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| Cat Search Tips My cat is missing; what should I do first? More search tips Safety
Please read Missing Pet Partnership's "The Silence Factor " first (Click on link & when new window opens, scroll down to "Additional Behaviors") The Silence Factor is a term coined by Kat Albrecht of the Missing Pet Partnership. It refers to the survival tactic that cats use when very frightened, hurt, or sick. They hide in silence, and will not respond to your call as they normally would, even though you may be right near their hiding spot. They might be very hungry, but even if you shake their treats, they might not respond. Eventually they reach their threshold for hunger and thirst, and break cover, but it might take weeks. Please follow the link above to learn more details.
Notify the NHSPCA, Cocheco Valley, (or other animal shelters and cat rescue agencies), Cat Finders, and veterinarians in your area.
Increase your chances of finding your cat by listing him/her on our Cat Finders network. It's free! Just call or email us with information about your cat & your contact information so
Make posters.
Cat Finders periodically prints and puts up town posters only for the Lee/Newmarket area, usually. You should also make some posters or flyers of your own immediately, no matter what town you are from. For ideas on effective home-made signs, follow this link:
http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/recovery-posters.php
Please feel free to print out the Cat Finders web page that has your lost/found cat's picture and info, make copies, and post it on community bulletin boards. That will be good for other cats shown on that page too, as their pictures will be posted in more places if we all help. Please do not give us any information that you would not wish to be seenon the website or on group posters that others may print from the website.
For outdoor posters, it's best to use a laser printer, or make color copies at Staples or Kinko's, as these are generally rain-resistant. Please be considerate of others when placing your posters, (i.e. not on private property, not covering other posters) and please take the signs down again when appropriate.
- Placement of posters:
Effective spots for your posters include veterinarians' bulletin boards, animal shelters, animal feed stores, pet shops, your local police station and/or animaI control office, library, and other community bulletin boards. In your own neighborhood or on your own road, it is a good idea to put up some outdoor posters in spots where walkers will see them and motorists can safely stop to read them.
Place ads in the local newspapers--most will run a short ad for about three days at no charge.
After that, you can re-submit the same ad. It's also a good idea to check to see if anyone found your cat & has put a "found" ad in one of the local papers. This is most helpful right after your cat has gone missing, but if it's been a while, you can always look at the newspaper archives at UNH.
Read our FAQs, and follow the links there (and on the links page) to get information and suggestions from the experts. Read our "Happy Endings" page to see what has worked for other people, and how they have found their lost cats.
Search Petfinder.com to see if your cat has been taken in by a shelter and is up for adoption somewhere. Check frequently. I cannot stress this enough. A cat might wander for weeks, months, or longer before somebody brings him or her to a shelter. Check the websites of your local shelters, too. Links to some of these are on our "Helpful Links" page. However, you should also visit the local shelters, and give them one of your flyers, so they can keep an eye out for your cat. If you can, notify every shelter in your area, not just the closest one, because somebody might have dropped your cat off at a shelter near their job, which might be miles from your town.
We ask that everyone who visits Cat Finders' web site will watch for all of the cats who are missing in their town or area.
 Running Bear (Lost since August 31st, 2006) Time of day to search The best time to search is the time of day or night when your cat is usually the most active. For most cats, the active times are dawn and dusk. Cats are less likely to be out and about in the noonday sun; but if you look during the day, be sure to check underneath parked cars, which provide shade in summer, and are a source of warmth in the winter. If you search at night, use your car's headlights or a large flashlight to catch the glow of cats' eyes. But be cautious when approaching a pair of glowing golden eyes in the dark, as they may belong to a wild animal. Daytime, obviously, is the best time to find your neighbors out and about, doing yard work, etc., and therefore a great opportunity to find out if neighbors have seen your cat wandering nearby. Be sure to bring handouts with a picture of your cat or at least your phone number to leave with anyone who offers to keep an eye open for your cat.
Where to look
Unless your cat has been chased by an animal or carried away in a vehicle, he or she is likely to be very close to home. Look everywhere in your house, your yard, your shed or barn, etc., and ask your neighbors if you can search their outdoor areas. It may feel a little uncomfortable to make this request, but it might save your cat's life. Besides, most people would rather have you search their shed or garage than to have your cat trapped on their property. If they have a cat door or open window in their basement, you might also ask them if they would mind searching inside the house for you. This may seem like an imposition, but if your cat is ill or injured, she/he might not be able to get out the same way she/he got in, yet may be urgently in need of help.
