The best piece of advice we can give you is to ask you to understand that your cat may behave very differently if he is lost and frightened and may not respond to voices he knows well.  You should treat the situation as if you are looking for a cat who doesn’t know you.  

Things you can do when your cat goes missing

Check with your neighbours. Make smaller flyers and post through every letterbox on your street and the surrounding area. Start at your house and move out in an ever increasing circle – cats don’t always travel along streets and what may seem a long way from your house may only be a short stroll for a cat across walls and gardens. Ask neighbours to check their sheds and garages. Ask if they can just leave the doors open for a while so that the cat has a chance to escape when it is quiet. 

Create posters. Include a picture if possible and put up in local shops, pubs, bus stops, vets surgeries, pet shops, libraries and supermarkets. Stick to all local lamp posts.  

Register the cat lost at any local vets and rescue centres who keep a lost and found database.  You can find local rescue centres here.

Inform the microchip company. If he is micro-chipped, inform the microchip company that he is missing.  Make sure that the microchip company have your current address, email address and phone numbers. 

Leave food out.  Once your cat is less scared they will be hungry and drawn to the smell of food. Although be aware other cats and wildlife may be eating the food.

Leave out familiar smells. Cats have a good sense of smell and the familiar scents of home can help them find their way back, especially if he or she is missing in an area he isn’t familiar with.. Leave unwashed items of clothing, the cats litter tray and bedding outside.

Prop open magnet controlled cat flaps. If your cat wears a collar with a magnet to enable her to open the cat flap, prop the cat flap open in case she has lost her collar and can’t get back in.  We would recommend a microchip cat flap rather than a magnet one.

Contact your local environmental services department.  Your local council may keep a log of all deceased animals picked up on the roadside. This is not a pleasant call to make and hopefully it will come back as negative, but at least it may help with uncertainty.  

Use Facebook. There are now many local Facebook groups advertising lost and found animals.  Alert your Facebook friends to your missing cat and ask them to alert their friends.  Networking is a powerful tool.

Stay positive.  Hopefully your little one has just got himself shut in a shed somewhere and will be home before you know it. Be sure to share the good news of your cats safe return to the people who you have told to look out for them.