How to find a cat, cat or kitten in an apartment and on the street?

Cats are masters of camouflage: they can sleep for days in a secluded place and not show themselves. Finding them during such a period is a big problem. Even adult individuals sometimes manage to get into such a position that they crawl into cracks where the owners do not even think to look. Let's figure out how to find a cat in a house, apartment, country house or yard.

Let's start with an illustrative story. Once in one of the Facebook groups dedicated to animals, a user posted the following post:

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A 4-month-old Maine Coon kitten disappeared from a friend’s apartment. They searched everything: closets, beds, drawers, even balconies, under balconies, the entrance, the roof... In general, everything! There is no cat! The cat, by the way, has an address. Something unusual that day: the children had guests, couriers from Ikea came, there were other strangers in the house. In fact, the cat is sociable, never hides from guests, and is friends with the family dog. Detective. How to look for a cat?

Under the post, users began posting tips on how to find a cat at home. Despite the fact that all these tips were applied, alas, nothing was known about the cat for several days. But let’s return to the question of how, if a cat is lost, how to find it, and the intriguing conclusion to the Maine Coon story will be at the end of the article.

How to find a cat or kitten in an apartment?

Cats may not come out of hiding for a long time. Sometimes it’s not one day, but three or five. One woman who has a large estate told how her cat was gone for several days, but at night someone ate the food. This was the only sign of an animal in the house.

But sometimes the hope that the cat will appear on its own sooner or later is not justified - and you have to look for it yourself. So, how to find a cat in an apartment?

Call

It’s rare, but there are cats that quickly and at the first call respond to a nickname and come running to the owner. Therefore, the first thing to do is simply call. This is the most banal answer to the question of how to find a cat in the house. But it rarely works, because... Most tailed people live by the principle “leave your message and they may call you back later.”

Lure with food

If the first action does not help, try to lure the cat, for example, by the sound of the refrigerator door, cutting meat, opening a can of wet food, etc. You yourself know what your pet reacts to. Most cats will not be able to resist the temptation.

Search

If the first two methods did not work, you will have to look. You must first look into the cat’s favorite places, and only then comb through every crevice. Possible places where a cat might be hiding are:

• fridge;
• washing machine;
• under the sofa, behind the sofa, inside the sofa;
• dirty laundry basket;
• cabinets;
• shelves (even at height);
• Kids toys;
• bags and suitcases;
• ventilation duct;
• under the bathtub and behind the bathtub;
• in shoes;
• in bags, including with food (one man’s kitten lived in a bag with food for 4 days);
• behind books on shelves and in bookcases;
• in the safe;
• in the garbage chute and trash can;
• between the pans.

Sometimes, even after looking at all the places, the owners of the cat do not find it, and then it appears from somewhere. But you don't need to rely on it too much. If you do not find a cat in the house (apartment), this means that you need to look outside it.

In the meantime, practice unmasking these cats.

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The cat came into the house: signs

If you are lucky enough to find a kitten, this is a good omen. There is no need to rush to get rid of it or try to give it to other people. Perhaps this creature will bring good luck to your home. That's why you shouldn't rush to place the animal in the wrong hands.

Newlyweds who find a stray cat will soon be expecting a new addition to the family.

A pregnant cat came to give birth in someone else's house, which means she considers this place favorable with good energy. We need to help her give birth, and leave the newborn kittens at home. She will reciprocate kindness by attracting good luck for her owners.

Important! We need to shelter a cat that ran into the house. The animal senses when help is needed. Will be able to remove negative energy and prevent trouble

It will be able to remove negative energy and prevent trouble.

If a cat has found its way to the house, you need to take it home. It is believed that the beast will bring good, will divert the witchcraft powers that evil people sent to the family. The arriving animal must be fed, and if it wants to leave, it must be released. There is a belief that cats that come to visit are deceased relatives. This is how they visit their loved ones.

Since ancient times, the cat in all countries was considered a mystical creature, so it was treated with respect. In Ancient Egypt this animal was revered as sacred. An offended animal could punish the offender by sending misfortunes and illnesses upon him.