Please be aware of this important fact: A frightened cat may hide in silence, even from you. Read the Missing Pet Partnership's description of the "Silence Factor " for more information. Vacant houses can be a very dangerous trap for cats, especially if there is an open window to the basement--your cat may be able to get in that way, but not get out again, as the window may be too high, or your cat may be injured. Cats and wildlife have also been known to get stuck in unused areas of barns and sheds. If there are vacant homes in your neighborhood, it is a good idea to check them if you can, and obtain police assistance if necessary to gain entry. Remember to look up! Cats do climb trees when frightened, and many are unable to come down without assistance. (Cats' claws curve inward; wonderful for climbing up, not so great for climbing down head first. It takes practice for the cat to learn how to turn around, and climb down tail first.) 
Attitudes and beliefs that can prevent you from being reunited with your cat
Belief that it is not possible to find your cat. Many people will tell you that your cat cannot survive outdoors; that she or he has probably been eaten by predators or met some other sad end. While it is possible that your cat really is gone forever, it is also possible that she or he is waiting for you to come find her/him. (See our Happy Endings page for real-life examples of this). While Cat Finders does not want to encourage false hope, it is not a matter of false hope to consider all logical possibilities rather than focusing only on the worst case scenario. Imagine grieving for your cat, when all along the cat might be perhaps a mile from home, living with another family as an indoor cat!
Don't give up too soon. If your cat is unable to get home and you give up right away, you might never see each other again. If you keep searching, despite discouraging (though well-meaning) words from friends, family, or neighbors, you have a much better chance of reuniting with your cat.
Beliefs of Other People in the Community
"Dumped" Cats When we find a hungry cat at our doorstep, many of us assume that the cat is unwanted, that someone has "dumped" their cat out on the street. This assumption allows us to feel justified in "adopting" the cat, since the cat's previous people were possibly callous, irresponsible, etc. and don't want their cat back anyway. And this does happen sometimes no doubt, but not nearly as often as we used to think. We have only to look at the Cat Finders' "Lost Cat" listings or the lost cat ads on craigslist to realize that it is wrong to assume that any cat has been dumped. Even if the cat looks scruffy or ill, we cannot know how long the cat may have been lost, or what health conditions he or she might have been getting treatment for prior to disappearing. Even if we have not seen signs around the neighborhood for this cat, well, the cat may have wandered miles from home, or may have been wandering for two years . . . the family may have long ago given up hope and stopped searching, but would still dearly love to welcome their long lost friend home again. It is usually more accurate to assume a stray cat is lost, and much kinder to try to reunite the cat with his or her family before deciding to make the cat part of our own family.
We can all help our communities become more aware that not every "stray" cat has been abandoned, dumped, or neglected. By our own search efforts, we can help educate others that many strays are actually well-loved cats who broke out through a window screen one day, escaped from their cat carrier on the way to the vet's office, got chased from their yard by a dog, or ran in panic at the sound of a neighbor's fireworks.
 Lost, not abandoned
People you speak to may have attitudes about cat-rearing that differ from yours, and they may have no qualms about letting you know this. Don't let it discourage you. Whether you believe in indoor-only cats or indoor/outdoor/barn cats, holistic pet food or commercial pet food, immunizing vs. non-immunizing, neutered or intact, one cat per household vs. multiple cats, etc. there will always be people who take the other side and feel vehemently about it. We are all entitled to our feelings and beliefs, which usually reflect our love of cats. 
