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We've set out both wet and dry food, called for him, walked around the neighborhood, played his favorite high-pitched elephant toy while walking around the neighborhood, and driven around the neighborhood. We've even asked the post man and a lady going door to door with some sort of clipboard.
I'm extra worried about him because although he's the sweetest cat you'll ever meet, he's not the smartest fella and he's a big scaredy cat. Anyone have any tricks for finding lost cats?
since having cats is my specialty, I consider myself an expert in finding lost cats. call your local humane society or shelters and make sure they are aware that you have a missing cat. if he's friendly, someone may have found him and taken him in... they'll most likely call the local shelters to see if he's been reported missing. pass around fliers in your neighborhood as well.
ReplyDeleteif you can, place an article of clothing outside of your house - Moe will recognize the scent and if he's in the area (which he is, most likely), he'll follow the scent home. keep putting food out for him too.
don't worry! cats are very smart, even though he may not SEEM smart. he's most likely just hangin' out with other kitties until he's ready to come home! good luck!
Do not waste time. Call animal control and local vets and shelters and let them all know that he is missing, provide a description and contact numbers where you can be reached immediately. Cats, especially black cats, are not given long in animal control facilities--if he was picked up or turned in, he may have as little as two-days before euthanasia. We lost a cat in a very similar situation, and he was even familiar with being outside, after waiting two days to see if he would come back on his own, we finally started making phone calls--only to find that a cat matching his description (right down to the collar) had been euthanized that morning. A missing pet is a very serious thing.
ReplyDeleteI strongly urge you to keep food outside, keep calling for him, and make a lot of phone calls. Don't assume that animal control will call you back either, keep calling to check in if he doesn't turn up.
If he's not familiar with the outdoors, he may just be hiding, or he may try to get into any available house or building. Beware of closed garages that might have trapped him, storage units and vehicles. "Scaredy" cats often run into such places to hide and become trapped.
Good luck. I hope you find him.
I second the idea to check with your local humane society or animal shelter. I volunteer at one and we ALWAYS check strays for a microchip. If you haven't had your cats chipped yet, I'd HIGHLY recommend it. Animals who have microchips (which can be easily done by any vet) are able to be reunited with their families very quickly. and easily. Both of our dogs are micrchipped, which gives me a little piece of mind in case they ever got lost. Also, not all shelters will euthanize black, stray cats. Although policies vary from shelter to shelter. Hope it all works out!
ReplyDeleteWhen one of our house cats went missing we spent 2 long nights wandering the streets of our neighborhood at night, shaking a treat container and calling for him. We went in shifts, my husband one hour, me two hours later and so forth.
ReplyDeleteWe also posted HUGE signs on our garage and knocked on all the neighbors doors letting them know our cat was gone. (In addition to visiting the local humane society ASAP.)
However, it turns out the darn cat was in our garage for two days! He had gotten out the kitchen door and discovered he wasn't very brave after all and hunkered down inthe garage to wait it out.
We would have never, ever known he was in there, but remember those midnight walks? It's dead quiet then and while my husband sat down on the porch to ponder the darn cat he realized he could very very faintly hear a cat crying. After that we knew he was close and the hunt was on to find him. So my best advice is to sit somewhere near to your house in the middle of the night and have a good listen.
Oh no! Keep us posted on Moe's return!
ReplyDeleteOh no, I hope you find him soon. I would go crazy if mine went missing
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about your cat. I hope that he comes home soon.
ReplyDeleteI had a cat that would constantly get trapped inside buildings. One time he was gone for about a week. I was frantic. I made up flyers and went house to house leaving them - my plan was to go about three blocks each direction. I finally found him because i noticed a basement window was open in a building and you could feel the warmth from a dryer so I figured he might have been attracted to that, which he was.