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What to Do If Your Companion Gets Lost
Posted by Ingrid Newkirk at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
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Recently, I ran across some really sad cases of guardians who lost their feline companions and did not know what steps to take to recover them. Here are some basic guidelines that were originally published in my book 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You. These steps should also work for most other types of animal companions.
The following are the basic rules:
1. No matter what your commitments may be at work, they can wait. The material world isn't as important as your cat's life. Recruit relatives to look after the kids. Tear up your dance card, postpone your wedding. Take emergency leave. Do whatever it takes to free yourself up.
2. Beg, borrow, steal, or charge an answering machine so that the number you are about to plaster up everywhere is always answered.
No matter who else you are expecting to hear from, no one is more important than the person who has found your cat or has a lead to his whereabouts. Record a new phone message along these lines: "Please, don't hang up if you have information about my missing cat. I must speak to you. If you can leave your name and number, please do so, twice, speaking very clearly, at the sound of the tone. If you do not have a number, this phone should be answered by a live person between x and y today, or you can reach (someone else you absolutely trust) at (another number you are absolutely sure of). Your call is vital to me. If I do not call you back, it means your number didn't record clearly. Please let me talk to you. Thank you."
3. Find out which humane societies and animal control agencies exist in your area. Don't assume there are only one or two. Ask each place you call, "Where else should I check?" then ask again and ask every time you call. Different people give you different leads. Check yellow pages; ask veterinary hospital receptionists; call pet shops; and ask the sheriff's office dispatch clerk.
4. Visit each shelter every day no matter how often they assure you that they will call you if kitty shows up. Lots of called-in and turned-in animals go unrecognized or ignored in busy shelters.
Ask to see the Lost and Found book. Be pleasant but persistent. You need these people, but-very quietly, in your own head-assume they are, at worst, incompetent or, at best, too busy to be relied upon. I love most shelter workers, and if your cat's life is on the line, you will need help from them; but saving your cat's life means never relying completely on anyone other than yourself.
5. Make clear copies of the best photo of your cat you can find (try a one-hour processing place or use a copy machine if you have to). Ask that a copy be glued or taped into the Lost Book in every shelter and put one on every bulletin board.
6. Call all local papers and run an ad. Say only, "Lost. Cat. (Whatever) color. Reward. Phone Number." Don't mention kitty's gender or breed (if any), haircoat length, or other confusing details. Most people couldn't sex an elephant accurately … If necessary, keep running the ad until the paper goes out of business. Check the Lost and the Found ads in it daily. People at newspapers sometimes mix the ads up.
7. Don't chintz on the reward. How much could you rustle up for emergency surgery if you needed to or if your roof sprung a leak? You are not tipping a waiter, you are trying to lure people who otherwise would not give a hoot into finding your irreplaceable angel. Cough up.
8. Try to get local radio and television stations to run an announcement for you. If there is something catchy about your cat that might engage their interest, mention it.
9. Strip-search the neighborhood:
a. Talk to mail carriers, delivery people, and folks you haven't uttered a word to, or wanted to, in years.
b. Bribe children; they hear and see more than adults.
c. Use a flashlight to peer into gullies and drains, parked cars, and toolsheds.
d. Go out at night and call your cat's name when all is quiet. Listen carefully for the faint "meow" of a cat stuck backward down a standpipe.
10. Salvage or buy some giant pieces of plywood. Spray paint your simple, standard message on them:
BIG REWARD
LOST CAT
COLOR
RELIABLE PHONE NUMBER
11. Put flyers in vets' offices in case your cat has been injured or taken ill. Drop them into storm doors in the area, and put posters on telephone poles. Cover a Large Radius. Many cats are found one to two miles away.
12. Call a pet-locating service for advice. Petfinders, Inc. has been in the business for twenty-one years and can be reached at 800-223-4747. Locating services will also register animals and send their information to shelters for you. In Defense of Animals also has a pet-theft hotline and some nice information. They can reached by phone at (415) 388-9641 or by fax at (415) 388-0388.
13. Post a notice on the World Wide Web. This is not to say you should hold out any great hopes, but never leave a stone unturned.
14. You have the legal right to visit laboratories and dealers to look for your friend. Contact them quickly!
15. Follow any and all leads and do anything anyone suggests. Light a candle for Saint Jude if you feel like it. Who knows what will bring kitty home?
Most important, never, ever give up, and look everywhere.
Posted to Family & Friends | Posted to Tags: Cats, Ingrid Newkirk, lost cats
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brenda cruz says...
May 12th, 2010, 2:19 pm
Thankyou so much for the article its very helpful xoxo
Christine says...
May 12th, 2010, 2:27 pm
Make sure to get your companion micro-chipped. Shelters and Vets will scan to see if an animal has a chip. You will quickly be reunited with your best friend.
Laura Frisk says...
May 12th, 2010, 2:54 pm
Great advice Ingrid. Never, never give up looking for your lost animal friends. And to prevent your cat being lost in the future, don't let him or her out of the house again! Indoor cats live longer, healthier lives, and are happiest when they are at home with their human companion.
Toly Asin Robinson says...
May 12th, 2010, 5:16 pm
Do NOT forget to check "Craigs List" I found lots of ads from people that find or loose their pets
Sara says...
May 13th, 2010, 1:07 am
You should pray to St. Anthony when you have lost something. ; )
Susan Ballarini says...
May 13th, 2010, 12:14 pm
I have a couple more tips and I have found a few of my missing friends this way.
A lost animal, like a lost person, moves in circles. Walk in ever increasing concentric (bigger and bigger circles)lines, preferably at night when everything is very quiet, calling out your pet's name. When I do this many cats will answer me, not just my own, and even if you do not hear him, if he is there,he will hear you.
