Best way to find owner of lost pet? Thank you all.

[Deleted]

ETA: I'm editing this upfront to post a GoFundMe link.  Poor kitty had a serious medical emergency and after a night at the 24 hour emergency clinic, had to be put down   .  gofundme.com/kxjypw

Here's the short story:

I started this thread earlier about an abandoned kitty we found Sunday afternoon and wanted to find out how to find his owners.  Then yesterday he suddenly needed medical treatment. The owners have not stepped forward even though we've posted on every pet-finding site we could.

Right now we're trying to raise funds for his emergency treatment, which we can't afford, nor can we turn our backs on this sweet little furry guy. He's not our cat, nor can we keep him due to my son's and my allergies. He's currently at the 24 hour emergency clinic and we have to pick him up tomorrow. (That plus dig ourselves out from under 24" inches of snow due to this blizzard we got hit with last night.)  Already we've paid out over $1400, and he's not out of the woods yet.   

6pm EST - Just got another update from the vet.  Kitty's bladder is filling up again and he's blocked.  They can try to put in another catheter, and if that doesn't work, they'll have to empty it with a needle again.  Our options at this point are more exploration/ultra sounds to see what might be blocking him, and go from there.  And they recommended a PU operation as well.  Or to put him down .  The cost of the operation thru their office is around $3500, maybe more.  We could have it done at another facility which isn't a 24 hour emergency facility for about half that.  But that would then mean another $600 to keep him over-night with the other procedures mentioned.  Can this get any worse?

9pm EST - I don't even know how to begin this. We had to make a difficult decision, and it's not what we wanted to do, but it was the only thing we could do. We had to put Felix down tonight . With his prognosis and no guarantees, plus another minimum of $2000+ in medical fees, we just could not swing it. It's a sad night in the all4saleny house tonight.  Our hearts are broken. In 48 hours we got pretty attached to this little guy. Seems stupid, huh? We all had a good cry, but had to say goodbye. 

The outpouring of support and understanding & the well wishes and donations by so many of you has touched our hearts. We are overwhelmed. Please know that we are grateful to each and everyone of you. I'm so sorry it had to come to this. I don't want to be overly dramatic - well any more than I might already be - but thank you all. 

(And just to add, I can't update the GoFundMe page with this news tonight since my daughter created it and she's gone to bed.  I will have her do it first thing in the morning.)

Read on for the unedited version.

Thanks so much!

*******************************************************************************************************************************

We have a furry new houseguest who won't tell us where he lives. When we ask, he just looks at us and meows. He has a collar and is very friendly. And affectionate. My kids are just loving this kitty. He was in our backyard earlier today when one of our outdoor kitties was about to start a rumble with him.  Luckily DH saw this and nipped it in the bud.  But the new kitty hung around and even went up to DH and rubbed against his leg. 

New kitty wanted to follow DH, but didn't want to step in the snow (we have a coating left in some areas).  So the kids got the cat carrier to try to coax him in.  He went in willingly.  Now he's in our 3 season room, where the kids set up a litter box (after a trip to Petco) and some bedding and food & water. And DH set up an electric heater.  He seams to like it out there, but keeps looking for human companionship.

So far we've looked on Craigs List for Lost Pets, but found nothing.  Dh even took the kids driving around the neighborhood to see if anyone posted any fliers.  Nothing. The kids are going to make FOUND CAT posters to put up in our local grocery stores (tomorrow - they would have done it today, but wanted to play with kitty instead).  We would put the posters up around the neighborhood, but with the pending storm, they'd just get ruined. Tomorrow we were going to stop by both the vet's offices in town and ask what they suggest.

Meanwhile, our two outdoor kitties are looking at us like we're traders! Unfortunately, we can't keep him if nothing turns up due to DS and my allergies. 

So, any ideas on how we can reunite this sweet little kitty with his family?

[Deleted]

I would wait until tomorrow and look again on CL and around the neighborhood. A lot of cats wander during the day and the owners don't realize they're missing until dinnertime when they don't show up.

By tomorrow they will probably be looking for it.

