Lost Female Tabby Cat, Toronto PLS help!
 

My cat April went missing May 17 2010. She is a petite, slinky, gray/white/brown tabby that is 4 years old, very shy and hides when scared. Once comfortable she is very vocal, affectionate, playful and kind.

She was last seen sitting on the back of our couch "cooing" at the birds perched across our enclosed courtyard. She has NEVER ventured out on her own as any loud noise frightens her. We believe that she may have made her way outside via a 2nd floor window and to the street via an attached building.

If anyone has seen anything resembling this description in the downtown Toronto area (Queen/Richmond/Ontario street block) please let us know. We are lost without our girl!!

I have canvassed the area with fliers, been through the building next door, as well as my own, torn our loft apart, searched the streets during dawn/dusk and mid day and am at a loss.

Any help would be much appreciated! :fingerscr

As soon as you realize your cat is missing:

Go to the Humane Society or shelter in your area with a picture of your cat. Do not phone. You need to go there in person. Kitty may have been turned in or caught. Ask to see the sick room and the feral rooms. A cat who has been trapped/caught may "act" feral. Act quickly. These cats are the first to be euthanized. Usually within two to three days. Keep going back and asking about your cat. S/he may eventually end up there.

Make posters and plaster the area your cat would normally be in and the neighbourhoods around you. It is not necessary to offer an award on the poster. You can make that decision when your cat is returned. Post them in vets' offices, in malls, wherever you can.

Go to your neighbours and ask them to check under their decks, in their sheds, anywhere where a cat may hide out or have been curious about. An open shed door is a greeting card for a curious kitty. Check construction sites in your area. Your cat may have gotten trapped in a shed on site or a closed room which may not be opened for some time.

Put out kitty's favourite blanket, litter box, and food. You can also add an article of their favourite person's clothing recently worn. This may help call kitty home.

A can of sardines, tuna, or salmon may help lure out kitty.

Go out early in the morning (4 - 5 AM), and late at night (11 - 12) with a flashlight and a bag of kitty's favourite treats. Shine the flashlight into bushes, hedges, under places where kitty may be hiding. Call kitty's name repeatedly. It is quieter then and kitty may be more apt to come out of hiding. This has worked often to bring kitty home.

Buy or borrow a humane live trap. You can set it up on your porch, in your back yard, in a place where your cat has been spotted or would usually hang around. Bait it with the tuna, salmon or sardines. If kitty is a catnip hound you can even use catnip.

As much as this may hurt call whoever is responsible in your town/city for picking up road kill. In this area the organization is called Public Works. Ask them if they picked up any cats and the description.

Good luck finding April. If she is a shy kitty she may be hiding out very close to home petrified to move. Please look in any space you may think she can hide close by and then look in smaller ones. Cats can squeeze through very very small areas. :fingerscr

Thank you,

I plastered my neighborhood with fliers, talked to all the neighbors in our building, managed to talk the superintendent of the building next door (its a warehouse) into letting us scour the building, torn my loft apart and left a trail of kitty litter,treats, our other cats fur, my hair and a few socks from the laundry (gross but she knows my smell) leading back to her home.

I contacted the microchip place that her chip is for (all pets that come from the humane society are chipped now) to let them know she was missing and posted her info w/ a pic on all the "lost and found" cat sites. I'm praying that all of this draws her back!

I think she is very close to home and just too scared to come out. I'm praying that she returns safely and without any harm in the next few days...if not, I'm going to still keep searching. She's my baby and I don't know what I'll do without her!

Again, thank you! That helped <3

I hope April makes back home safe and sound :fingerscr
My thoughs and prayers are with you:pray::candle: