Dear Gabby,
Two nights ago, our six-month-old cat “Mittens” ran out into the night after a squirrel, and we haven’t seen him since. We called the humane society and they suggested we go up and down our street, calling his name. We’ve been trying this, but it isn’t working and we feel a bit silly. Do you have any suggestions?
Seeking Mittens
Dear Seeking Mittens,
I faced a similar problem a year ago, when our youngest cat ran away. Here’s how my family and I dealt with it. We printed out 500 flyers and slipped them under the doors or into the mailboxes of each house in our immediate neighborhood. It helps to divvy up the responsibility, print off maps, and designate areas for one another, (if you have the luxury of a multi-man search party that is), and then mark off the areas of your map at the end of each day. This can be very time consuming, but you should wind up getting a number of phone calls, and I’d say your chances of finding you cat are actually very good. Also, try stapling a flyer to a post on each block.
Make sure you give a very good description, and leave both your address and phone number on the flyer. And a colored photo would be nice, if you have one. We got a few false alarms from people in our neighborhood, and in one case a family actually kidnapped one of our neighbor’s cats, who was also very relieved to see us, and scampered home.
About nine days later, I got a phone call from an elderly couple that noticed a stray cat hunting and eating birds at their feeder. That was our boy.
Many people I’ve spoken to have similar stories. Those who take the time to search often find their lost cat. The ones who don’t, often don’t. Domestic cats tend not to wander too far from home, and it is likely that he is staying within a half kilometer radius of you.
Best of luck, friend!
