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Must-Do Tips for Finding a Lost Cat

The following is an excerpt from Petfinder's monthly Ask the Experts Q&A on Facebook. Similar our Facebook page to learn about upcoming Q&Equally.

Q: Are there specific places lost cats are likely to hide? What would you say is most of import to do in the outset hour when a cat'south disappeared? —Julie Southward.

A: Probably the most disquisitional thing to do within the first few hours of losing a true cat is to start getting permission from your neighbors to enter their yards to search for the missing cat.

Must-do Tops For Finding a Lost Cat

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When Indoor Cats Become Lost:

  • Determine the escape point: When an indoor-but cat escapes exterior, the best technique to use is to determine the escape point, similar perhaps a door found cracked open.
  • Follow the edge of the house or building: A panicked cat will typically follow along the side of the house, rather than risk slinking or bolting out into the open. However, this depends on what happens the moment that cat escapes — if the post human being is walking upwardly the sidewalk the cat could bolt and run directly beyond the street. But most times, indoor cats will either slink left or slink right post-obit the edge of the business firm.
  • Look for the closest hiding spots: Following the edge of the house to the correct, look for the first hiding identify — deck, access nether a house, shed with opening, open up garage, etc. — and focus on that expanse. Then do the same to the left.
  • Place humane traps, cameras or nutrient in those spots: If yous don't encounter or find the cat, y'all can put humane traps there, wildlife cameras, or even a plate of food at first to run into if it vanishes.

The case of a lost cat is an investigation. The investigative question with displaced indoor-only cats that escape outside — or fifty-fifty outdoor-access cats that bolt in panic — is, "where is the true cat hiding?"

When Indoor-Outdoor Cats Get Lost:

When an outdoor-access cat vanishes, it is very dissimilar. The investigative question for outdoor-access cats that are missing is "What happened to the cat?" It means something has happened to the cat to interrupt her customary behavior of coming domicile. The cat could be:

  • Trapped
  • Sick/injured
  • Transported out of the area
  • Taken past predators
  • Intentionally removed by a cat-hating neighbor.

Kat Albrecht
Founder
Missing Pet Partnership
Seattle, WA