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What to do if you lose your cat

How to Find Lost Cats – If you own a cat that lives indoors but also gets to roam around outdoors, sooner or later you may find yourself in the position of your cat going missing. We’ve all been there, standing at the door, making ‘enticing’ mewing noises to try & get the cat to return, wafting around the aromas of choice tuna chunks to see if that’ll help.

However, the chances are good (or bad) that your cat didn’t actually run away. Cats are extremely territorial (even neutered ones) & will defend their territory at all costs, and if driven out by another alpha cat that is stronger & more dominant, your cat will seek safety indoors (if allowed that option) before running off.

If we set aside the basic optimistic hope that the cat is just up to mischief somewhere nearby and will return in due course (which happily does happen regularly), the alternative is that it has been unwillingly removed from the area, injured, or killed.

To find your cat, you need to consider the possible reasons for his absence, many of them distressful. However, this is the time to set aside emotions and to rationally evaluate the possibilities, with an appropriate action for each. Here are several possible scenarios, to get you started:

By Human Intervention, which could be either –

• Picked up by Animal Control – Not all that likely.
• Picked up by another cat lover who thinks your cat is “lost” – A little more possible.
• “Rescued” by someone who thinks your cat is “abandoned,” “neglected,” or “stray” – Still more possible
• Abducted for gain by professional “catnappers” – Unlikely in Mallorca, so far, but coming more & more commonplace, unfortunately, in the U.K.
• Abducted by others for sick purposes (dog-baiting, ritual sacrifice) – Fortunately not all that likely in Mallorca, but until we have proper enforceable laws over here, regarding cruelty to animals, this does occur more than in other Europeans countries such as Britain, Sweden & Denmark.
• Trapped and “disposed of” by a cat-hating neighbour – Quite a possibility over here, especially if you live in a rural area.
• Accidental “abduction” (Cat hides in a vehicle which is driven out of the area) – Happens more often that you’d expect.

Injured or Killed

• By Road accident
• By a dog or another cat
• By wild animals

With these horrible but realistic thoughts in mind, you can plan your strategy for recovering your cat if he is still alive, or to bring closure if it is discovered he isn’t.

Time is of the essence, and you may need to perform some/all of the following actions:

1. Make up leaflets/flyers with a photo of the cat, offer a reward, distribute the flyers door-to-door in at least a half-mile radius, also post in store windows and on telephone poles
2. Take some of the flyers to Son Reus, in case your cat is taken there. Ask the staff to be on the lookout.
3. Call all the vets in your area, in the fortunate event that a “guardian angel” brought your cat in with injuries. Also ask if you can leave a flyer on display, at each vet.
4. Visit your local animal shelter, not just the Centro Canino. Leave a flyer and ask if a cat meeting the description has been brought in, alive or dead
5. Advertise in the EuroNews or Daily Bulletin. A small advert costs very little & you never know…. Try the Spanish dailies too.
6. Provide the Centro Canino with a photo/description of your cat – we have a page on our site specifically designed for lost/missing pets

If you can think of other good ideas for finding your cat, get pro-active & get on & do them. Email us & we’ll add them to this list. Basically though, if your cat goes missing it’s a matter of luck as to whether they’ll be found; but as with an awful lot of things which are down to luck, the harder you work, the luckier you may be. Work hard at finding your lost pet and your chances are better than if you just sit on the sofa, eating Pringles & feeling bad about everything.

Fortunately most lost cats are found safe & well. Or return of their own accord, after a period of hours/days or even weeks or months. Cats are cats!

The positive thing to keep in mind is that in over 70% of cases, lost cats do, one way or another, get reunited with their owners, so keep in a optimistic frame of mind and let’s hope fate is on your (& your cats’) side. Best of luck.