[Deleted]

We were checking Craigs List about every hour, and will continue again in the morning (it's almost midnight here and everyone else is in bed!).  We didn't know if there was some sort of national/local missing pet registry or something.  We did a search for that, but came up with a lot of fee-based services which didn't sound all that legit. 

With the pending blizzard almost upon us, at least this little furry guy will have some place warm and dry to hang out!

[val2525]

What's your zip code? My cat is chipped, I can go online on my account and see if any were reported lost in your area. If your visitor is chipped, he might have been reported lost that way.

[Deleted]

Thanks Val, we were wondering how that worked.  It's 11769

[val2525]

What color is he/she? All I see are two orange cats reported as lost, and I did a scan up to 25 mi from your zip code. One is all orange, 9 lbs, other is orange & white, 18 lbs.

[Deleted]

A gray.brown tabby

[val2525]

Ack! we cross posted. Just 2 orange guys missing where you are.

[Deleted]

Thanks so much Val for checking.  My daughter thinks this guy is a young cat, not a kitten, but a young adult. He's on the slim side, not skinny, but not chubby like our outdoor cats.  I'm guessing about 10 lbs. But definitely gray/brown tabby.

[val2525]

I wonder if someone moved and left him behind. It happens a lot.

[Deleted]

You can search for lost cats (and post found cats) on these sites:
www.lostmykitty.com
www.tabbytracker.com

[val2525]

www.lostmykitty.com/missing-pets.cfm

You might have a match. There's one in your zip.

[val2525]

Jan 26, 2015 5:22:23 GMT @ahrncitygal said:

You can search for lost cats (and post found cats) on these sites:
www.lostmykitty.com
www.tabbytracker.com

Handy info, thanks!

[Deleted]

I just listed our little houseguest there (on the first site), I'll get a picture tomorrow. Thanks ahrn! Val, I didn't see a lost cat in my zip code, I only saw my listing in found cats. Maybe I'm not doing something right??? Or was it on the second site?  I'm off to check that one now!

ETA - I just listed him on the TabbyTracker too! I'll keep you up to date.

[Deleted]

I'm careful about listing found animals because I'm afraid someone who uses them for dog fights or other bad things will claim them. 

Is there a way to post that you found a cat in your area and then have the potential owners describe the cat?  I'm sorry, just paranoid. 

[zoesam]

No time to read all the replies, so sorry if this is a dup, but I ask all the kids who hang in the hood, kids tend to know. Tho' I'm not sure how well that works with cats, since they sometimes live outside for days at a time.

[Deleted]

Take the cat to your vets office....or pretty much any vets office and ask them to scan kitteh for a chip. There should be no charge for this at all. Also keep in mind depending on age of cat there are two types of chips and some can not be read by the other type of scanner. Ya, they're trying to get it all in sync but ya never know. So not all chipped pets will read with certian scanners.

Not all people put ads up online. Our neighbors cat got out and all they did was signs around the neighborhood. This is fine if kitty stays in the area but it's possible this one traveled.

You can call your local humane society/shelter to see if anyone reported a missing cat. They should also be able to do the scan for a chip.


Call the local vets in your area to see if kitty was reported missing as well.

[Deleted]

A few years ago we had a beautiful adult corgi show up at our house. Male, jumped in my van when the kids opened the door to get out and scared everyone to death. Turned out to be a major sweetheart. Kept him a week or two while trying to locate an owner. We called all of the vet offices, checked the papers etc, never did find one. Couldn't keep him because he was unneutered and marked the walls. I took him in for a vet check and shots, got him groomed and then found a corgi rescue to take him.

My vet office told me they strongly advise against running ads in the paper or putting up flyers because there are too many bad people out there. If you do, keep it generic like dog found or cat found and make the owner ID the breed and something special about the animal, a special mark, the type and color of collar if it had one on etc.

Cat owners around here just let them run the town so it's no unusual for one to show up and hang around a day or two before going back home.

[deltas*delights]

If you are on facebook, you there are usually a few local lost pets/pets in need pages. I am an admin on a buy/sell page, and people always post on there, too.

