Cat Chat Feline Forum

I have posted elsewhere about Daisy who is lost in East Ewell.

Could I plead through your forum for ALL cat owners and rescues to take photos of cats from the front and both sides and beware of any unusual features. I try to find missing cats locally and a little foresight from cat owners aids the process.

I know that I am preaching to many on here who naturally takes lots of photos as a matter of course. If just 1 person thinks 'Oh I should do that' and others spread the word, the message will be getting out. People, especially non cat folk, largely in my experience, respond more positively when shown a photo.

It is absolutely invaluable when searching for missing cats. Some people have said 'I didn't think it is necessary as the cat is chipped'. Microchipping vastly improves the chances of a lost cat being re-united. The problem comes, as vets will tell you, when somebody phones them and says they have found a lost cat. The vets will ask 'Can you contain it in a room and bring it to the surgery in a basket / box to check if the cat is chipped? If they do fine, the system works but some people think 'Oh I can't / won't do that; I've done my bit. I don't have a basket or box. I might be scratched etc. etc.I thought the vet would come round'. That is where the system fails.

PHOTOS and full and proper descriptions of your cats are invaluable. Thanks guys

Nice to 'see' you Pete, glad you are still involved. Sadly some cats do end up in people's gardens that are happy to ring the local rescue,but not work with said charity to see if the cat can be reunited

Good advice, even those of us that avidly takes photos of our pets often only take them from the front. My tuxie has a dribble of white on one of his back legs, but trying to describe it is hard and I can never remember whether it is left of right side. A quick photo would leave nothing to doubt.

I will also add, in this age of digital photos, make sure any you take are saved in more than one place. I took loads of photos of our old Ragdoll but as most were kept on an old laptop I lost all but a handful when it died. Now I keep them not only on my PC but on Facebook, on my Google drive and on my One Drive, just to make sure it doesn't happen again.