The house has positive energy and good treatment of animals - only under such conditions will a cat live here. If an animal shits, damages furniture and bites for no reason, it means that it will try to leave this place.

You can ignore superstitions, but you should know the signs for your peace of mind and try not to violate them. All beliefs were collected over many years, based on observations of animals. Many of them can be useful and protect you from troubles.

How to find a cat on the street

Once it has become clear that there is no cat at home, the search area needs to be expanded. But start from the entrance, not the yard.

Inspect the entrance

It is likely that the cat ran out of the apartment into the entrance when the door opened. Walk around the floors calling your pet. If he is lost and scared, he will run out on his own. Don't forget to look in the nooks and crannies and in the garbage chute, both on the floors and at the very bottom: sometimes cats fall through the garbage chute and land on the ground floor in a mountain of garbage.

Take a walk under the windows

It is also possible to fall from a window if there are no special nets (not mosquito nets, but metal ones - especially for cats). Therefore, go downstairs and walk under the windows, look into the basements.

Anti-cat window bars will help protect your pet from falling

Many years ago, a cat that lived with me fell from the third floor, and then hid in the basement. When I went outside, the cat got out and started screaming. But some continue to be partisans, so you need to go inside and inspect the basement yourself.

In addition, cats that fall from a window are sometimes not seriously injured and can escape into neighboring yards. Therefore, go around the area and look into the basements of neighboring houses.

Post an ad

If everything has been done to find the cat, but without success, all that remains is to place an advertisement in your entrance and in the entrances of nearby houses that the pet is lost. Perhaps someone has already found it and taken it. Perhaps the cat fell from the window - and compassionate neighbors took him to the veterinary clinic (one of the readers of the MURKOTIKA website had the same story).

It is advisable, but not necessary, to attach a photo of the pet to the ad and promise a reward to the finder.

Shelters in Moscow and the Moscow region

*Unfortunately, all shelters are full. Please contact volunteers and shelter owners with offers of help or adoption of shelter animals.
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How to find a cat in the country?

Many people lose cats at their dacha. Finding an animal there is much more difficult than in an apartment. But anything is possible. First, you should inspect the buildings (house, house), if they are open, and only then look on the street: under bushes and in trees - first of all.

Also try to lure the cat to his favorite treat. But it is not a fact that he will come if he is not hungry.

In addition, if you don’t find a cat on your property, you will have to look in the neighboring ones. Often tailed animals make their way through or through a fence and end up on someone else's territory.

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Take precautions

Before we get to the issue of an outdoor cat, let's just introduce some preventative measures you can take before this happens.

Microchip your cat. Most veterinarians now offer microchipping. This is a safe and inexpensive way to protect your cat. The microchip has a disadvantage. Not all shelters or veterinarians have a portable scanning device that is universal for all chips. Your best bet is to find a chip that is used in your area. Your cat will be identified by the scanner ID code. Cat collars are easy to remove and ID tags can be removed. But the microchips, about the size and shape of a grain of rice, remain embedded under your cat's skin.

© shutterstock

Keep a photo of your cat handy. Don't just make it a cute face shot; Take a full body photo so that if necessary, you can identify the cat from this photo.

How to find a cat if it is stolen?

In some cases, cats don't just disappear - they are kidnapped. This can happen, for example, after a fall from a window or when an animal runs out into the street. To get the cat back, promise the finder a reward.

Post a notice everywhere you can that you are looking for a cat and write the reward amount. Thieves, as a rule, take away cats for selfish reasons, and therefore they will buy the bait. The sooner you come to your senses and place ads, the higher the likelihood that the cat has not yet been sold.

Why are cats so attracted to open windows?

Cats' instincts are well developed, but they work somewhat differently than those of humans. Moreover, it is the animals who become hostage to instincts in this situation.

No fear of heights

Cats are inquisitive creatures by nature, and their evolutionary lack of fear of heights prevents them from feeling danger. These animals are excellent at climbing trees, hunting birds. Therefore, nature made sure that hunting was as effective as possible, depriving cats of the fear of falling.

Life within four walls forces a cat to seek new experiences and sensations. The apartment is a completely explored space, there are no new smells or sounds, and most of the time nothing interesting happens. But there is always something interesting going on outside the window.

