Missing/Lost Cat
If you recently adopted a cat from CC4C and it is missing, please call the CC4C member you adopted from immediately. CC4C can provide helpful advice, trapping assistance, and resources to help find your cat.
- Put out food, familiar bedding, and their soiled litter box! You want kitty to know this is home by familiar smells and providing them a source of food.
- If you have an indoor only cat then it is unfamiliar with the outside world, and probably is scared and hiding nearby. Many indoor only cats don’t go beyond the yard or their immediate house and can be found hiding under bushes, hedges, plants, against the house, or in some nearby hiding place.
- If your cat is microchipped, report your pet as “lost” to your microchip provider and verify the chip is registered with current contact information.
- Advertise – Immediately! Don’t wait for the finder to advertise your pet as found. Place “lost” posters with a photo of your pet in the vicinity where the pet was lost – markets, schools, etc. Note: It is against the law in most cities and counties to post on utility poles; however most people do it anyway. Don’t forget to remove the posters when your pet is found.
- Report your pet as “lost” to the local animal shelter (Martinez Shelter 925-335-8330) and provide them with a copy of the flyer and picture.
- Notify your neighbors
- Submit a “lost pet” notice on 24 Pet Connect
- Post local “alerts” and sign up for email alerts in your neighborhood
- Pawboost.com or use the PawBoost Mobile app
- Nextdoor.com or use the Nextdoor mobile app
- Advertise in the “lost pets” section of your local newspaper, it’s usually free. Check the “lost pets” section of your newspaper daily for your cat.
- Search Tips
- Look for kitty at night with a flashlight, kitty’s eyes will reflect off the flashlight really well. Check under bushes, decks, parked cars. If you located kitty, but can’t get kitty to come to you, put food nearby. Remember– you want to keep kitty in one place! Talk while walking around so kitty can hear your familiar voice. If kitty is food motivated, carry a can and tap a spoon against it saying “chow kitty kitty”. Talk to any late-night-walkers and notify them of your lost pet– they will sympathize and keep an eye-out for you. Carry flyers to distribute.
- Keep the window or door open that kitty escaped out of open! If you have other pets, make sure they are isolated and can’t go out this door/window. Oftentimes, kitty will find their way back to the door/window they went out of and, if it is open, they can come back in. Place food near the entrance. If it is a door, trail the food outside the door to inside the house. (Yes, this has worked!)
- If you have two cats and one escaped, put kitty in a carrier and place outside near your door at dusk for about an hour. Lost kitty may hear, smell, or call to your safe kitty and make it’s way back.
- If kitty is playful and has a favorite toy that makes noise, take this toy outside and start playing with it. This may lure your curious playful kitty back by its sound. (Yes, this has worked!)
- Learn more about the three types of lost or missing cat behavior on Missing Animal Response Network
- Learn more search tips at Cats in the Bag – General Pet Search Tips
- Check “lost pets” at the shelter or found by the public on 24 Pet Connect
- Check with local and emergency veterinarians (if microchipped, you can skip this). Injured pets may have been taken there. Leave your name and phone numbers with the vet in case the cat is brought there.
Found Cat
- Check the cat for a microchip through your local vet, or the shelter clinic. If unsure, CC4C can help scan the cat for a microchip. If the cat is chipped, the owner may be easily found (Microchip Registry Lookup). If the chip is unregistered, ask the microchip provider to “track-back” who purchased it and their contact information. Often times, the rescue group or shelter will have adoption records to track down the owner.
- Try to contact the owner by putting a break-away collar on the cat and wrapping a note around the collar with your name and phone number. Add “Please call me.” If the cat appears healthy and well-fed, it may have a home in your neighborhood and be an outside cat or roaming. If the cat is owned, you will likely get a call within a day or two when they notice a strange collar on their cat.
- Post flyers in the neighborhood where the cat was found.
- Notify the County Animal Shelter (see Martinez Animal Services, Found Cat page). You must notify and hold the cat for 30-days before you can rehome it.
- Submit a “Found Pet Notice” with 24 Pet Connect.
- Post the cat as “found” on Pawsboost, FidoAlert, Nextdoor.com, or other similar neighborhood websites.