When your cat leaves home for longer than he should, especially if he is used to roam around outside the house, you cannot help yourself but wonder if something has frightened him or if he is having trouble finding his way home.
Being able to recognise a lost cat is quite easy and, if that is the case, it is everybody’s duty to look for his owners and help them bring their cat back home.
A cat’s owner knows very well how hard it is to not be overprotective about his/her four-legged friend. However, the problem with missing cats is that they may not even be able to recognize their real owners. Therefore, when looking for your missing cat, it is important to be fully aware that he may be frightened of you, but only because he is out of his comfort zone.
How many times have you seen missing cats posters posted in a rush by allarmed owners, who just want to find their cat, without fully knowing how to handle it? Finding a missing cat is a difficult task which requires both calm and management skills. That being said, do not beat yourself up! There are many tools which allow you to track your cat’s location, even when you are far away from home.
When looking for a missing cat, it is important to keep in mind his everyday behavior and start looking for him in the places he usually likes to hang around. If he is not there, it is necessary to report his missing to the vet. If your cat is microchipped, you should check all the animal shelters around your area. If none of them can help you, keep on contacting them, even after a while, as your pet may have been taken there later.
From the moment you welcome a cat in your home, maybe when he is still a sweet little kitten, you are fully aware that the joy he will bring you will make up for any struggle you might find yourself facing with him in your life.
This and the many other reasons why you love him should encourage you to get well-informed about such worst-case scenarios as a missing cat case.
Why do cats leave home?
When it comes to behavior, every cat tends to have his own unique personality. For example, some cats are quite and spend most of their time taking naps in their favourite corners in the house. If your pet falls in this category and you have not seen him in and around the house for a while, you should ask yourself when was the last time you saw him asking for cuddles.
Just like humans, cats tend to stick to their habits. Therefore, if your pet is not home at a time when he usually is, it could be a sign that you should start looking for him.
When a cat gets lost, his first instinct is to hide in silence. Experts who study the behavior of animals when they get lost are well aware of this phenomena.
Cats who find themselves in a dangerous situation or in an unknown setting look for a familiar place – such as a car, a closet or a bush – where they can hide and seek protection until they feel safe. Their tendency to hide in silence is one of the primary reasons why most cat owners fail to find their pets. In fact, people tend to opt for a long-range search by checking their neighbourhoods and animal shelters.
That is why you should not underestimate the importance of a preventive, thorough investigation within a radius of 5 km from the last place where your cat has been spotted.
If your cat is adventurous, curious and unpredictable in his behavior, it is difficult to foresee how he will behave in an unfamiliar setting. Generally, when cats find themselves away from home, they look for traces with which they have marked their territory. The smell of pheromones and their own urine creates a sort of track on the path which usually help them get around. However, there are also many cats that can travel for miles and miles before finding their way home.
Being able to identify a missing cat is important to help him find his owners. Dilated pupils, barred eyes and a crouching position are the main signs of a cat going through a psychological trauma.
What may scare your cat?
What may have scared your cat to the point to make him run away from home?
Every cat is unique in his behavior, so bear in mind that the reaction of a scared cat to an unfamiliar setting may not respect the patterns of other cats.
However, it is still useful to know that missing cats tend to be shy and introverted. Pets who respond to fear with retreat tend to hide or escape in remote and isolated places.
When they get lost, aggressive cats tend to blow or scratch anyone who tries to approach them. On the other hand, scared cats tend to react in a totally different way: if they cannot assess the extent of the threat, they may freeze and remain completely still in one place until they are sure that their surroundings are safe again.
By now you may have already realized that you don’t have to expect from your cat the same generalised behavior of other cats. However, it is useful to be aware of the factors that may trigger fear in cats:
- Dogs: the best thing to do is to accustom your cat from an early age to dogs’ barking. This will make him perceive the sound without fear. Letting your cat share some moments of play with a dog at a young age will do the trick. However, sometimes nature is stronger than nurture, and cats, to safeguard themselves, may tend to preserve a small amount of fear for animals who appear threatening or who are perceived as different, especially in size;
- New Environment: if you are moving out and have noticed that your cat is not completely comfortable with his new environment, you don’t have to worry. It will take him only a few days to start exploring the new location. Meanwhile, do not leave him out alone since he may get lost in an unfamiliar setting;
- Noise and Insect Bites: these two factors act as a sudden event for pets, which causes loss and fear in their minds. As a consequence, your cat may be react by fleeing and hiding.
How to calm down a scared cat?
As you have seen, there are many factors which may have scared your cat and caused him a traumatic experience – and they may also go unnoticed even by an over-attentive owner. Once you have found your cat’s hiding spot, here are some useful tips on how to help your pet to overcome his fear and trust you:
- Nonverbals: by blinking you will let your cat know that he can trust you. Soothe your cat by lying on the floor next to him: if you get down to his level, he will stop seeing you as a threat. However, avoid staring him straight in the eyes and holding out your open hand since he may perceive it as defiance;
- Food: approaching him with some crunchy food may reassure him;
- Distract Him with a Game: trying to interact with your cat in a playful way, with a toy stick on the ground – not in the air – may decrease the tension;
- Do not Force Him: let him approach and don’t force him to leave his safe spot. Once the bond is restablished and the peace is restored, he will come to you on his own free will.
Now that you have regained his trust, you can safely place him in a large cage with water and food. As you head back home, use a blanket to avoid scaring your pet too much during the trip and let him relax a little bit more.
A GPS cat collar can solve all your problems!
If the progress of modern technology allows you to constantly have your smartphone at your fingertips, why not take full advantage of it and use it to track your cat?
The GPS cat collar is the perfect answer for that! This innovative device is equipped with transmitters that allow you to locate your cat directly on a map on your smartphone.
But how does a GPS Cat Collar work?
Thanks to its transmitters, a GPS tracker receives data directly from a satellite. In this way it can detect the position of a person, an animal or an object anywhere on the planet.
If you want to buy a GPS collar, you can choose among different purchase options: besides purchasing it directly, you can decide to subscribe and pay a small monthly fee for it.
Once you have purchased the device, you just have to download the free app from your smartphone store to start viewing your cat’s location.
Our Kippy GPS Cat Collars are available in any shape and size.
We offer high quality, a wide choice of colors and a wide range of smart and ultralight accessories suitable even for the most demanding cat. Our aim is to provide a faithful ally for both you and your pet.
Thanks to its robust and shockproof coating, which also allows it to withstand the cat’s movements during his daily activity, the Kippy collar is also totally water resistant.
The GPS of Kippy collars works perfectly even with weak or missing signal. It keeps on detecting the position of your cat with the help of nearby cellphone towers.
In short, from now on, losing sight of your cat will be impossible thanks to Kippy!