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Lost Pets

by Dr. Dawn Bookmyer, DVM

My client was still rattled. “It happened so fast. I opened the door for just a second and Indy just flew out.”

Indiana, his unneutered 2-year-old tiger cat, sat on the exam table looking as unnerved as his owner. Indy’s overnight adventure had left him with several scratches, a slight limp and an extremely sleep deprived owner. Indy was lucky – he found his way home around dawn with only minor injuries.

Every day thousands of pets get lost and never come home. Although there is nothing pet owners can do to guarantee the safe return of their lost pet, there are steps you can take to increase the odds in your pet’s favor. The three most common forms of pet identification are:

A collar and ID tags. Both inexpensive and effective, tags should include the pet’s name and your name and phone number. Be sure the collar fits properly: you should be able to get two fingers between your pet’s neck and collar. I recommend breakaway collars, to avoid accidental strangulation. Because your pet may lose its collar, I urge pet owners to consider a back-up form of ID.
Tatoos. While tatoos offer the advantage of permanent identification, there are drawbacks. Tatoos can be difficult to read, especially on animals that have a lot of fur or very dark skin. Talk to your vet about whether a tatoo is a good form of ID for your pet.
Microchips. Another permanent form of ID, a microchip is about the size of a grain of rice, and is encoded with an assigned ID number. A veterinarian implants the microchip between the pet’s shoulder blades using a needle and syringe, similar to a vaccination. Microchips can be read using a scanner, which are used in most shelters. Ask your vet about this affordable and effective form of ID.

In spite of our best efforts, sometimes pets still get lost. To increase the odds of finding your pet, I recommend the following:

Flyers and posters. Use a recent photo of your pet, a thorough description, and date and place the animal was last seen. Offer a generous reward, if you can. Blanket the neighborhood with flyers, especially in heavily trafficked buildings such as libraries and grocery stores.
Call the animal control department, local shelters and veterinary clinics. Because most shelters are so overcrowded, animals are often euthanized within a few days their arrival. Be prepared to visit the shelters and pound at least every two days.

As always, I urge pet owners to have their animals neutered and vaccinated. Although there are no guarantees, neutering an animal can definitely curtail his urge to roam. Not only was Indiana unneutered, but because he was “strictly an indoor cat,” his owner had previously declined to have him vaccinated, leaving him vulnerable to feline leukemia, rabies and other infectious diseases.

Happily, Indy’s injuries were minor and his tests for infectious diseases came back negative. And although his owner hopes he has no more outdoor adventures, he decided to have Indy neutered, vaccinated and microchipped – just in case.