26 Stories Of Owners Finding Missing Cats Years After They Disappeared

Bored Panda reached out to Kim Freeman, a lost cat search and rescue specialist who runs Lost Cat Finder agency. Kim said that as a professional lost cat finder, she suspects the numbers for cats gone missing are under-reported.

“Not only do cat owners rarely report the incident (if the cat is not chipped), many owners simply assume the worst and do not perform a valid search,” she explained.

The cat finder also said that cats are way harder to find than dogs. “Dogs run out in the open where people see them and worry, while cats hide, and even if seen, no one thinks twice about a cat out and about.”

“Complicating matters ever further,” Kim continued, “when people do notice a new cat, they usually assume the cat is either dumped, abandoned, or stray (as opposed to the very likely category of lost).”

Even though the estimates of lost dogs and cats are quite hard to pin down, the ASPCA made an effort back in 2012 to conduct a first-of-its-kind survey of 1,015 households on missing pets.

The vice president of shelter research and development for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Dr. Emily Weiss, said there were several surprises from the study. “I think we have made an assumption about the stray pets in shelters—assuming that those animals are lost pets with owners that are actively seeking them.”

However, the findings revealed a different kind of picture. “While some of those dogs and cats are in fact lost, many of them are likely to be dogs and cats that are truly homeless.”

Dr. Weiss urges pet owners to microchip their furry companions and add identification tags with easy-to-read information. “We suggest that the tag should have the cell phone number of the pet parent, the cell number of an emergency contact, the land line of the pet parent, and, if the person is comfortable doing so, the street address of their home,” she says.

If your pet has gone missing, have a clear picture of it ready to give to the officials, and make sure you search all the surrounding neighborhoods and animal shelters. These days, when social media is so active, it’s always a good idea to launch your search there.