Lack of sunlight and fresh air

Not only people suffer from stuffiness and lack of light. Animals also need fresh air and ultraviolet light to stay healthy and vigorous. This need increases in domestic cats that constantly live in an apartment without the opportunity to roam freely.

End of story

The kitten from the story at the beginning of the article, as it turned out, was not in the apartment. He fell out of a 10th floor window, although the owners were sure that such a possibility was excluded. Still, they didn’t notice it, and there were no anti-cat screens on the windows.

The janitor, who was on the street at that time, saw everything and did not bother to find out what kind of cat he was and where his owners were. However, when the owners themselves began to torture him with questions, the janitor told how it all happened: the kitten flew down onto the net, jumped from it to the ground and disappeared in an unknown direction.

The kitten was lucky: he was not injured and found shelter in the basement of a neighboring yard. There he was found, dirty and emaciated, 4 days later. Now the cat is home again, and the owners decided to correct their mistake and installed anti-cat devices.

This story has a happy ending. We wish you never to get into such trouble. And if you’ve already been hit, then we hope your pet will be found safe and sound.

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Olga and Lilu

A cat always lands on all fours. But paws are just paws to carry the cat away. Lilu has been living with Olga for more than 2.5 years. The first floor, the open balcony, and the birds beckoning outside the window once played a cruel joke on both the cat and the owners. And if, as the saying goes, cats walk on their own, then Lilu, who was completely at home and had never seen the street, walked by herself along the balcony frame. The result is a fall and subsequent disappearance.

For five whole days, Lilu hid in the basement of her own house and did not respond to the call of her owners.

“Actually, she has fallen several times already,” Olga, Lilu’s owner, told us. “However, I always waited patiently under the tree by the balcony.” This time everything happened differently: they came to pick up the cat, but there was no trace of her. What to do? Search, of course! On weekends, several times a day they walked around their own and neighboring yards, calling him by name and the good old “kitty-kitty-kitty” method - there was no result.

Olga and her husband methodically searched for the cat for several days, mostly in the evening when they came home from work. We literally walked around every bush, but nowhere was there even a hint of Lilu’s presence. The Lost came herself five days later: she sat under the window, as if she knew that they should see her. And so it happened: Olga’s neighbor saw the cat in the window and immediately notified the owners. Olga’s husband, rushing towards the disappearance... missed Lila: the animal disappeared into the nearby basement.

“I took time off from work and rushed home. I armed myself with her favorite food in a bag and made my way into the basement, trying to feed her, but, apparently scared, she didn’t want to go into her hands at all. I didn't grab it on the first try. What’s curious: when I came to catch Lila, about eight yard cats came running to my call. Whether to feed or to respond to a call is unclear. So, maybe it was they who scared her so much and drove her into the basement? — Olga shares the story of catching a cat.

Five days of stress and searching are now behind us. Beautiful Lilu is at home - washed, fed, caressed.

How to protect your pet from falling

The fact that there are risks does not mean that you need to live in a tightly sealed apartment and deprive yourself of fresh air

It is enough to take precautions in advance:

Do not leave your cat unattended. For example, if you go out onto an unglazed balcony, make sure that the animal remains in the apartment. All cat owners know about the almost mystical ability of these creatures to “leak” into the most unexpected places without being noticed; Install a net on the windows, strong enough to support the weight of the animal; Let the cat go for a walk. It has been observed that free-ranging cats rarely fall out of windows.

Even if your pet can feel free only in the summer, during the summer season, this will completely allow him to gain the necessary experience for more careful behavior. If you don’t have a summer house, regular walks can also give the desired effect.

How long can it take for a missing cat to return?

Real-life cases show that lost cats can return home after several months or even years. According to statistics, up to 50% of lost owners find their pets healthy and unharmed.

65% of cases confirm the fact that cats return home from distant places (cottage, village or other places where the animal was early). Intensive searches, patience and perseverance increase the chances of finding the loss within a short time.

It's best to do your best and try to check all your options. The loss of a beloved pet is an unpleasant matter, but it can be resolved if you follow the recommendations presented.

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