Last week I found a shitzu (sp?) running down the center of the street. I stopped the car and opened my door and he jumped right in. I posted on the facebook page, but only put that I had found a dog on Avery street. I didn't include a pic though people usually do. I was afraid of the wrong person claiming him. I found his owner within a hour or so.

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. You'll never believe what we've been through in the last 10 hours with this kitty.  And yes, with all the registries we've been on, we kept the description generic with no photo.  TabbyTrackers even faxed a copy of the missing cat flyer to 15 local vet's offices and shelters, which I thought was great.

So my kids had mid-terms today, and I was off from work. Also, keep in mind that we're under a blizzard warning. So I'm dropping one kid off as I'm picking up the other kid at the high school.  It's snowing but not too bad.  I finally pick up my son, (my daughter was home by this point) and we're just about to pull into the driveway when my daughter calls my cell. She's crying.  Something's wrong with the cat.  When we get into the house, the kitty is meowing a lot, and looks contorted as he's trying to pee.  She said he's been like this for about an hour.  She said that he wouldn't sit in her lap like he had been and keeps going over to the litter box, but can't pee, and he's meowing a strange meow.

After a bit of back and forth with DH on the phone, DH tells me he called the vet and they will take kitty in right away.  When we get there, they scan him for a chip, but found none.  They told us that his bladder is enlarged and there's some sort of blockage.  The vet gave us the run down of what they were going to do.  He said that they usually keep the animal with this sort of problem for a day or two to monitor him/her, but because of the storm, they were closing at 3pm and no one would be there tomorrow.  We had to return in an hour to pick him up and take him home, or take him to the 24 hour clinic.

When we return to pick him up - DH had arrived home by then, so we were all at the vets - it wasn't good news.  They couldn't catheterize him because of the blockage, so they emptied his bladder with a needle.  His urine had a lot of blood in it, which meant further testing/problems.  By now my DD is crying, she is saying she'll pay for whatever he needs, yada yada yada.  We had already decided not to take him home, that we would take him to the clinic.  So at this vet alone, the bill was $700 (there were a lot of test and procedures done, enough to fill a half of a page).

So the clinic is 30 minutes away.  It's snowing hard by now.  We all pile into the car for the harrowing ride to the clinic.  After stopping at the wrong place (there was another vets office about 1/8 of a mile before the one we were supposed to go to), we finally arrive.  Beautiful place, kind people.  After about an hour there, we get the consultation.  Kitty was able to pass urine, which was a good thing, but is was full of blood and they detected other possible problems.  So they work up a high estimate and a low estimate.

The low estimate, which was for 24 hours of care/testing/boarding, was $1000.  The high estimate was $3200.  I almost passed out.  My daughter is now crying and I lost it and started crying too.  I explained that this was not our cat, that we found him yesterday, and we had just spent $700 at the first vet and now were faced with another $1000 to $3200 for a cat that was not ours and that we could not keep, but just couldn't turn away or let suffer.  And that whatever decision we made, we still wouldn't be able to pick him up tomorrow with the blizzard (all roads are closed after 11pm tonight until further notice due to the storm) and how much more would that cost for another day's stay?

This just sucks.  We don't have the money for this.  We asked what people do in a situation like this.  The girl said to wait a few minutes, that she would see what she could do.  The vet came back with a revised plan of action, to only perform the most necessary procedures and that they would just monitor kitty, and that depending on how he was doing, we could add on any of the other procedures at any point.  The new low estimate was for $732.  So what should we have done?  This really is a no win scenario.  So we paid the $732 (which they asked for up-front) and we're hoping for the best.  Both my kids are crying at this point.

So we're home now, after a dicey ride on the roads with cars spinning out all over the place.  And we're $1400 poorer for being good Samaritans.  This day really just sucked.  Should I start a Go-Fund-Me account? 

 

[Deleted]

Heck yeah start a go fund me account and even put a scan of the bills online with the personal info blacked out to show proof. People donate for stupid stuff like tickets etc. You are doing a good deed, you shouldn't feel bad asking for help.

Most would have had to put him down at the first vet.

[val2525]

Definitely go do a fundme page, and you can post it here on the board. We can pass it around for you. Chicagoluxe did that last year with a stray they rescued. Show proof its real and people won't mind helping.

