1. Search the area.
Search inside your home & around your property. Check in closets, under furniture, in sheds, window wells, pools, etc. Do not rely on your cat making noise in order to locate. Indoor cats who have escaped outside tend to be fearful and look for quiet or dark places to hide.
A scared or shy cat will likely emerge from a hiding place after dark or in the early hours of the morning when the area has quieted down. During these hours of the day walk around the area with a flashlight and a few cans of smelly cat food. Stand out in the open and pop the cans or shake a treat jar, whichever is familiar to your cat. If the cat does not appear or vocalize call out for the cat in a calm voice.
2. Contact your neighbors & post online.
After you have searched your home, time is your most valuable asset. To report your pet missing, click HERE
We’ll post your pet as missing on our website and Facebook account to start spreading the word for you! When a cat has gone missing from home, the cat will generally stay within a 4-6 house radius. Notify your neighbors that your pet is missing, ask them to help you look around their property and provide them with your contact information. You an also spread the word by posting a photo of your pet on Nextdoor or on Facebook community/lost pet groups such as Lost/Found Cats Minnesota, Lost Cats of Wisconsin. You can also send out a free lost pet alert to your community utilizing Pawboost. Be sure to include the location the cat was last seen and your contact information.
3. Report your pet as lost
Complete the Report a Lost Animal form on the Companion Animal Control website, once submitted the lost pet will be automatically posted on our website under the Lost Animals page. Also call your local County Sheriff Department Non-Emergency number to file a lost pet report, the dispatcher will collect your information and notify you if an animal is found matching the description of yours—however everyone describes animals differently so do not rely solely on the lost pet report to match up with a found animals. Call dispatch to check records of found animals and check the Animals In Our Care page daily to see if you animal has already been found/impounded by Companion Animal Control.
Anoka Co., MN 763-427-1212
Ramsey Co., MN 651-767-0640
Washington Co, MN 651-439-9381
St. Croix Co., WI 715-386-4701
Pierce Co., WI 715-273-5051
4. Help your pet smell their way home.
Cats have a stronger sense of smell than humans. Place a blanket, cat bed or a used clothing item such as a sweatshirt outside near your home along with your pet’s food and water dish. Place the litterbox outside and sprinkle some cat litter in the yard to spread out familiar sent for your cat. If your cat returns home overnight, these items will reassure him/her to stay in the area. If you have a trail camera, set it up so you can see if your cat returns back home overnight. If you have a garage leave your garage cracked open approximately 1ft, when you quietly walk out into the garage in the morning close it immediately and then look around for your cat. If you need to rent a live trap, contact us.
5. Contact the microchip company.
If your cat is microchipped, contact your microchip company to report your lost cat and to make sure your contact information is correct. If you don’t have the phone number for the chip company, contact your vet or the shelter that implanted it. To look up any microchip company, visit Pet Microchip Lookup
6. Hang posters around the area your pet went missing.
Hang posters and flyers at intersections around the neighborhood, post them at eye level for a driver of a vehicle. Be sure to maintain the flyers through inclement weather & take them down once you’ve found your cat.
7. Check local animal shelters
Companion Animal Control lists impound partners on our page, however members of the public may not know to contact us and might instead bring a found animal to a local animal shelter. Be sure to check these sites daily as state required stray holds in are not long, in MN animals are held for 5 days and in WI standard stay holds are 4 days. After these holding periods the impound facility or shelter owns an animal, so many shelters remove photos of animals from the website.
Animal Humane Society (Woodbury, Golden Valley, Coon Rapids, St. Paul)
River Bluff Humane Society (Redwing, MN)
Northwoods Humane Society (Wyoming, MN)
How to find