A Cat Or A Cat Is Missing: What To Do, Where To Look For An Animal, How To Find A Lost Kitten, Tips And Tricks For Owners

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Lost cat: how to get a friend back

Cats are incomprehensible animals, especially when it comes to their disappearances. There are cases when pets walked several thousand kilometers of an unfamiliar route, returning home, and scientists explain this by the fact that cats use the geomagnetic field as a reference point. On the other hand, a lost pet, clearly not deprived of intelligence, can sit for a week in a box next to the house, suffering from hunger and unable to return. Therefore, the decisive factor that increases the chances of the return of the cat is the competent organization of its search, undertaken by a loving owner.

Content

• 1 Reasons why a cat could leave home
• 2 Preparation for the search

• 3 Organization and conduct of searches

  • 3.1 Where to look
  • 3.2 Who to Interview
  • 3.3 Inspection of animal housing facilities
  • 3.4 Where to get information about accidents involving animals
  • 3.5 Can a cat respond to the owner's voice

  • 3.6 Announcements

    3.6.1 Video: what to do if the cat escaped

• 4 What to do when the cat is found

• 5 What to do if you couldn't find a cat right away

  • 5.1 How long can a cat return

    5.1.1 Video: how cats find their way home

Reasons why a cat might have left home

The reason why a particular cat ran away is often only known to him alone. You can assume:

• hunting instinct;
• sexual instinct;
• fright;
• curiosity;
• accidentally fell out of a window or balcony;
• moving to a new apartment can serve as a provoking factor;
• the arrival of a large number of guests;
• other reasons.

There can be many reasons that prompted the cat to escape.

Preparing for the search

If the loss of the cat was discovered immediately, you should rush in pursuit, since the fugitive has gone very close, and you can catch up and catch him.

If you do not know which way the cat was headed, then you should call for help from friends or neighbors, and also be sure to take flashlights with you, which will be needed regardless of the time of day, for example, when examining basements, as well as looking in parking lots under cars. In the dark, the cat's eyes, reflecting the light of a flashlight, characteristically shine, revealing its shelter. You can take some food with you to lure the cat, but the recently escaped cat has not yet had time to get hungry. If there is a dog living with the cat, it should also be taken, since it smells the familiar smell of the cat. Do not attract strangers - they will scare the cat and aggravate the situation. The search should be started as early as possible.

Finding a runaway cat will help the instinct of a cohabiting dog

Organization and conduct of searches

The search begins, taking into account the circumstances under which the cat escaped, directly from the place of its disappearance. The primary search quadrant should cover about 5 nearest houses if we are talking about a city. In the private sector, it is easier to find a cat, because everyone knows their own and their neighbors' animals, and they will definitely pay attention to a newcomer who has come.

If a kitten disappears, then the search must be carried out on a large scale and intensively - the kitten, unlike an adult cat, is unable to survive on its own, and will die in 80% of cases. Unlike an adult cat, the location of the kitten will help to give out his squeak, so you need to listen especially carefully. You should also pay extra attention to finding an elderly, sick pet or pregnant cat.

Where to looking for

A lost pet cat is in a state of extreme stress caused by a completely unfamiliar environment, and instinct tells him to hide and hide, and he will do it in the nearest accessible place. Therefore, it is unlikely that a cat will be found in an open space, it is necessary to examine those places that could serve as a shelter for the cat.

The recently escaped cat is close

First of all, you should inspect:

• entrance, if it is assumed that the cat slipped out the door. The entrance is inspected, starting from the bottom, paying special attention to the space behind the garbage chute, batteries, pipes, as well as inspecting boxes and furniture temporarily displayed on the site, if any. Climbing to the top floor, you should evaluate the cat's ability to get into the attic. In most typical modern houses, this possibility is usually absent, the attic is closed, and a vertical iron staircase leads to it; but if the design of the house is different, then you should definitely check the attic;

• in the yard of the house it is necessary to examine:

