Welcome to PIF Tails Lost and Found SiteIf you find an injured cat, take them to your local veterinary practice or no-kill shelter straight away for emergency care.
Matters of ownership can be resolved after necessary health care has taken place.
Never feed cats that turn up in your house or garden, unless the cat's background is known. Feeding a cat the wrong food could ruin a planned diet or damage their health if the cat has a medical condition. Encouraging a cat to eat elsewhere may leave worried owners discussing why their cat isn't eating at home.
It is very difficult to tell if a new cat is a stray or owned.
This is particularly difficult in England where inside/outside cats are common.
The legal definition of a stray cat is a cat, which has no identification.
Cats can be identified by placing owner's details inside an ID barrel or owners detail's engraved on a tag attached to the cat's collar or a microchip.
As collars can be lost and barrels can unscrew losing the message, PIF Tails highly recommends that all cats be micro-chipped.
Take the new cat to your vets and have him scanned for a microchip.
If the cat has a chip, the owners can be located via the national database.
If you have concerns about the condition of the cat return him yourself and talk to his owners.
On a bad day, George's fur is greasy, his eyes have tract marks and he shakes his head.
But George is a well loved cat who has blocked eye ducts due to years of eye infections. His eyes are cleaned twice daily but he will always have tracts, we clean his fur with cleaning cloths to improve the look of his fur and he shakes his head for minutes after we clean his ears to ensure that he does not develop any ear problems.
Treacle is stick thin cat. His ribs can be counted and he looks half starved.
But Treacle is at a normal weight according to our vet. He is not mistreated, in fact he eats like a horse. It is his Bombay build, which is so very different from our other cats, which makes him look very thin.
Never assume that a cat deserves to be relocated, as it is easy to misinterpret a cat's problem, as needing help or being mistreated.
If you are unsure of a cat's status and the cat has no microchip, cut a narrow strip of the long side of A4 piece of paper. Write the following on the strip of paper, replacing Jane with your name and 0114 222 1111 with your telephone number or email address.
Am I a stray? Please contact Jane on 0114 222 1111 if you own this cat.
Lightly tape this strip in a loose loop around the new cats neck. The reason behind using paper is that if the cat is a true stray and no one removes the collar, it will drop off if it gets wet or after time. If the owners ring you, any problems with the cat can be discussed. If they are good cat owners suggest that they microchip their cat to prevent future problems. If you have concerns about their standard of cat care report them to your local RSCPA to deal with.
If no one rings you this doesn't prove anything, as the collar could have been lost before the cat went home. Either try another collar OR catch the new cat and house in your spare room for a few days whilst advertising that you have him with a found cat poster.
It is essential that all new cats are up to date with vaccines and have tested clear for Feline Aids and Leukaemia, before they are allowed to interact with other household cats. If you decided to take in a found cat to your home. It is essential that you restrict the found cat to a spare room, until they have received clear blood tests and a full course of vaccines.
Approach your neighbours and ask them to look at the new cat or a photo of the new cat. Neighbours can be a great source of knowledge; someone may know whom the cat belongs to or if new people have moved into the area recently with a cat.
Ring all local vets and cat shelters to register the found cat. Don't forget to ring them back if you find the owners of the cat, so their records will be up to date.
Always keep it brief and to the point and only give a general description of the found cat.
Make a found cat poster outlining the cat's details and where you found the cat. In USA, it is illegal to put anything in people's mailboxes except official mail but you could hand posters directly to your neighbours. In England, post the poster though all neighbours letterboxes. Ask permission to place your poster in local shop windows, vet offices and pet shops.
Laminate several posters, alternatively place your poster in an A4 plastic folder or print on thick card, so they won't be ruined in the rain. Tape these posters to telegraph poles and lamp posts in the area.
PIF Tails wanted to make the job of making a poster as quick and easy as possible, so we have created the point and click method of creating a found poster. This poster is mainly designed for found cats but we hope this poster will be useful for other pets. I wouldn't place a photo on the poster to prevent fraudulent ownership claims to the cat.
Choose the applicable fields and press the submit button
*Type in path to an internet based photo of your pet. If you leave this field blank, the poster will contain a space to glue a real photo. Keep this master copy and photocopy to create posters to give out.
**Enter Phone number OR email address OR Thread Name on the PIF Tails forum
*Enter either Phone number, Email address or Thread Name on the PIF Tails forum