Useful tips on how to find lost cats

Cats are cute creatures that have been and still are wild animals over the years. Their unity with nature sometimes gives us trouble. Often they return home on their own, but it happens that they can get lost or simply cannot get off the tree. Their instinct prompts them to travel even hundreds of miles to their home, being frightened by the barking of dogs, wildlife, loud noises, cars, and so on.

The American Humane Association estimates that 1 out of 3 pets become lost at some point in their lifetime, and close to 10 million dogs, and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every single year. And according to the Coalition for Reuniting Pets and Families, less than 23% of lost pets in the U.S. are reunited with their owners. Still, do not worry, because most lost indoor cats are more likely to wander not far away (75% of “lost” cats were found within 500 meters), we will help to find your one in any way.

Thanks to the valuable tips that we have collected in this article, you will increase the chance of finding your pet. These are proven methods that have helped many pet owners. Believe us, together we will find a lost cat and improve the above statistics!

The main actions to find lost indoor cat on your own

Finding a lost cat is time-consuming and yet doable. In order to get the most out of the tips below, you need to use each of them. This way, you will surely get positive search results.

Remember its typical behavior. First of all, you need to calm down and think. Maybe your kitty has not disappeared at all and is hiding at home? These pets are known for hiding in seemingly impossible places. Therefore, at the beginning of the search, you should remember the lost cat’s behavior in the past, its typical places where it retires. Try to lure it out with the bait in the form of goodies that it loves and go around your house, examining every corner.
Go to the neighbors. When you realize that your cat has left the house, then you should not waste time and take its photo, flashlight, treats and immediately go to the neighbors. It so happens that they run into someone else’s house because of delicious smells or in search of shelter. Ask if you can check out their garage, barn, and under the porch. It will not be superfluous to ask around on the way. You will be surprised how much others can know to help you to find the lost indoor cat.
Check the cameras. A great way to find a lost cat outside is to check the cameras. It can be either your own cameras or a neighbor’s, or the nearest shops’ and establishments’ ones, and even doorbell cameras can provide you with directional information about the animal. Mentally sketch its way and explore camera by camera.
Use the power of sound. Remember how many times your cat resorted to the sound of opening a can of your favorite food before it was lost? There are audios with similar sounds that can grab your attention and lure your four-legged friend out. Sometimes it is best to use such sounds at night when the whole world is in complete silence, and even the smallest squeak can be heard for miles away.
Get ready for its arrival. When you are exhausted from searching, return home and put in a plate of feed and water for your missing cat. Perhaps something repels your kitty from coming to your house, but it is still walking nearby, afraid to go back. Thanks to the baby monitor, you can identify possible meows of the feline, and when you contact local TNR rescue, you can borrow a trap that will safely close your lost cat so that it does not run away again. Of course, another animal can be caught, and yet it is worth trying this method just in case. It can also be a simple cardboard box with a warm blanket inside.

Most common hiding places to find lost cats

Many cats love to hide from time to time, usually in warm and dark places. Thus, they protect themselves from predators or take a position in order to have a good view to chase prey. When the cat is tired or scared, it chooses more closed and quieter places that allow it to relax and rest completely. They choose the most unusual places as hiding places, including:

Inside cardboard boxes and shoeboxes
In the corners of the toilets
Under the beds
Behind the curtains
Inside the box spring of a bed
In the sink and in the bathroom
Behind warm appliances such as a dryer or refrigerator
Behind or under furniture
Inside empty grocery bags
Inside suitcases, backpacks, and briefcases
Under potted plants or under a tree
Under bushes or low trees in the yard
Below deck or porch
Inside household appliances such as a washing machine
Under or inside heaters
Inside recliners
Open drawers and cabinets
Rafters and high spots, like trees
Toolboxes belonging to workers in your home

Use this list to find a lost cat, and it will help you broaden your search. Do not forget to be vigilant while inspecting the following spots. Sit low under the porches, carefully examine the lines of roofs and tree branches, try to lure it out with your favorite toy, and so on.

Additional options during the search of the lost cat

If you see that there are no results, then it is worth asking for help. This applies to both help from people close to you and from paid organizations. The latter include:

Animal control service. This also applies to all kinds of organizations like local veterinarians, shelters, and animal rescue groups. The cat could get to them, and therefore it would be better to play it safe and call these services.
Publication of announcements. You can ask the newspaper for help and also check it daily for lost and found ads. Alternatively, you can call local radio stations and get on the air under the appropriately lost cats heading.
Printing. Flyers are an excellent way to grab attention when they are bright and stand out from the surrounding area. You can also print the missing cat poster, there is not much difference. The best places to put them would be shops, veterinary clinics, pet stores, telephone poles, and the like.

A great motivator for looking for the lost cat will be incentives in the form of monetary rewards. In addition to the cat’s photo, do not forget to include distinctive information (on what the cat responds to, scars, and so on) in your ads, posters, or flyers. Of course, they can be ripped off and thrown away, so it is best to remember the location of each of the missing cat’s announcements and be ready to restore the poster a few days later. Also, do not forget to use the outside help of people who most often pass near your house, such as the children of the neighbors, the newsboy, the postman, and so on. You do not have time to be shy, so feel free to go to your neighbors with the photo of your four-legged friend and ask them about your lost cat.

Use lost and found sites to find your missing cat

You need to be prepared that the search will take longer than we would like. Instead of panicking, it is better to take action, and one of these sensible ones would be the use of lost and found sites. If, for example, you choose Lostify, then you will get an easy and quick registration along with an intuitive interface so as not to spend a lot of time searching through the site.

The wide range of the search engine will allow you to look into hundreds of countries. In addition, using the site, you will be able to receive notifications about matches by mail without going to the site. The two main features that make Lostify a powerful search engine are:

Quick search. With a few keywords, the appropriate category of loss, geo-referencing, and last seen date, you can quickly filter queries. This will help you narrow your search and find the most suitable one.
Full-text ads. The search for lost pets on lost and found sites is successful only when concretization and informativeness are involved, instead of compressed and dry information. At Lostify, you can specify everything down to the smallest detail.

We really hope that we have answered your question “how to find a lost cat” and soon your pet will be at home. As soon as this happens, you can train the cat to the command “come” or attach a microchip to its collar, which will clearly indicate its current position. This will help prevent similar situations in the future. Keep hope and remember that there are countless stories of people who lost their cats for a long time, but once they found their animal again. Use our tips, and you will succeed.