If your pet does become lost, don’t delay. Take the following steps to help bring your companion animal safely home.

• Act fast! Don’t waste days hoping your pet will come home. The sooner you begin your search, the better the odds of finding him.
• Search your neighborhood or the area where your pet was lost and let people know your pet is missing.
• Call your pet’s name and check any places they could have become trapped, such as in basements or garages or under vehicles. A lost pet often will hide during the day, so be sure to go out again at night with a flashlight and call for them. Also, if it is cold or raining, most pets will try to find shelter and may not venture out for hours.
• Sometimes a can of food can lure a hungry and scared pet to you.
• Check with your local shelters every day. Don’t just call, also visit the shelters to search for your pet. Many animals are difficult to describe over the phone, and only you really know what your pet looks like.
• Social Media is a great resource for locating owners/pets. There are several Facebook pages for lost and found pets in the southern Indiana area where you can post your pet is lost and see if anyone has posted finding your pet. Kentuckiana Lost and Found Pets Network is another popular Facebook page to keep an eye on and post to.
• Use your pet’s photo to make lost pet signs. Put them up in your neighborhood and in post offices, libraries, pet supply stores, veterinary offices, and grocery stores. Inform your veterinarian and groomer that your pet is lost in case they receive a call.
• Place ads in local newspapers and offer a reward in case someone found your untagged pet and was thinking of keeping her.
• Watch the found ads. Respond to any that might be close to your pet’s description. A week of wandering the streets can make white pets look drab gray, and the ads description might not exactly fit.
• If your pet is microchipped, call the microchip company and report that your pet has gone missing and verify all of your contact details.
• Visit the websites of national locator services www.petfinder.com, www.pets911.com, and www.findingrover.com
• Remember that pets wearing ID tags increase their chances of finding their way back home.

For further information, please use this link https://www.pethub.com/. This link gives great details about the best lost and found posters, how to search, and great information about species specific behaviors when lost. In particular, the information available about indoor cats that get lost is extremely valuable! PLEASE take the time to check out this tool!