All of us who enjoy the company of a feline friend at home cannot imagine that it could get lost. But even the homeliest cat can get away from our control, either out of curiosity or due to an accident .
When is the last time you saw him?
The first thing you should think about when is the last time you were with him. If it was before you left for work 10 hours ago, it’s not the same as 10 minutes ago while you were making dinner. The time that has elapsed will help you assess how far the animal may have traveled.
Ask for help
If you are accompanied by more people or have neighbors, ask them if they can help you. It is best that the people in the cat’s family environment are the ones who carry out the most direct search, since the cat will be more trusting of them. But anyone can help you in those first indispensable minutes while you are looking for him:
- Call the identification registry to declare its loss and verify that the contact information is correct. In this way, if the animal is recovered, when its microchip is read, it will appear in the registry as lost and its family will be called.
- Contact the Local Police, Civil Guard or National Police to report your loss. Not only in case these were the ones that found your cat, but it is essential to have a complaint to avoid liability if our pet caused injuries or an accident.
- Make a poster to deliver to neighbors, pedestrians and businesses. A good quality photo of the cat is very important, with the contact information, place and date in which it has disappeared and its description (breed, colour, type of hair, some feature that characterizes it…).
- Post your loss on social media. It is better that we use the previous poster with all the data as an image, than to put a photo in which only the animal appears. Post it on your profile, neighborhood and municipal groups, groups of lost animals… Add all the information in the text that accompanies the photo. And remember to set privacy to “public” so everyone can see it.
- Call and send the poster to all veterinary centers and shelters in the area.
Can you be at home?
There are many situations in which we are not sure whether or not the animal has really escaped from home or is still in the house: someone has left an access to the outside open , we have suffered a robbery …
If you are in doubt as to whether or not your cat has run away from home, close all doors and windows and thoroughly search room by room. The cat may be scared or just hiding.
Fortunately, on most occasions we get a good scare while they remain placidly in the most remote place of the home.
close the fence
If the cat has escaped from the house, either because you have seen it at the time of the event or because you have made sure that it is not really inside it, the most normal thing is that, unless it has fled in terror due to some fright, it will stay in its vicinity.
If you live in a building, try to “secure” access to the outside (portals, garage exits…) while you search it thoroughly floor by floor, as calmly as possible to avoid scaring it more than it already is.
If you can’t find it in the common areas, the next thing to do would be to ask each of the neighbors if they can look for it in their homes.
It sure is on the street!
If everything indicates that the cat is probably on public roads or you have gotten lost there while traveling with him, things get complicated… We can start his search by calling him by his name or the sound you make to call him normally. You can also put their belongings around the area: a blanket, bed, their litter box… If there is no peace in the area, your cat is probably hiding and doesn’t even feel safe with you. Search at night , he will be less scared and you will be able to hear better if he responds with his meow.
There are many cats that end up lost either by rushing out a window or terrace into the street, by going out to snoop when the door has accidentally been left open or simply because of a mishap with their carrier during a transfer.
That is why it is vital to have our cat identified (although “it never leaves the house” ), enclosures on windows and terraces, be very careful when we open the doors (especially when there are visitors) and verify that the carrier does not have any damage and secure it with flanges before any transfer.