[Deleted]

You have a big heart, that poor kitty might not have survived it it weren't for you and your family. Absolutely, start a gofundme page.

I totally understand the allergy thing. We have a cat that planted himself here and no one would claim him, I am allergic but have had cats before so I took him to the vet, put my name on the list for the no-kill shelter, etc. Well, its been 3 years and no one ever claimed him so he is mine. The shelter called nearly 14 months later and by that time I just couldn't do it (they probably know that). I keep the allergies at bay by not touching my face after petting him, always washing my hands, and extra vacuuming BUT it comes and goes. Lately, it hasn't bothered me at all, but last summer it did.

I really hope you find his owner.

[val2525]

Got the GoFundMe page up yet?

[blissfullymiserable]

I'd do a go fund me for that, hope kitty takes a turn for the better.

[val2525]

I'm curious, are any of the vets you took him to "cat" only vets? I was surprised at the price differences for services between serves-all vets and feline only vets. Every time I've taken my guy to a cats only vet, it's been a LOT less expensive. Not cheap, but less than a general vet. I think it might be because a cat only vet is more familiar with cat issues and diagnose/treat with less testing.

Hope kitty's feeling better in the morning. Sending out good vibes!

Also makes me wonder if original owner knew this and dumped the cat.

[Deleted]

Wow, all4sale! Talk about no good deed going unpunished. This just stinks! Not sure how my vet would've handled that, but I'd like to think he would give a huge break on the cost of treatment due to the fact that you're being a good samaritan and aren't even planning to keep the cat. I know they worked with you a bit on cost, but geeze. Actually, he probably would've agreed to just take the cat. We got two from our vet's office over the years as they always keep a few strays on hand for people to adopt.

I feel so badly for your family and for kitty, too, of course.

[Deleted]

I have no words of wisdom, but OUCH for the kitty AND your bank account. I'm sorry.

[Deleted]

Just got a call from the vets office, kitty is doing better. He's urinated every hour, less blood in the urine, he's purring and has eaten. So all-in-all, a very good update. The kids and I are going to put together a Go-Fund-Me page today, since we're snowed in. We're still dealing with blizzard conditions here, but at least we haven't lost power.  Blizzard warnings are up through tonight.  DH is outside snow-blowing the 150' driveway to try to keep ahead of the accumulation.  We have to pick up kitty tomorrow morning, providing he continues to improve.  Don't want to incur another days expense!

Val, the vet we took him to is not a cats only vet.  This is the vet that we took one of our feral cats to last year when she had the abscess on her face, so we were familiar with them.  I tried to get the price down and asked if they would give us a small discount for a cash payment, but they said that they couldn't.  Oh well, I tried.  

And I was thinking along the same lines of the owner possibly ditching the cat too. But wouldn't you remove his collar before you would do something like that?  Who knows, people can be strange. 

We did get one call from someone who saw our posting for a found cat.  The woman said this kitty was looking in her back door last Friday night, but she couldn't take him inside because he wasn't neutered.  She checked with her neighbors, but no one lost a cat.  She said he tried to make him comfortable outside, but he didn't stay around long.  She told DH that she thought maybe it belonged to the people with the house near the beginning of our street, but didn't mention why she thought that.  So we stopped by yesterday.  No one answered the door even though there were two cars in the driveway.  And there was a big sticker on the door with a silhouette of a ferocious dog saying something like 'I' (meaning the dog) can run to the gate in 3 seconds...can you?  DH said once he heard a few deep dog barks coming from inside the house, he didn't feel comfortable ringing the bell again.

Thanks everyone for your advice and well wishes.  I'll update again once we have the GoFundMe page up.

[Deleted]

Glad to hear kitty is doing better, I also wondered if the owners knew he was sick. Maybe they didn't dump him but have zero intentions of claiming him since they figure vet bills are involved.

We have farmers around here that have similar signs except it has a silhouette of a large bull on it. It's true too, those darn bulls are fast and mean LOL I've also seen some like No trespassing or Caution you might outrun the dog, you won't outrun the bullet. Makes people think twice at least. I've considered the bullet one myself