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It’s very stressful when your cat goes missing – you worry that they may have been hit by a car, stolen, locked in someone’s shed or garage without food or water or simply forgotten how to get home.
Here are some suggestions on how to go about finding your cat:
Contact all your local vets and the SPCA with a good description of your cat. Send a photo if you can. It can also help to call the SPCA back regularly (even daily!) – just to remind them about your cat.
Put up posters with a photo of your cat at local shops. Posters with a colour photo will probably get the best results. Put flyers in all the letterboxes in the neighbourhood, or better still, go door-knocking. Ask everyone to check their sheds/garages/under-house storage areas.
During the evening go out and call your cat – it’s quieter at night so they are more likely to hear you calling. They may also be too scared to come out during the day.
List your pet on www.petsonthenet.co.nz and www.trademe.co.nz – and check through the listings of found pets. You may also try posting on the Pets and Animals messageboard on TradeMe – some lucky people have been reunited with their pets through the messageboard.
Ask the local schools to mention your cat in their newsletters – kids are often more observant than adults when it comes to animals.
Place an ad in the local newspaper – a scared or curious cat can cover quite a large distance.
Some people have even found their lost pets by putting a big sign up at the end of their driveway.
Check with your local council – some councils keep a record (or even photos) of cats which have been collected after being hit by a car (a horrible thought, but it’s possibly better than not knowing).
There are also some things you can do to give your cat the best chance of being returned if lost. The first is to ensure your cat is wearing a collar with your (correct) contact details on it. Make sure the collar is tight enough that your cat can’t fit his or her paw through it but not so tight that it will rub and cause discomfort. Specially designed collars with elastic in them can help reduce the risk of your cat being caught somewhere.
Additionally, cats can now be microchipped and your contact details can be stored in a database, making it possible for vets or the SPCA to contact you if someone brings your cat in. Please make sure you update the details on the database if you move house/change your cell phone etc. We have been able to reunite a number of cats with their owners thanks to their microchips.
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