LMC
04-10-2006, 11:41 AM
In case you haven't seen the thread, my cat, BG, has been missing for over a fortnight. One thing that I am finding enormously frustrating is the huge volume of advice - I REALLY appreciate that people want to help, but I live on my own, have no family locally, and my friends are all out of town. With commuting and working, I'm out of the house 6.30 am to 7.30 pm Monday to Friday. The point is: I am doing the best I can. Unfortunately, it isn't enough - and won't be until BG comes back. Which means I need to PRIORITISE. At the moment, that priority is spreading the word as fast and as far as I can.
Of course, different things work for different cats and different people and in different areas. But one thing that seems to be missing are any statistics on how most cats are found. Many come back of their own accord - who knows whether old socks, hoover sweepings or cat litter in the garden helped? If the cat came back, it doesn't matter! - it's all good.
I am trying to put together a table on FOUND cats only with the following information:
How long they were missing
Whether they were microchipped
How they were found - alive and well, or sadly not; method they were found (came back on own, someone phoned having seen a poster, etc)
If they came back of their own accord, what time of day they came back, if known.
If they didn't come back on their own, how far away from home were they found?
This information is limited - but that's because the more information you collect, the more difficult it is to see a pattern. The idea is to get an idea of what to try at *different stages* of a cat having been lost - of course you try everything, but you can't do it all at once, what should come first?
I have already collected loads of information - which is how I've worked out the best few questions to ask to maximise the benefit of this research. If there is a thread on your lost/found cat on here or any other forum, please feel free to post on here as well, but please let me know if there is another thread about your cat so I'm not duplicating information and can make the results as accurate as possible. I will, of course, post them here.
Sorry for the long post - but internet searches and queries don't appear to bring up anything specific - I have vague hearsay results from lots of vets and rescue organisations, but nothing concrete. The more cats I can "collect" in this survey, the more accurate the information will be. Thank you for reading, and thanks in advance for your help if you lost then found your cat and can help with these questions.
Of course, different things work for different cats and different people and in different areas. But one thing that seems to be missing are any statistics on how most cats are found. Many come back of their own accord - who knows whether old socks, hoover sweepings or cat litter in the garden helped? If the cat came back, it doesn't matter! - it's all good.
I am trying to put together a table on FOUND cats only with the following information:
How long they were missing
Whether they were microchipped
How they were found - alive and well, or sadly not; method they were found (came back on own, someone phoned having seen a poster, etc)
If they came back of their own accord, what time of day they came back, if known.
If they didn't come back on their own, how far away from home were they found?
This information is limited - but that's because the more information you collect, the more difficult it is to see a pattern. The idea is to get an idea of what to try at *different stages* of a cat having been lost - of course you try everything, but you can't do it all at once, what should come first?
I have already collected loads of information - which is how I've worked out the best few questions to ask to maximise the benefit of this research. If there is a thread on your lost/found cat on here or any other forum, please feel free to post on here as well, but please let me know if there is another thread about your cat so I'm not duplicating information and can make the results as accurate as possible. I will, of course, post them here.
Sorry for the long post - but internet searches and queries don't appear to bring up anything specific - I have vague hearsay results from lots of vets and rescue organisations, but nothing concrete. The more cats I can "collect" in this survey, the more accurate the information will be. Thank you for reading, and thanks in advance for your help if you lost then found your cat and can help with these questions.