Lost Cat — What to Do When Your Cat Has Gone Missing

A frightened cat rarely runs off into the distance. More often it freezes and hides somewhere close by, literally a few metres from home. So instead of walking the whole neighbourhood, search the immediate surroundings thoroughly first.

Look under cars, in the basement, the garage, the stairwell, among bushes, on the shed roof and under the deck. Do it slowly and quietly. Call your cat the way you call them for food, and listen for a faint meow or a rustle.

The best times to search are after dark and at dawn, when it's quiet and there are few people around. Take a torch, its light makes the reflection of a cat's eyes easy to spot in a dark corner.

When the nearest hiding spots turn up nothing, widen the circle. Knock on your neighbours' doors and ask them to check their garages, sheds and cellars. A cat can slip through an open door and get shut in by accident for days.

Put their litter tray, bed or a jumper you've worn outside overnight. A familiar smell can draw a cat back to your door. Set out a bowl of food too, and check at first light whether anything has been circling it.

If your cat wears a QR & NFC ID tag for cats on the collar, remember that anyone who finds them can hold up a phone and call you straight away. That is often the quickest way home.

Call nearby shelters, vet practices and the local warden. Give the coat colour, size, any distinctive marks, and where your cat went missing. Leave your number and check back every day, since cats turn up there over several days.

Post a lost-cat notice online and put it up around the neighbourhood. Add a clear, recent photo, the place and date they vanished, and your phone number. Stick flyers on lampposts, bus stops, in shops and on notice boards in blocks of flats.

Add a report to the lost-pets wall too. It's a public place where people in your area look for and report found animals, so your notice reaches far more people than your neighbours alone.

Cats rarely wear an engraved tag, because they lose collars. A QR & NFC ID tag for cats clips onto a light, breakaway collar and links to your pet's whole profile, which the finder opens by scanning the code with a phone. They see the photo, the name, the note that the cat is lost, and with one tap they call or message you.

They don't install anything or set up an account. It works on any smartphone and needs no battery or signal in the tag itself. Once you mark your cat as lost from your account, everyone who finds them sees straight away that you're looking, and knows what to do.

The best time to prepare is a calm day, when your cat is asleep on the windowsill and nothing is wrong. Get a microchip and a registry entry, because a vet or shelter can read that. On top of that, put a breakaway collar with a tag on your cat that any passer-by can scan on the spot.

Set up a free BringMeHome account, fill in your cat's profile and have a QR & NFC ID tag for cats ready. When that worst day comes, all you do is mark your cat as lost and the rest takes care of itself. It also helps to know the lost-pets wall in advance, so you know exactly where to post a report if you ever need to.