Found a cat?
Each month we receive over 1500 telephone calls at this Branch, a lot which are queries re stray cats. We have come up with a do and don’t list which we hope will help determine whether the cat is TRULY a stray. Cat’s are not particularly loyal to their owners BUT there are several things you can do to determine whether the animal doesn’t have a home or has just wandered that little bit to far or simply likes you!
DO’S
ADVERTISE We cannot stress the importance of this enough. The Nottingham Evening Post will advertise any FOUND cat free of charge and you can also telephone BBC Radio Nottingham who will put an ad on air. Contact local vets, local animal shelters and also put bright coloured posters in several local shops. The more area you cover the better. Cat’s that are not neutered can have a 6 mile circumference territory from their home
VISIT www.rspca.org.uk click on advice centre then stray cats. There you will be able to download printer friendly ‘found’ posters and found cat paper collars which will help in your quest to see if the cat is owned.
CONTACT ALL your local animal centres/vets ASAP. Most keep a record of missing animals and will happily take details of the cat you have found.
RECORD of all the steps you have taken so you can prove what you have done to reunite cat with owner.
DON’TS
FEED the cat. As hard as this may seem, please don’t because if you feed a cat it WILL stay with you. Make sure there is water available but do not be tempted to feed the cat whilst you advertise and try and locate it’s owner. Some cats are real ‘6 dinner Sid’s’ meaning they will go from house after house looking for more food.
ENCOURAGE If you make a fuss of the cat you will encourage it to stay. Just as with feeding, some cats will have several houses they call at for company when their owners are out/at work. Prepare yourself for what can seem a very difficult task as we know how hard it is to ignore a persistent feline.
ASSUME that because you haven’t seen the cat before that it is a stray/abandoned or isn’t known locally. It may belong to a family new to the area, just been acquired to a new home or simply hasn’t been your way before.
REMOVE the cat from the area you found it. By taking the animal in or giving it away you may be removing someone’s pet.
IF THE CAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT IS OBVIOUSLY INJURED/ IN A POOR CONDITION
PLEASE TELEPHONE THE RSPCA 24HR LINE ON 0300 1234 999 FOR ADVICE.
Also, we politely ask you to please be patient. If it impossible to take in every animal we are contacted about immediately. We ask that you do the above for the benefit of the animal as through our many years of experience, we have found that cats DO just wander and quite commonly live nearby.
Cats routinely go from one street to another. And as impossible as it may seem, we know of 2 different cats who made the journeys from Watnall to Stapleford, and from Attenborough to Hyson Green much to our, their owners and finders amazement.
The cat’s involved couldn’t see what all the fuss was about!
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