  • bushes and tall grass;
  • the space under parked cars, here a flashlight will help a lot, even during the day; Cars can be kicked lightly on the wheels to scare away the cat, which can climb under the wing of the car on the wheel, as well as into the radiator compartment from the bottom - this is how kittens and small cats do, especially in winter;
  • trees - a frightened cat could climb up;
  • exit from the entrance, since boxes and furniture intended for disposal are often left here, in which a cat can hide; and also inspect the porch of the entrance, since there may be holes under it for the cat to get into;
  • go around the house around the perimeter, since the cat can hide in niches under the loggias, and also snuggle against the wall of the house;
  • inspect other buildings in the courtyard of the house: a playground, household buildings, the space along the fences;
  • inspect the basement of the house, where the cat could have entered through the ventilation hole. Here, special attention should also be paid to hidden places, since the cat will continue to hide, even being in the basement, and the flashlight will be needed again;
• if the cat is lost in the cold season, special attention should be paid to warm places where instinct will lead him;
• inspect the habitats of stray cats;
• garbage dumps.

Frightened pet may be hiding in a tree

The nature of the animal should be taken into account: a timid cat will probably hide in a shelter near the place of disappearance for several days, while a sociable and relaxed pet may soon be found adhering to a cat flock, nailed to a grocery store, watch, yard kids or living in a nearby entrance … There are known cases of intrusion of lost cats into apartments.

Whom to interview

First of all, you need to interview people who are often on the street near the house. Usually this:

• wipers;
• postmen;
• concierge;
• watchman;
• employees of organizations located on the ground or in the basement of the house;
• pensioners, children and mothers with strollers;
• dog lovers;
• people feeding homeless animals;
• if the search is carried out "in hot pursuit" - it is worth interviewing all possible eyewitnesses;
• if possible, bypass the apartments at the entrance, and then in the yard.

The more people learn about the missing cat, the more likely it will be recognized and caught.

The cat can join a pack of homeless relatives

Checking items for keeping animals

You should check and leave the orientation for the cat in the animal housing centers, where the found animal could be delivered:

• the city point for the temporary keeping of neglected animals - you should definitely visit and call there every few days, since the found animals, if the owners did not ask for them, are put to sleep;
• city shelters for homeless animals;
• volunteer animal protection organizations with a network of overexposure at home.

In winter, cats gravitate towards heat sources

Where to get information about accidents involving animals

Traffic accidents with cats are usually not reported to the traffic police because cars are not damaged by the small size of the animals. Therefore, from time to time, you should walk along the sides of the roads located near highways, where the hit pet could have been thrown by a car or carried by people. The good news here is that cats instinctively avoid noisy and busy streets with heavy traffic.

You should also call the veterinary clinics located in the microdistrict, since this is where eyewitnesses of a cat injured in a traffic accident, as well as as a result of a fight with other animals, could have delivered.

Can a cat respond to the owner's voice

It is paradoxical, but often a cat, usually responding well to its nickname, lost and hearing the voice of the calling owner, prefers to remain silent. Therefore, this feature should always be taken into account and continue to survey the area, even if the cat does not respond to the call. On the other hand, the cat can respond, so searches between 3 and 7 o'clock in the morning are often productive, when the streets are relatively quiet and the cat and his owner have the opportunity to hear each other. In addition, a cat in the dark can get bolder and go out of the shelter to look for food. Additionally, you can use other sounds familiar to the cat, for example, shaking dry food in a bowl, if that was the name of the cat for dinner, and the cat can also recognize the sound of a mobile phone or an alarm clock.

When looking for a cat, you need to listen, because the cat can meow if he is hungry, afraid, injured, and also cannot get off the tree. In addition, the presence of a cat may be indirectly indicated by the sounds of feline fights, since foreign cats tend to drive away local cats.

The eyes of a hiding cat, illuminated by a flashlight in the dark, are highly visible

ads

Ads are very effective as they will be seen by a large number of people. You can make small orientation flyers and distribute them to passers-by on the street. The main part of the announcements must be made on A4 sheets and provided with vouchers with your phone number. The ad indicates:

• information about the lost animal:

  • floor;
  • the size;
  • color;
  • coat length;
  • you can indicate the breed, if it is rare, then limit yourself to a description;
  • nickname;
  • special distinguishing features - for example, a certain shape of color spots, the presence of a collar;
  • the need for care in the presence of diseases;
  • good quality photograph;
  • in large letters - information about the remuneration;
  • owner's contact details;

• ads are posted:

  • at entrances and houses;
  • message boards;
  • necessarily in car parks - frozen cats often bask in the radiator compartments and are injured by the generator belt when starting the engine;
  • in grocery stores;
  • near schools and kindergartens;
  • in veterinary clinics and pet stores;
  • next to the housing department and the post office;
  • at public transport stops;
• the date of the announcement - so that reading people understand that the information is relevant.

