Looking For Your Lost Cat

Looking for your cat at the shelter:

• All lost or stray cats from Carpinteria, the city of Santa Barbara, to Gaviota and including the San Marcos Pass communities come to the Santa Barbara County Animal Services. If tame, they are transferred to the ASAP cat shelter, located on the same grounds.

• All new cats are housed in the cages facing the parking lot unless they needed immediate medical care.

• If you are coming during open hours of the shelter, come inside where you will be assisted by an ASAP volunteer. The volunteer will help you look throughout the shelter.

• A check of Sickbay and Medical Hold will be done by the volunteer, in case your cat came in sick or injured.

• You will be shown any cat that matches your description.

   
  

If your cat is not at the shelter:

• Fill out a report in the Lost Cats book.

• Bring a picture of your cat for our Lost Cat bulletin board, or email a small one to: asapcats@yahoo.com.

• Check the Found Cats section of the book to see if someone has found a cat that matches yours.

• Come back every few days to check the shelter in case your cat is brought in. Remember, strays are only held for three full business days before being put up for adoption. Volunteers will do their best to match your cat. But often your description and ours don’t match.

• Click here to check the current Lost Cats list on our website. Check this list each week for a possible match.

• Ask at the Animal Services desk if a cat meeting your description is being held in the room for feral cats.

• Ask at the Animal Services desk to check the D.O.A. list.

• When you find your cat, please call us so that we can update our records. 683-3368.

 

Other Ways to Look for Your Lost Cat:

If your cat is not at the shelter, don't give up -- there are other ways to increase your chances of being reunited!

• Cats generally don't venture far from home. Continue to search close to the house, especially at dawn or dusk. A shy cat will feel safer coming out of hiding at these times.

• Post your signs everywhere (except on trees, that's illegal), making them large and easy to read.

• Knock on neighbors' doors, with a photo in hand, to ask if they have seen your cat.

• Check the Lost & Found classifieds in the local paper.

• Run your own ad in the Lost & Found classified section of the paper.

• Check for "Found" signs in your neighborhood.

• It is possible a finder took your pet directly to a veterinarian. Send or fax copies of your poster to local vets. Don't forget the emergency pet hospital: CARE, 899-2273, which is open 24 hours.

• Post a free notice in the Santa Barbara lost and found section of Craig's List (http://santabarbara.craigslist.org/laf/)

 

Your pet may still be in the house, so be sure to check the following:
Closets	Cupboards
Under platform beds	Behind the books in a bookcase
Behind unopened drawers in a dresser	In the chimney
In heating ducts	Behind water heaters
Behind access panels	Behind the refrigerator
Behind the stove	Behind washers/dryers
In reclining chairs -- inside the ledge that supports the footrest when it is extended	In the boxspring or mattress -- look with a flashlight for torn lining
Wrapped in the bottom of the drapes	Check for open or broken screens
Places to check outside the home:
Inside pipes	Inside basement crawl spaces
Inside garages	Under decks
Look in heavy brush
Other Things To Check:
Have any neighbors moved recently? The cat could be locked in a moving van.
Could your cat have gotten into someone's car or a delivery truck and gone across town?
Could the cat be locked inside the garage or house of a neighbor who has gone out of town?
Is there any home construction in the area?
Are there any new cats in your neighborhood who might have chased the cat off somewhere?

For more ideas on finding your lost cat, check the following web sites:

• Pet Rescue
• Cats in the Bag
• Lost Cat Behaviour
• Vet Centric