Here are some tips on finding your lost cat:
MAKE SURE YOUR CAT IS NOT BURIED UNDER A HOUSE THAT WAS FILLED
UNDERNEATH WITH MUD (ALSO AFTER PLUMBING WORK DONE AND FILLED BACK IN)
Need to check at the shelters every 3 days to make sure
you see all the cats that arrive in stray hold. Look inside the
feral boxes as sometimes cats are hiding inside and are hard
to see or can look magnified through the plastic.
Also reminder to leave out food and water outside for your
cat.
Put flyers at houses several blocks around. We have heard
of cats found from flyers many blocks away and some were
found after missing for over a month. Put flyers tucked in
door frames (not mailboxes) or attached to doorknobs.
FYI, for adding to tips there is a service that will call your
neighbors to let them know that a pet in the area is missing.
https://www.findtoto.com/ This is the phone-calling website. It
calls itself the "Amber Alert" for lost pets. So that would reach the
trappers too that are trapping cats and sending to the shelters and
dumping cats off in other areas! I’ve heard of 3 cases recently of
cats found in other parishes, apparently dumped.
• Check all area shelters, LA/SPCA in Algiers and at both Jefferson Parish shelters (East
Jefferson and Marrero), Also check at ARNO (no kill shelter) at 271 Plauche St. Harahan and
other Parish shelters on attached list. People will sometimes trap cats because they don’t want
cats roaming in the neighborhood and send or take them to shelter or to other shelters in other
parishes or just find an animal and bring to a shelter convenient for them to drop off. There are
many cats at the shelters that have been trapped by neighbors and taken to the shelter and
turned in as strays or found and brought to the shelter thinking the owner will be found. Some
people looking for their lost cats have gone to the shelter and seen many friendly pet cats there
that were turned in as strays, as well as trapped feral cats and scared cats that may have been
pets or neighborhood cats.
•
Besides filing lost reports at the shelters, go in person and keep going back to check for new
arrivals. Feral as well as shy or scared cats will hide in the feral boxes inside the cages, so
don't pass up one of the boxes that might have your cat inside. Ask to see all the cats at the
shelter, not just the friendlies.
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Ask your neighbors to check in their garages and sheds for your cat. Cats can
go inside and get closed in. Look for someone in your immediate area that might have
just cut their grass. If cats are scared, they sometimes won't make a sound, so no one
will know they are shut in there.
•
Give copies of flyers with photo of the cat to all your neighbors. Put flyers at all houses on
your block, block behind, and surrounding blocks. You can attach to doorknobs. Ask
neighbors, delivery people, workman, gardeners, if they have seen your cat. Post flyers at
local vets, all pet stores, bulletin boards, etc.
•
Put something outside that has your scent on it, like a T-shirt or blanket. Also put something
your kitty sits on so it has his scent, or put out his litter box if there is place to put it. This will
help him recognize his way home.
•
If your house or your neighbor's house is raised, and if your cat is scared, he is probably
hiding underneath it. Set out strong-scented canned food like tuna or sardines and spend
some time in the yard or outside your place calling him and he may come out of hiding.
•
If there are abandoned houses or construction in your area, make sure to check and ask
workers at the construction sites.
·
Ask people with pets that go outside cats or who feed outside cats if they can check for your
cat if showing up at their locations.
·
Sometimes cats are found in other neighborhoods and could have got in the back of a truck
or something and got let out. Or could have been dumped off somewhere vy someone who
doesn’t want cats in their neighborhood.
•
You can try setting a humane trap. Make a trail by drizzling the juice from the canned food
from under the houses to the humane trap; set the trap on top of a cardboard, and cover the
trap with a towel with your scent on it. Let me know if you need to borrow a trap, send e-mail
to dcmcats@yahoo.com and kathybsweeney@yahoo.com
1. Cats that are scared will probably stay hidden for about a week before moving.
You should also try walking your neighborhood at night when it is quieter and
spend time outside your house in the evening and call him.
Here is a proven method:
Hello,
I received an e-mail regarding the lost cat and know the heartbreak of losing a cat so I
decided to share with you my proven successful method of getting my cat back (or at
least learning what happened to them).
Over the years, I've had many cats and this method has worked 6 times that I've lost a
cat. It's time intensive but it has always gotten the right result.
I make 8.5" x 11" flyers of the cat (color if possible) but black & white can work.
Include as many details as you can of course but here's the kicker.....
LEAVE A FLYER ON EVERY HOUSE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
It's illegal to put them in their mail boxes so I usually tuck a corner of the flyer under the
door mat so it doesn't blow away, or you could use rubber bands, roll up the flyer and
attach it to the doorknob with a rubber band. Or even scotch tape it on the door or
somewhere it won't harm the paint, etc.
WHEN I DO THIS I HIT AS MANY HOUSES AS I CAN EACH DAY INCLUDING
THE BLOCKS PARALLEL TO MINE, INTERSECTING TO MINE, ETC. UNTIL I
FIND THE CAT. THIS HAS SOMETIMES TAKEN ME A FEW WEEKS BUT IT
HAS ALWAYS WORKED FOR ME (probably 6 times in the past 15 years)
Of course I also checked the LA/SPCA and Jefferson Parish shelters once a week and put
a Lost ad on Craig’s List (post in both pets and lost/found section) and call to place a free
ad in the Times Picayune.
GOOD LUCK!