOST CAT ad every 48 hours to keep it toward the top); In the Comments Section of your post, Tag your friends, and ask them to SHARE.)
1. Post to your personal Facebook page (and re-share it every 24 hours.)
2. Post to Facebook Group: Lost Pets of SLO County, CA Group
3. Post to Facebook Group: Lost & Found Pets 805
10. Consider setting a humane trap.
Once you confirm your cat is around but is resisting coming to you, you may need to humanely trap. Indoor cats that “escape” outdoors are very likely to be hiding close by. Their instinct is to not reveal themselves, so they will not meow or come to you. Some humane societies and animal control agencies will lend or rent humane traps. They can also be purchased at pet stores or hardware stores. Bait the trap with strong-smelling wet cat food or tuna, and cover the trap with a towel. Monitor the trap often; do not let a trapped animal stay in the trap when the sun is out. (They can overheat and die.) You may catch a raccoon or someone else’s cat in the process. Simply, release it from the same location and reset the trap.
11. Consider hiring a certified pet rescuer with a thermal drone.
Consider hiring Geoff Clinton and his thermal drone to search for your lost pet (cat or dog). The drone has a powerful thermal camera that may detect your pet. Geoff is adept at identifying and differentiating between heat signatures and movements of a variety of animals. He is a wealth of information that could be paramount in locating your lost pet. Call Geoff Clinton at (805) 458-5812. He is based in the South SLO County area and may serve all of SLO County.
IMPORTANT: Cats can go up to 2 weeks without food, but only 2-3 days without water so please be sure to put water in any locations where your cat may be hiding and/or trapped, like a closed basement, crawl space or shed. Most cats are found within a 5-house radius from where they left, so focus your strongest efforts on that territory and for the greatest odds of success: TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY to search, notify neighbors, put up flyers, etc. *This article is adapted from: Petfbi.org/i-lost-a-cat/lost-cat-action-plan
Feline Network of the Central Coast 