Lost Athena!kitty tracker report
I didn't post this? Arrgh.
Here's the report from a little over two weeks ago --
Lost!Athena kitty tracker report:
Athena's not been cowering in the bushes. She knows her stuff and is a "very confident kitty." Tracker Sam Connelly was amused that Athena mostly sticks to the sidewalks. Kitty's found water, has hunted, has rolled around like she was getting petted, but the trail was cut off at a storm drain near where she was (apparently) being petted.
The picture Sam had was either that someone found Athena by the storm drain, petted her, picked her up and carried her off. Or else they tried to pick her up, and Athena jumped away and ran down the storm drain. So we put flyers everywhere. They're hanging off the trees like Christmas ornaments, man. We have food out by the storm drain. If someone eats it, then we'll put out the cat trap.
Things I learned:
- Most lost pets are found due to flyers.
- Rain does not wash away scent trails (take that, Nancy Drew).
- Cats often return to where you lost them.
- In addition to food, leave out something that smells of you, because they're looking for you.
- Something that smells of *kitty,* however, could draw ferals, who'll pee on it and possibly scare your cat away.
- Lifelong house cats will hide near where they were lost & not move; but indoor-outdoor cats are surprisingly competent, and will sometimes even gain weight.
- While declawed cats are defenseless (can't climb!) cats with claw caps can easily get those suckers off.
- People get attached to pets they find & make excuses ("this lost dog is skinny -- must've been abused!") to try to keep them, even when microchipped.
- If your cat has a microchip especially, never give up. They can come back to you at any time.
Here's the report from a little over two weeks ago --
Lost!Athena kitty tracker report:
Athena's not been cowering in the bushes. She knows her stuff and is a "very confident kitty." Tracker Sam Connelly was amused that Athena mostly sticks to the sidewalks. Kitty's found water, has hunted, has rolled around like she was getting petted, but the trail was cut off at a storm drain near where she was (apparently) being petted.
The picture Sam had was either that someone found Athena by the storm drain, petted her, picked her up and carried her off. Or else they tried to pick her up, and Athena jumped away and ran down the storm drain. So we put flyers everywhere. They're hanging off the trees like Christmas ornaments, man. We have food out by the storm drain. If someone eats it, then we'll put out the cat trap.
Things I learned:
- Most lost pets are found due to flyers.
- Rain does not wash away scent trails (take that, Nancy Drew).
- Cats often return to where you lost them.
- In addition to food, leave out something that smells of you, because they're looking for you.
- Something that smells of *kitty,* however, could draw ferals, who'll pee on it and possibly scare your cat away.
- Lifelong house cats will hide near where they were lost & not move; but indoor-outdoor cats are surprisingly competent, and will sometimes even gain weight.
- While declawed cats are defenseless (can't climb!) cats with claw caps can easily get those suckers off.
- People get attached to pets they find & make excuses ("this lost dog is skinny -- must've been abused!") to try to keep them, even when microchipped.
- If your cat has a microchip especially, never give up. They can come back to you at any time.