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jam_brand comments on Open Thread, Jul. 20 - Jul. 26, 2015 - Less Wrong
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One of our cats (really, my cat) escaped a few days ago after a cat carrier accident. In between working to find her and having emotional breakdowns, I find myself wanting to know what the actual odds of recovering her are. I can find statistics for "the percentage of pets at a shelter for whom original owners were found", but not "the percentage of lost pets that eventually make it back to their owners by any means." Can anyone do better? I don't like fighting unknown odds.
Additionally, if anyone has experienced advice for locating lost pets -- specifically an overly anxious indoor cat escaped outdoors -- it would be helpful. We have fliers up around the neighborhood, cat traps in the woods where we believe she's hiding, and trail cameras set up to try and confirm her location. Foot searches are difficult because of the heat and terrain (I came back with heat exhaustion the first day). I guess what I'm specifically looking for from LW is "here is something you should do that you're overlooking because bias X/trying to try/similar."
Here are some links I compiled on this topic recently when my cousin lost her cat. Best of luck!
TIPS
http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/recovery-tips/lost-cat-shelter-tip-sheet/ http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/recovery-tips/lost-cat-behavior/ http://www.catsinthebag.org/
(CONSULTING) DETECTIVES
http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/lost-pet-help/find-a-pet-detective/pet-detective-directory/ http://www.getmycat.com/pet-detective-database/ (not all consult via phone & email, but it seems many do, e.g. http://www.catprofiler.com/services.html)
eBOOKS
The following book apparently has an epilogue regarding finding missing pets: http://smile.amazon.com/Pet-Tracker-Amazing-Rachel-Detective-ebook/dp/B00UNPGD9Y/ (there's also an older, dead-tree edition called The Lost Pet Chronicles - Adventures of a K-9 Cop Turned Pet Detective)
http://smile.amazon.com/Three-Retrievers-Guide-Finding-Your/dp/1489577874/ http://www.sherlockbones.com/ http://www.lostcatfinder.com/lost_cat_finder/search_tips.html
FORUM: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MissingCatAssistance/info
Looks like we chased the same set of links....I have most of those open in tabs right now. Thank you, though. We're still searching. Supposedly, frightened indoor cats can spend 10-12 days in hiding before hunger drives them out. We're at day eight now. It feels about five times as long as that.
Did your cousin's cat make it home?
She did, yes. It took 9 days and predictably she lost some weight, but she's otherwise ok. Anyway, I hope you can report similarly good news yourself soon.
I hope so too. We're up to day 11 now. -_-
How did they get the cat back?
On the last night while searching at the end of the road she lives on, my cousin noticed some movement by a mostly empty lot and when she approached she saw Lily (the cat) run into some weeds there. I wish I could say there was "one weird trick" that definitely helped, but it was actually more like a flurry of facebooking -- as much for getting emotional support as for finding leads -- and being vigilant enough to be in a position to get lucky.