What To Do If Your Cat Goes Missing First, there are two things you should not do if your cat is missing. Don’t assume your cat knows how to get home, and don’t stop looking for them! Cats can be gone for weeks or months before finding their way home without help. If your cat runs away or goes missing, start by walking around the house, calling their name, and looking for them. Most indoor-only cats won’t stray more than two houses away, so you can hopefully find them close by and quickly. Cats that are indoor/outdoor are more likely to stray up to one block in either direction, which means you’ll have to expand your search radius. Look under bushes, decks, under cars, and up in trees. The cat may be scared, so it may not come out or make any noise when called. Cats are diurnal, so searching at night, dusk, and dawn is a good idea, and the light from a flashlight can reflect off the cat’s eyes in the dark, making them easier to see. Before you start a serious search, make sure your silly furry friend hasn’t found a new hiding place in your closet. It happens to the best of us. Cats can be gone for 18-24 hours before you need to worry. At this time, you can begin to take flyers around to all your neighbors and ask if you can look around their yards or an open garage. Keep your search up, and don’t get discouraged if it takes weeks. In some cases, the longer they are gone, the greater chance they have of being found again. A lost indoor cat is probably scared and hiding. If the cat has been gone for a few weeks, it may have found a new human that is feeding them. Once the human gets to know the cat, they may search shelters and online for a missing cat. That’s why it’s important to keep up your search for your furry friend! Will A Lost Cat Come Back Home On Its Own? The first thing to consider for what to do if your cat goes missing is if they will come home on their own. A cat has a home instinct that helps them find its way back home, sometimes. However, if your cat is lost during or after moving into a new house, or if the cat is spooked and runs to an unknown location, it may have a hard time finding its way home. Do not assume the cat will find its way home on their own. Many cats are skittish and get very scared when they go missing. That means that even if they do come home, getting them into the house might be a challenge. If you find your cat but can’t get them into the house or the cat’s carrier, you might need to set up a cat trap. If your cat is nearby, they are likely in a hiding spot by your house. Setting some food bait and a cat trap might be the easier way to catch most cats. How To Help Your Cat Find Its Way Home Usually, if a cat has gone missing, they won’t go far, and they will return on their own because of their homing instinct. Other times, the cat may be scared, cornered, or lost and unable to easily find their way home. Here are a few ways you can help your cat find its way home. Where Do Lost Cats Hide? You may be able to find your missing cat in one of the usual cat hiding places, such as a neighbor’s garage, underneath a car, behind a garbage can, or even up a tree. Missing cats are usually scared because they are away from their home territory. Be aware of very faint meows or paw prints, and call out to your kitty multiple times before checking a new location and conducting a thorough search. How To Catch A Scared Cat If your lost feline friend is frightened, and it probably is, then you’ll want to try some of these techniques to help your kitty stay calm and let you catch them. It’s a good idea to bring a cat carrier when you look for a lost pet. You can also bring their favorite food and treats to lure them into their carrier. When approaching a scared cat, always keep your movements slow and speak in a soft, calm voice as you attempt to approach them. Try to get them to come to you first, and only approach patiently not to startle them further. It’s ok to sit there for several minutes while your cat calms down. Here are a few tips for catching a scared cat with a trap. How To Do Community Outreach For A Missing Pet Community outreach is one of the best ways for cat owners to find missing cats and get their cat quickly home. Print lost cat posters and place them at popular locations like gates, signposts, and fences or walls. Sometimes, you can slip a note with your contact details in mailboxes or on a neighbor’s door if you think the cat may be on their property. The posters should include your name, contact information, a current picture of your cat, and a brief pet description, including your cat’s personality. You can also expand beyond your local area and post flyers or send emails to animal shelters, local vets, animal control, or even local police. You can even contact your local newspaper about your cat’s disappearance. Those are all places where a pet owner may call for found animals. Don’t forget to post your lost cat on Craigslist, Nextdoor, Whisker Tracker, and PawBoost.com. Social Media For Missing Pets In addition to community outreach and posting on Nextdoor, social media is a great way to get the word out about missing pets. Every area usually has several Facebook Groups that can help you find missing
