Hi, my name is Moose.  Moose the cat.  I am here today to talk to you about something very important.  You see, I was a stray cat once, until two wonderful female humans decided to get involved, and they helped me find my way off the street.  I am so lucky to have met them.  And I am even luckier now, because I found a special person to adopt me.  That’s right!  I found my forever home.  I am telling this story so that other cats like me can get help.  Maybe some cats might have escaped or got lost.  These cats have a family waiting for them at home, and they don’t know how to get back home by themselves.  This story is meant to help reunite them with their loved ones.  This story is also meant to help cats that may have been abandoned and no longer have a place to call home.  These cats deserve a home, too, and I hope this story helps those cats like it helped me. 

Have you ever noticed a new cat hanging around near your house or in your neighborhood?  Maybe you go for walks every day, and suddenly one day, you start seeing a kitty that looks hungry.  Maybe he looks like he wants to greet you, but he is afraid.  You might be looking out your window in the morning while you are drinking your coffee, and you see a cat laying on your steps or on your grass.  He looks hungry and lost.  If the cat suddenly shows up at your door and appears healthy, well groomed, and well fed, chances are he may just be lost, and you can help him find his way back home.  If the cat appears sick or injured when you first see him, he probably needs to get to a veterinarian as soon as possible so that his health can be assessed.  He might have escaped his home, and he needs to be reunited with his family.  Or maybe he has been hanging around for a while, and when he first appeared, he seemed healthy.   But now his health seems to be waning.  He could have been trying to survive on the street by himself, and it was okay for a while, but he just can’t do it by himself any more, and he needs your help.  If you have ever experienced this, did you do anything?  If this does ever happen to you, do you even know what to do?  Do you want to get involved?  Here is what you can do.

If the cat is really friendly, and you think you can touch him without getting injured, you can try making a little collar from paper.  You could write something on it like your name and phone number, the street where you saw him, and a short note for someone to call the number if they are the cat’s owner or if they recognize the cat.  Fit the collar around the cat’s neck and secure it with some tape.  Wait a week and see if you get any calls.  If the cat keeps coming back to you and the collar is still on his neck after a week, chances are the cat may not have an owner.  While you are waiting out the week, you can ask around the neighborhood to see if anyone recognizes the cat.  You can put up posters and hand out flyers to people.  I hear that social media websites are a great place to post stories about missing and found cats.  Lots of people look there and share the information with their friends.  If you live in a condominium or apartment community, you can contact the management to let them know of the situation.  If you can pick up the cat, and you happen to have a kennel cab where you can put him, you can bring him to a veterinarian to have him scanned for a microchip thingy.  Finally, you should contact animal control and animal rescues and shelters to let them know about the cat so they can help you help the cat.

If someone does come forward claiming to be the cat’s owner, you should make sure it is the right person.  They should be able to provide you with a description, maybe a mark or characteristic that can identify the cat, and they should provide a photo so that you can make sure this is truly the cat’s owner.  In my case, I was a beautiful, big, fluffy cat when those two female humans I mentioned earlier started to notice me.  A couple of months went by, and I started looking thinner and unkempt.  Whenever they put food out for me, I gobbled it up.  I was so hungry!  They thought something might be wrong, and maybe I didn’t have a home.  They got involved.  They helped me with the help of The Cat Connection, and now I am adopted.  Please, get involved, help a cat!