If that doesn't work do not rule out a pet psychic. I have consulted psychics twice and both times the pet was found following the psychic's advice. One was a friend and did not charge me anything. His advice included a tremendous amount of visual information and it was right on. He DID say that I must act quickly, and I did. The second time I was referred to one via ALF and paid 100 dollars and was given direction and also visual information. My daughter followed her advice and found her cat just where the psychic said she was. I can not recommend any psychics, and just hope they are all as good as the two I have experienced.
Also, I used my own intuition and found my cat after two weeks in the Chicago winter. I prayed and meditated about the area to look in. I saw a street sign in my mind. I went door to door leafleting and talking to people. Then one night a neighbor of one of the people I spoke with called to tell me Spuds was in her backyard. I got her home then.
I also lost a cat once, but prayed about it and got an overwhelming feeling he would be back. 9 months later he was at the back door meowing and he was clean as a whistle. Cats and humans as well as ALL animals have intuition. Trust your own.
Joy says...
May 13th, 2010, 9:04 pm
Don't forget to also call back and thank those who have helped in some way, such as vets, animal control, etc. Recently my friend found someones cat, and reunited the family with their cat 2 weeks after it had gone missing. He offered kindly advice on keeping the cat in the house at all times and ways to make the cat happy and healthy. This family should send him a Thank You card.
Lisa Wilson says...
May 14th, 2010, 1:23 pm
Thank you for this! I agree to never give up! I have found animals before that have been lost for months and the owners where amazed so it is true that every stone should be turned over because they out there looking for you too. Thank you for this very helpful and great advice. Keep it coming!
hayley says...
May 14th, 2010, 2:00 pm
I recently lost a cat. I put up signs contacted the local vet, and am still hopeful. Cats are pretty smart animals and I know my cat will my cat Roameo will find his way back home. Love the article!
lisa says...
May 14th, 2010, 6:59 pm
christine's information is inaccurate. my cat was chipped as i adopted her from a city shelter and yet we never found her. not every vet scans cats, has a machine to scan them, thinks to scan them, etc. and most people who care will rescue and cat and just care for it, look to adopt it out or keep it, etc. there are any number of barriers preventing you from being reuinted with your microchipped cat.
i'm not saying you shouldn't chip your cat. i'm just saying, don't rely on christine's comment ("you will quickly be reunited with your best friend"). it ain't that simple, doll (and i did everything in this article: flyers, hired a private detective, trolled the neighborhood at night, you name it. i love her! and still miss her 3 years later).
Christy says...
May 15th, 2010, 10:42 am
When I was young our family cat went missing for over a week. Someone suggested that we put something outside with our scent on it, so my parents hung up our bath towels outside. He was home within 10 minutes. It could have been a coincidence, but is worth a try.
Nini Sanchez says...
May 15th, 2010, 12:52 pm
Please keep your cat indoors with you… our six cats were strays and have all adapted to life inside where they are safe, clean, no disease or dangers, and get plenty of attention and "run" the household!!! No fleas or ticks, and they are warm in winter and cool in summer! Please consider ONLY indoors for your family member!
sue says...
May 25th, 2010, 6:16 pm
I have brought in several stray cats, I ran a found ad each time in our local small paper. No one ever claimed any, we now have 7 former strays and our 2 original cats, it took a while but we all live a happy indoor life, I grow them their own grass, we built a large wire and screened outdoor pen, they access thru a window,when they want, I give them all rescue remedy when they first get to know each other and I gently guide them to get along with each other, result 9 happy cats, 2 happy cat people. Why Im sharing this is if you lost a cat maybe they found a good home. If a cat gets out or lost put items of clothing with your smell on them, if you can, cats have a great sense of smell, call for them at night , when everything is quiet, also put out smelly (sardines) food, if you can, or dry food and water and a few cardboard boxes they could hide in overnight.Good Luck!
cat rescuer says...
July 21st, 2010, 1:24 am
We took in a cat who had belonged to an elderly couple, January 2003. He got out of his cage and disappeared. We never really gave up, but after the initial six months of intensive street walking etc. and revisiting his previous and now vacant old home, our search slowed down. Five years later in January 2008, by chance, we found him a few houses away from his old home. He was with another elderly couple who said he had arrived there in July 2003 and for a few weeks kept coming and going (obviously he kept revisiting his old home) before he settled in with them. It had taken him nearly seven months and approx. five miles to get there – he had negotiated many main roads, crossed a busy motorway and somehow travelled around a large lake. He was thought to be 8 yrs old in 2003, so he is now almost 16yrs and still with the couple he chose to live with near his original old home. Can't say I believe in praying or psychic help, but I always had a feeling he was still alive somewhere.
Never give up and always get onto the search immediately – cats stay in the same area for some time, unless they have been chased by a dog or have stowed away in a vehicle. Contact any rescuers/feeders in the locality, lost cats often find their way to cat colonies that are being cared for. It may seem Puss has disappeared into thin air, but most times s/he is somewhere not too far away!
Dee says...
August 8th, 2010, 2:51 am
The microchip: it's so easy and so important.
Also: cats can get sneak into a GARAGE while it's open, and then get stuck there for days if the people don't check the garage frequently. This happened to our cat three times.
We left flyers in the mailboxes of all of our neighbors up and down the street, and also the cross street, asking them to check their garages or to leave a garage door open for about ten minutes. (Because sometimes a cat will be too shy to come out if there are strangers there. But if they just leave the door open and go away, the cat will most likely leave the garage.)