If Your Cat Goes Missing - Take Immediate Action


  • Do not give up too soon. Do not assume your cat was taken by a predator. Cats often hide in silence as a protective measure. This is known as the “silence factor”. Your cat may not come out or respond to you calling him or shaking a container of food.
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  • Search every possible place a cat could get into - in and under sheds, garages, and porches; in brush and log piles, in pools, drain pipes, cars, etc. Search your property and the houses and/or buildings in your neighborhood. Ask permission from neighbors for YOU to search their property.
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  • Create 11 x 17 large posters and have laminated at Staples. If you can’t do that, make 8 1/2 x 11 flyers to hang and to hand out. Put the ones you are going to hang into plastic protectors with the open end on the bottom to keep rain out. Staple the posters to poles. Use Duct Tape to secure them to metal poles.
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  • Alert your neighbors. Put a poster on your front door and at the end of your driveway.
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  • Post your flyer on your Facebook page and on Facebook groups that are set up for people to report missing and found pets. Ask people to share the flyer and post it on other pages.
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  • Call Animal Control in your town and surrounding areas. Get their email addresses and email them your flyer or drop it off in person.
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  • Contact local vet clinics and vet emergency clinics.
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  • If your cat is microchipped, contact the company to report your cat as missing.
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  • Handout flyers in the area and give to businesses to post. Do not put in or on mailboxes! It's illegal to do so.
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  • Put really smelly food outside near point of exit. If you have a camera, point at the food so you can see who eats it.
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  • ​Do NOT put the litter box outside. This dangerous myth is perpetuated all over the place. People constantly recommend putting the litter box outside. The truth is the litter box attracts predators. Cats bury their waste for a reason. Never put the litter box outside to recover your lost cat.  A lost cat is seeking safety, food, and water not its own dirty litter.
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  • Walk around outside gently shaking a container of treats.  
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  • Check areas using a flashlight.​
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  • Don’t give up too soon. A lost cat can hide for days, weeks and months.
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  • Contact an experienced trapper like myself.

Recovery Tips - Comprehensive

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