How to Conduct an Effective Physical Search Outdoors for a Lost Indoor Cat

• Use a bright flashlight to thoroughly search all potential hiding spots within your own yard.
• Don't expect your cat to respond or come out of hiding, but it doesn't hurt to call softly.
• Be careful about searching in the woods as you may scare your cat farther way without ever seeing them.
• Re-check good hiding spots in your yard (and up to 150 feet) at least once a day for the first week.  Don't just search once!

You want to make sure that you do the most thorough search on your own property or the location your cat went missing (and up to a 150 foot radius).  Check under any porches, sheds, decks or garages.  These are favorite hiding spots of lost indoor cats, and the best ones are low to the ground with a small gap or hole.  

Make sure to get down on the ground and look thoroughly with a flashlight from all angles.  If there are spots that you can’t fully see such as under the stairs, you can use a digital camera or you phone to stick your hand inside and take photos or video.  A borescope (i.e. inspection camera) also works very well for these situations.  

Check inside any outbuildings that have been open since your cat went missing including sheds, garages or basements.  Check under and behind everything, and don’t forget to look up in any loft spaces.  If the outbuildings are closed, check for any possible gaps or holes that your cat could fit inside.  

Also check less obvious places like under tarps, grill covers, inside hot tub housing or the car engine of any cars parked in your garage or driveway.  A frightened cat can hide in some really small spaces.  As a rule, if you think your cat’s head could fit into a hiding space, then check it.

Undoubtedly, you won’t be able to check everywhere completely.  Some cats get into places where it is just not feasible such as dense brambles/thorn bushes, down sewers or culverts, inside holes among boulders, wood piles or even under ground.  Search as best you can, but I don’t generally recommend crawling through bushes or taking apart wood piles.  Unless your cat is in danger (e.g. dragging a leash or has serious medical issues), it is better to leave these hiding spots intact.  If you attempt to fully search them, you are at a greater risk of scaring your cat away.  If you know or suspect your cat is in one of these hard to access spots, there are other methods to try to draw them out and catch them.

Occasionally an escaped indoor cat will get stuck in a tree though this doesn’t happen very often.  The easiest way to check up in trees is to go out at dusk or nighttime with a powerful flashlight or spotlight.  Shine it up into the trees and watch for the reflective eye-shine of your cat.  You can also try just listening, especially at dawn or dusk.  There’s some chance your cat will meow, especially after at least 3 days.  However, also listen for the alarm calls of song birds or squirrels that are upset that your cat is in the tree.  Larger birds like crows will sometimes also harass a cat in a tree.

Re-check good hiding spots in your yard (and up to 150 feet).  Don’t just search once!  This is very important for lost indoor cats as they will often come out of hiding at night, travel closer to home, and then hide again.  At least once every day (morning is best) check any good hiding spots in your yard. 

Again, the most important potential hiding spots are under/in any sheds, decks, porches or garages.  Do this for at least the first week that your cat is missing.  Just because your cat wasn’t there the first or second time that you checked, doesn’t mean that they won’t be there now.  In at least half the on-site searches that I have conducted, I found the lost cat somewhere that the owner had already looked.

When searching garages, sheds or basements, consider closing any doors or windows open to the outside.  First search without moving anything, and then be careful about moving items.  If you suddenly expose your cat’s hiding spot, they are likely to run in fear (and possibly out an open door). 

Search Your Neighbors' Properties

• Get permission to search within your neighbor's yards.  This is really important!
• Don't just ask your neighbors to check for you.

Use your search map to determine properties within your search area.  In general, this is a 3-5 house radius from your home or location that your cat went missing.  See Determining the Search Area (above) for more details.

When checking other people’s yards, do so with the same thoroughness and techniques that you used to search your own yard (see above).  If you are unable to check inside any outbuildings or garages, call for your cat from outside and listen for at least a minute. 

Getting Permission to Search Your Neighbors' Properties

Many people will search within their own yards but are reluctant to ask permission to search their neighbors’ yards.  Searching your neighbors’ properties is really important!  You need to knock on your neighbors’ doors and try to get permission to do a thorough search of their property.  Don’t just ask them to look for themselves because they are unlikely to do a thorough enough job. 

Searching in the Woods or Dense Vegetation

Be careful about searching in the woods or dense vegetation.  You may scare your cat away rather than find them!  If your cat is a kitten, elderly, potentially sick or injured, or wearing a leash, you may want to conduct a thorough search of the woods.  However, in most other cases, you have a much greater chance of scaring your cat away, especially if you are bushwhacking through dense vegetation or walking on crunchy, dry leaves. 

Expanding Your Search Area and Night Searching

• Expand your search area up to 1/4 mile.
• Search around the neighborhood from the street using a powerful flashlight or spotlight.
• This type of searching is most effective at dawn, dusk or (best yet) the middle of the night.

If you don’t find your cat in your initial search, you may want to expand your search area up to ¼ mile.  Even if you can’t thoroughly search every yard, you can still do a good night search.  This search is best done at dawn, dusk or the middle of the night when your cat is most likely moving around.  Walk along the road and check under cars and in front yards with a powerful flashlight.  Be careful about accidentally shining it into people’s houses.  You want to avoid having them call the police on you.  

Make sure to quietly call for your cat and spend some time just standing and listening.  In my experience, even some skittish indoor cats have responded when this was done in the middle of the night.

Search Enough but Not Too Much!

• Don't search constantly, especially all night.  You may be scaring your cat!
• Be sure to give your cat some quiet time to return home on their own and/or enter a humane trap.

While searching is important, it is just as important to NOT search continuously.  Some people are out at all hours of the day and night looking for their cat.  This can actually scare your cat away from returning home or hiding someplace nearby.  Often the most critical time to stay inside is between 12am-4am when your cat is most likely moving around.  Occasional searching during this time can be helpful, but don’t do it every night or all night long.

Remember that Searching is About More than Just Looking

When searching for your missing cat, don’t just look for them.  You will conduct a much more effective search if you remember to use your other senses as well.

Most escaped indoor cats will not meow, but some will.  When searching be sure to spend some time just standing and listening.  If you move too quickly in your search, you may not give your cat time to respond.  It is easiest to hear your cat when it is really quiet outside. 

If you think that you hear something, you can increase your ability to hear by cupping your hands behind your ears.   This can also help you determine the direction that the sound is coming from.  Don’t forget to look up in trees, on roofs and even the attic. 

If you think you keep hearing your cat, but can’t figure out where it is coming from, you might consider purchasing an amplified listening device.  These are most effective if they are directional.  Don’t get tricked by the cat bird.  The call of this bird is somewhat like the “mew” of a cat. 

Use Your Sense of Smell

When checking potential hiding places, don’t forget to use your sense of smell.  If your cat is trapped or hiding for any length of time, they will eventually have to urinate and/or poop.  Cat pee has a very strong, pungent odor of ammonia.  If a shed or garage smells strongly of cat pee, be sure to do an extra thorough search for your cat.