Lost pet advice in Milford Connecticut 06460

Lost my cat or dog in Connecticut, What do I do to find them…..

This summer I had a lovely stay-vacation planned at a beach house on the waterfront in Milford, Connecticut. The beach communities here are quite beautiful retreats, and are often rented for short term vacation stays to local and international beach lovers.

Relishing the serene environment was unfortunately very short lived. I brought my cat with me to this beach house and being in an unfamiliar location completely rattled her feline psyche and she escaped out the back door of the house the first day of vacation.

The heartache I experienced has been intense and very distracting.  For the last 5 months and 3 weeks I have spent hundreds hours walking and calling for her in this neighborhood unfamiliar to her.  I never truly appreciated how much I loved my little furry buddy until the day she disappeared from my life.

In the first 3 weeks while we stayed at the beach house I walked the neighborhood at all odd hours of the day, calling her name, “Monchi-chi”, and shake her bag of treats vigorously.  I spoke to hundreds of neighbors, posted posters and passed out flyers.  I also called the 4 neighboring animal shelters and filed a missing kitty report. Although I called the shelters every 4 weeks or so, they did say this lost kitty report gets compared to animals brought in so owners could be possibly be reunited.

Milford Animal Control

Stratford Animal Control

Trumbull Animal Control

Bridgeport Animal Control

After 3 weeks, we left the waterfront home sad faced and sans kitty. The next few weeks I spent hours every day posting her photo and description to every lost kitty website I could find, craigs list and lost animal groups on facebook.  While doing this I also checked all these sites for newly found animals obsessively for my girl.

This is a list Connecticut lost pet facebook groups;

Stratford Animal Rescue

CT  Lost & Found Animal Page

Connecticut - Lost and Found Pets

Connecticut Animal Amber Alert

News 12 Connecticut’s Pet Talk

Packleader Pettrackers

Lost pet websites in Connecticut;

Connecticut Cats Lost and Found

Missing Critters

Tabby Tracker 

Missing Pet 911

This list is not to list your lost pet here, but to search animals brought to shelters;

Petfinder

Connecticut Humane Society

About 3 months later I had nearly lost all hope. Mentally, I mourned the loss of my little friend but something in the back of my mind did not want to give up.   In my mind and heart I felt my girl was out there roaming and needed me to find her.  A nice woman at Stratford animal shelter suggested I run a classified ad in the papers.  I had marketed my missing cat all over the internet, but neglected the newspapers. This was partly due to the fact that any real estate classifieds Ive placed these past years have not garnered the slightest attention.

            After running this lost kitty ad I got dozens of phone calls. Many ironically enough from other lost kitty owners who seek to give or get some emotional support from each other.  In the 6 weeks I had the classified running, 3 people positively identified seeing my cat roaming around.   I spent many days walking around the neighborhood with a renewed vigor looking and calling her name, even though 4 months had passed since she got lost.

 One day someone messaged me in the comments of my missing kitty poster, which was in one of the facebook groups for missing pets.  They suggested calling rescue dogs to find my girl.  So I called Heather and Jaime from Packleader Pettrackers.  They came out one balmy fall day and their gorgeous puppies Dexter and Trigger sniffed my kitty’s hairbrush and carry-all, and one of them gave me a kiss on the face and they set off instantly on her scent(which was 3 months old then) showing us where she traversed. 

I really wanted this blog to celebrate finding her through love and persistence….. but 5 months and 1 week later I am still searching everyday for my cat.  Im hoping this post may have a far greater reach than all the other mediums, and could help reunite me with my favorite little buddy.   

            Losing a furry loved friend can be a very destabilizing event.  I learned one piece of extremely information from Heather and Jaime, from Pettrackers, that months of research on the internet did not easily provide.  When you lose your pet, either dog or cat, calling them by their name is probably one of the most futile activities you could possibly do in getting them back.

            When a pet gets lost, their bodies and minds are in a state of high anxiety.  Im guessing something like the biological fight or flight reaction.  Jaime and Heather educated me that even if my cat hears me calling, I am merely a noise to her, and she perceives all noise in this heightened state of anxiety as Danger to her survival! 

            These last 7 weeks Ive set up 2 hava-a-heart animal traps near where her scent was strongest.  So far Ive caught 2 squirrels, 8 raccoons, 11 opossums, and 28 wrong kitty’s.  But I remain hopeful, as nothing is achieved without intense effort and persistence.  

If you lost your pet cat or dog keep these important things in mind in your search;

1.  Don’t walk around hollering your pets name, this will only serve to alarm them. 

2. Call several neighboring shelters, to file a missing pet report.

3. Place classified ads in local papers, there are numerous animal lovers who frequent the section.

4. List your pet for free on craigs list, local patch, local CT news , and missing pet web pages,

And don’t forget to keep your eye on animals brought to shelters and are put up for adoption

5. Place posters 18” x 24” Neon cardboard, and put the poster in a plastic sleeve to protect it from rain.

6. Hire rescue dogs, Packleader Pettrackers, to follow your lost pets scent and pin point they area they are roaming.

7. Hava-heart humane animal traps are the most successful in catching lost kitties. They are about $50 and sometimes you can temporarily borrow one from your local animal shelter (thanks Milford CT Animal Shelter!).

Follow safe trapping guidelines.

You can buy traps here or here. 

8. Persist, Don’t give up on your furry friend after a few days or weeks. One of my best friends in Paris told me he found his lost kitty after 4 months of being lost.

If you have seen my lost girl, or have other helpful knowledge or experiences to share please feel free to get in touch! If you live in the Ft. Trumbull beach area of Milford Connecticut, My cat has been spotted on noble ave, willow st, and east broadway.  I would love to hear from you.

Lost my cat or dog in Connecticut, What do I do to find them…..

Lost pet advice in Milford Connecticut 06460