When an indoor cat escapes from the home, it is as devasting compared to the disappearance of a cat accustomed to life outdoors.
If your cat has gone missing, act quickly and try to locate them. Traditional methods such as posters are vital to capture a wider audience because not everyone has digital technologies. Getting your missing cat in print is another recommendation. Poppy’s Pets has an East Yorkshire newspaper column with an additional column for lost pets. The newspaper is free and delivered to homes in the Holderness area and readily available in shops, tearooms and Council offices for locals and tourists visiting the seaside town of Withernsea. My column includes pets lost nationally, so consider newspapers further afield, especially as pets can be stolen, found and given a home, or have stowed away in vans or cars. Maple, a dog, is one example of a stolen pet who turned up 100 miles away.
Pedigrees can be sold, so scan selling sites regularly. Below is a selection of websites to consider.
The NextDoor app can be downloaded from Google Play for Andriod mobiles or the Apple iPhone store. The app covers your area locally, so upload your cat’s profile and images.
Free online selling sites to be aware of:
- Preloved – buying an animal
- Preloved – rehoming your pet
- UK Pets
- Pets4Home
- Petify UK
- Rescue Pets UK
- Free Pet Ads
- Facebook Marketplace
- Gumtree
- Like Pets
- Pets Home app
- NextDoor
- FreeAds
It is a common misconception that cats always find their way back home, but from experience, cats can get lost like any other animal and may end up in unexpected places. A cat can become disorientated, especially an indoor cat, and lose their way. My cat Joey lived in a woodland area a minute from home and walked close to our house to visit a garden for food at the same time every night.
Felines are curious and often snoop in sheds and other outbuildings, quickly hiding if it hears a noise, so it is essential to check outdoor buildings before locking up for the night. It’s a good idea to take precautions to prevent cats from getting locked inside buildings or getting lost – for example, cat-proofing the garden, a catio or attaching the TabCat to its collar (recommended by Your Cat in March 2023). TabCat will detect your cat trapped in a shed.
What to do if your cat goes missing:
- Cats find hiding places in the home and never appear until ready!
- Update your microchip database online account to ‘missing’ and activate the lost pet service
- Check your cat’s insurance – are you covered for advertising?
- Add your cat’s profile to Animal Search UK – alerts will be sent to local members
- Display posters outdoors and with your vet, rescue centres, other animals services
- Put posters through letterboxes on your street and surrounding (ask people to check their sheds)
- Walkabout after sunset and night (with others) as cats are more active at night
- Download the NextDoor app and upload a poster to the lost pet category
- Start a Facebook page and keep posting and sharing
1 – Magic – Escaped from home, Keyingham, East Yorkshire – 31.01.23
Magic is a large, male Sphynx cat. He is hairless with blue eyes and neutered. On 31st January 2023, he escaped from home and was last seen on Albermarle Road and Station Road in Keyingham, East Yorkshire, HU12. His owner moved to the area shortly before, so Magic is unfamiliar with his surroundings.
Please check sheds, garages, CCTV and any Ring footage, and if you feed strays in your garden, please watch out for Magic – cats tend to be more active after sunset and appear simultaneously for food. If you’ve given Magic a loving home believing him to be abandoned, please call his owner. One possible sighting is along the grass verge from Keyingham to Camerton.
His microchip was never transferred to his new owner, and unfortunately, Tracie does not have a copy of the microchip number, only that it is registered with PetTrac.
If you have any information about Magic, please call Tracie on 07508 170666.
Magic cannot be bred because he is neutered. However, if an unscrupulous person found Magic, he may have been sold online. PDSA value a Sphynx at £550, but over a 15-year lifetime can cost you nearly £17,000 as the owner. Constantly monitor free online selling sites are monitored regularly.
Traits of a Sphynx cat to be aware of when missing:
- Curious – all cats are curious and may find themselves shut in a shed or garage
- Energetic – without food and water, energy levels will decrease, but a cat will hunt and drink rainwater
- Vocal conversation – they have a raspy voice, so be aware of a different tone of vocalisation locally
- Following you – this may apply to owners only, but if feeding a Sphynx in your garden, you might find it will follow you indoors
- Likes to perch up high – when searching, look up on shed roofs, trees etc, not just ground level
- Loves to climb and jump
Magic is hairless and, like other breeds, sceptical to the cold, which can lead to hypothermia. It is with the hope that Magic has found a home and that person is unaware he is missing or publicized on social media. It is also with hope posters are seen and Tracie and Magic are reunited.
The National Pet Register has 19 Sphynx cats registered missing between 2017 and 2022. And 7 found cats between 2017 to 2020.
Related articles:
- Tuks Laws – stopping vets from putting healthy pets to sleep and making sure they check the rightful owner of a microchip
- TabCat using radio frequency technology to detect a cat trapped in a sheds, or anywhere
- Government-approved microchip companies & FREE services
- DogLost has reunited over 90,000 dogs – you can create a cat profile now
- Lost & found cats and dogs that appeared in my newspaper column
- Kitten farming is as popular as puppy farming
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Poppy’s Pets has a column in the Withernsea District & Community News
