Family Reunited With Lost Senior Cat

The agony pet parents experience when their pet goes missing is unfortunately an all-too-common feeling for millions of pet parents nationwide. In fact, every year, 10 million pets go missing in the U.S. It can happen in an instant: they wander off, follow something that catches their attention, or run away scared in severe weather.

Scott and his wife occasionally let their two cats sunbathe when they were relatively supervised in the backyard. But one day, they noticed their 11-year-old cat Fallon was gone. After searching their neighborhood for days, they couldn’t find her: that’s when worry and panic set in. “My wife thought with Fallon being so little and only having one tooth, she wouldn’t make it very long out there not in the security of our house,” said Scott. “My wife was nine months pregnant. It was stress she didn’t need.”

Creating A Missing Cat Flyer

Scott knew he had to do something to find their senior cat. His mother-in-law had heard about and suggested using Petco Love Lost, a free, national resource that uses pet-facial recognition to help pet owners reunite with lost pets. Using information from Petco Love Lost as a guide, Scott created a flyer. “The flyer had some basics – a picture of Fallon, description, and a QR code for people to scan and go to the website for more information about her,” said Scott. “I added my phone number to the flyers and put them on mailboxes throughout my neighborhood.”

The call they had been waiting for finally came. Two neighbors called Scott after seeing the flyer and told him they saw Fallon at a roundabout not too far from Scott’s home. “I remember instead of going through the roundabout like I usually do, I’m going three or five miles per hour in it looking for Fallon. Lo and behold she was right there at this house at the corner next to that roundabout. A neighbor said Fallon stayed in her house that night and she fed her. I was happy she was ok, and had been taken care of while she was missing.”

One week after Fallon left home, Scott surprised his family with their beloved cat’s return.

How to Find A Missing Cat Online

Scott is grateful for the neighbors who helped his family reunite with Fallon, and for his mother-in-law’s suggestion of Petco Love Lost. “I would recommend Petco Love Lost to other owners when their pets are missing because they provide a lot of resources and they have that big database that helps find your pets,” he said. Unfortunately, it can happen to you, too. Use Petco Love Lost as your go-to resource should the unthinkable ever happen to a missing cat you own or find. Browse our database and informative articles for more information on what to do if you lose or find a pet.