Paper ads get ripped off very quickly, so you'll have to update them every day. In this case, you should pay attention to the counter announcements about the found animals

Once lost, cats can hide nearby for a long time in the found shelter, until hunger forces them to leave it

In addition to paper ads, the lost cat orientation is posted on the Internet:

• on social networks, especially among animal lovers, as well as local communities;
• on ad sites;
• on city news resources and accompanying forums;
• in Whatsapp and Telegram messenger groups, which are usually formed by local dog owners to agree on the time of walking and exchange news;
• on forums where animal lovers communicate;
• on specialized sites dedicated to finding lost or finding pets.

Many people continue to read paper newspapers - so the ad should be placed there as well.

When placing ads, it is worth looking through the rubrics about found or attached animals, as well as if the cat is purebred - sections about the animals sold and mating - in the event that he fell into the clutches of "breeders"

Fraudsters will definitely call on ads, since their percentage is fixed in any population. As a rule, they report the finding of an animal or available information about its location, and offer to pay for it by making a non-cash payment, while avoiding a personal meeting. They should be immediately warned that the funds are paid in cash and only after a personal meeting with the cat, after which threats against the cat will most likely follow. You should not react to threats - these people do not have a cat. You should also not publish in the ad 1-2 signs by which you can identify the cat, and ask them in the form of control clarifying questions - this will clarify the situation.

Video: what to do if the cat escaped

What to do when the cat is found

If the cat is found - most likely, being under stress, he will not recognize the owner and will try to escape again. Therefore, you should take off your jacket and throw it over the cat, this will prevent its escape, as well as protect it from its claws and teeth. You can lure the cat with food. In any case - there is no need to pounce on him joyfully and noisily - the cat will run away.

It is impossible to immediately give a large amount of food to the found pet, most likely, he was starving and overeating. The cat needs to be given an anthelmintic and treated for external parasites.

The found cat is examined for visible damage and sent to the veterinary clinic for examination. The most important thing is that the animal has been given all preventive vaccinations at one time, which will save it while being on the street from most of the infectious disease, including rabies.

After finding the cat, they recall the announcement of its disappearance from the Internet resources and thank all the participants in the search.

In most cases cats hide in basements, so basements should be examined carefully and repeatedly.

What to do if you can't find a cat right away

If you can't find a cat right away, this is completely normal, and you should continue your search further, in no case getting discouraged and not losing hope of success. Very often cats are found in places where the search has already been carried out, and more than once, especially in basements. In 90% of cases, a cat that ran out into the street or jumped out of the window is there. Over time, the cat, adapting, will increasingly go outside in search of food, and this will increase the chances of finding him.

In addition, both widespread announcements of the loss of a cat and the number of people involved in searches and methodically inspecting the area, which must be done many times, increase the chances of success.

If information comes from people about the appearance of a cat suitable for the description, you should definitely check the information personally, while on duty next to the placed food, in order to see the animal.

How long does it take for a cat to return?

There are cases when cats returned after months or even years. According to statistics, 50% of lost cats can be found by their owners; in 65% of cases, cats return on their own, especially if the cat has disappeared after a recent move or from a summer residence - it is worth looking for him in his old and familiar place - at the same address. The intensity of the search, the sequence and the repetitive nature of the actions greatly increase the chances of success, so you should not lose heart.

Video: how cats find their way home

The loss of a cat is a serious test both for the animal itself and for its owner. A lost cat immediately after its disappearance should be looked for nearby, carefully examining the places of possible shelters, and consistently expanding the search area. You need to scan the territory many times, because cats are very good at hiding. When searching, you definitely need a flashlight, since the eyes of a hiding cat are very clearly visible in the dark. Cat beckoning and food lure can be used with varying degrees of success. Both the increase in the number of people actively involved in the search for the cat and the spread of advertisements about its disappearance greatly increases the chances of success. The likelihood of an independent return of the cat is not excluded. When looking for a cat, you should never despair and lose hope.