Cat Protectiveness One attitude that you may come across is cat-protectiveness, usually held by well-meaning cat lovers. Some people can be so cat-protective that they are quick to think the worst of us. (Before we think the worst of them, let's remember that many of us have been guilty of the same or similar cat-protective attitudes at one time or another.) Certain cat lovers may feel that anyone who lets a cat go outside is irresponsible or neglectful, particularly if the cat is (or has become) hurt, ill, pregnant, elderly, etc. These cat-protective neighbors may feel justified in taking any hungry, passing cat inside their house, and keeping him/her without trying to find us, because they feel they will give the cat a better home by acting in a more responsible manner than we have. The problem with this, often, is that they have jumped to an incorrect conclusion about us, and are taking away a member of our family based on a very wrong assumption. Their "protection" of our cat is actually causing grievous harm to the cat and his/her family. If you come across this admittedly well-meaning attitude while searching for your cat, perhaps the best you can do may be to let the person see how much you love your cat, gently making it clear that you do provide a very safe home for him/her--the disappearance is an aberration, not the normal situation. The more that people become aware of lost, dearly loved cats, the less likely they are to "take" a cat who is not up for adoption. Let the cat lover in you (your best self) speak to the cat lover in them (their best selves). Of course, if you are positive that somebody has taken your cat and will not give him/her back to you, it may be a matter for the police.  Did you know that in some other countries it is considered cruel to keep a cat locked indoors? In Great Britain, for example, 90% of pet cats are allowed outdoors, and the remaining 10% are typically pedigreed cats, kept inside for fear of theft. The British believe that it is natural for cats to enjoy the great outdoors. Read more Life will be better for people and cats if we all try to be tolerant of each other and each other's cat-raising practices. It helps to remember that each property, each family, and each cat is unique, so there is no "one size fits all" rule for safe, happy cats. Sometimes, a well meaning neighbor may find your cat and, believing the cat to be homeless, they may bring him/her to an animal shelter. Many people feel this to be a kindly act, but it isn't always.
Animal shelters do a wonderful job combatting animal cruelty and finding homes for abused and unwanted animals, and re-homing animals whose person has become too ill to care for them or has
passed away. But most shelters don't have enough funding or staff to treat lost cats differently from cats
who have been voluntarily surrendered. For one thing, most animal shelters will not try to find the cat's family, but will wait a few days or weeks, and then "adopt" your cat out to a new family, or, if the cat is ill, injured, aggressive, or seems feral, the cat may be put to death, or transferred to a different facility. Please, if you find a lost or stray cat, especially one who seems possibly feral, do not bring him/her to an already over-burdened shelter. If you are unable to find the cat's family, consider instead a no-kill shelter, or, if the cat is feral, consider bringing him/her to a Trap/Neuter/Release facility like SAFER in Hampton, or Cats 1st in Newfields, or Voice for Animals in Farmington, where they can really help feral and stray cats. They can even help trap the cat for you.
If the cat is truly a stray, on the other hand, and not lost, he/she may be very happy fending for him/herself, perhaps with some kindly handouts from you or your neighbors, and the shelter of your barn or shed. Cats have a right to live, even if they don't always have a human home. Read more about cats in the wild and Cats' Rights at Alley Cat Allies 
Safety is important. Although most people in our area are kind, caring, and helpful, there may be a few out there who are not. So please be careful when dealing with strangers. Use common sense at all times. Your cat is counting on you to be safe so you can find him or her.
While it is important to give out enough information (in your newspaper ad, posters, or Cat Finders listing) to make it easy for people to notice your cat and to distinguish him/her from other cats, e.g. fur color, fur length, limp, etc., it is also a very good idea to keep one or two facts about your cat a secret: facts that only you and the person who truly has your cat will know. Maybe a prominent marking that doesn't show up in your cat's photograph, or better yet, an aspect of your cat's behavior. For example, if your cat is not litter trained, anyone who claims to have your cat in their house should know this. If they don't, then it's unlikely that they really have your cat. If you feel you must follow up and see the cat anyway, do not go alone, inform others of your whereabouts, and bring your cell phone.
Please check Cat Finders frequently, as new lost or found cats are added daily. Don't rely on Cat Finders to notice if a cat reported as "Found" might be your lost cat, or vice versa. There are just too many cats posted for any one person to keep track. Also, photos of the same cat can often look very different from each other. We have never met your cat, so we may not recognize the cat as yours, but you will.
Cat Finders' suggested prayer, meditation, or wish:
May our lost cats be treated with kindness; may they be safe, well fed, and on their way home.
Cat Finders 603-659-6832 (9 AM to 11 PM only please) Please leave a message. | |
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