WHAT TO DO IF YOU LOSE YOUR CAT



DO NOT GIVE UP TOO EARLY

Some people have found their lost cats months later and 100s of miles away.
A cat lost in Cornwall (while its owners were on holiday there) turned up six months later, and because posters were still around, was recognised and rehomed. Pipsqueak, a cat in Hereford, turned up 3 years later! Oliver was lost for eight years when his owners Diana Gerry moved house. Then eight years in 2001 later they saw a picture of him in the St Columb Cornish RSPCA and recognised him! He was in poor condition but seemed to have survived living rough - a true survivor.
Cats in particular may be stuck in a hole, and will re-emerge when thinned down. One cat survived 45 days under floorboards. A tabby survived three weeks trapped in a sewer pipe after workmen had poured a concrete floor in a new house. Midge spent four weeks trapped into a wall cavity. Bonkers got stuck under floorboards. So ask around any building work and LISTEN in case there's a noise.
Microchipping cats makes all the difference. Tommy kitten, who belonged Christine and Ian Hauton in Scunthorpe went missing for three years. He was discovered 200 yds up the road living under the name of Zac with Peter and Sheila Smith. He had turned up starving and they took him in. His identity came to light when his microchip was discovered and read.

Also take photographs and keep them - better than nothing and useful for posters. Petlog is the best UK service  www.petlog.org.uk Avoid chips that do not tie in with Petlog - check with Petlog before deciding.

Put notices with photo in all local vet surgeries for at least a 20 mile radius. Contact all local animal rescue organisations including the RSPCA and Cats Protection in a 50 mile radius. This is very important. If you don't do this, and your cat is handed in badly injured, say, from a road accident, the RSPCA may have it put down. This happened to a reader who caught up with their elderly and not very well lost cat after four days, only to discover the RSPCA had had it euthanased a few hours earlier. If the RSPCA had known it was missing, they would have kept it longer. Write a letter to all local papers, free sheets and magazines with a photo. Ring the newsdesk and tell them that your other cats/dogs are pining and refusing to eat - this gives the paper a chance to photograph the remaining animal and makes an animal story.
Leaflet houses in local streets.
Put ads in local newsagents.
Tell the milkman and the postman.
Ask local dog walkers if they saw anything.
Contact your breed society and rescue organisation.
Contact your pet insurance. Some give help with lost animals.
Rung your local radio station phone in to ask everybody to help.
Ask your local street cleaner if he has come across any corpses. Awful, but it is better to know.
Ask your local pub/shop if it has a noticeboard etc. Ditto the Community Centre, Church Hall, vicar etc.
Ring your local authority. Some have a department which takes details of cats found dead in the street.
Check local sheds, allotment buildings, barns, building sites (in case a cat is down among the floorboards or walled up by mistake), garages, attics, culverts, anywhere where a cat might get itself shut in.
Put details of your pet on relevant websites - see below
Put pictures on lamp posts offering a reward, not saying how much. Give your phone number, not your address, on strips of paper in a plastic envelope under the poster so that people can take one if they don't have a pen.
Be prepared for sickos who ring you up to say how they smashed your pet on the head etc. - they are disturbed. Never arrange to meet somebody who says they have your pet, without bringing somebody with you for safety.

HELPFUL ORGANISATIONS

PetSearch, free with 300 volunteers nationwide. Central records Michel Waterhouse: Ukpetsearch@freeuk.com | www.ukpetsearch.freeuk.com
Cats Protection - all branches have lost and found officers.Go to www.cats.org.uk for your local branch. 
Battesea Lost Dogs line 8am-8pm 0901 477 8477, 60p a minute. Checks with police and gives other local numbers. If your cat has gone missing in London ring this.
Voluntary website www.LostpetsUK.com

REWARDS
These can be helpful, if only because you can ring the local paper (having already got a story there) and get them to do a follow up story. But be prepared for all kinds of low life people to try to collect the money, without producing the right cat. It is probably a good idea to take somebody with you, if you are meeting somebody who says he has your cat. Better safe than sorry.