How did you & Polly come to be together POLLY IS A RESCUE CAT WE ADOPTED 14 YEARS AGO
How you discovered Polly was missing? POLLY USUALLY RETURNS HOME AT NIGHT WHEN CALLED TO BE FED DINNER AND BE KEPT IN AT NIGHT TO SLEEP. SHE DID NOT TURN UP, I WAITED A FEW DAYS AS SHE HAS GONE MISSING EARLIER THIS YEAR AND RETURNED BUT I WOULD ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO LOST MISSING EARLIER
What were your first thoughts? I USED LOST PET FINDERS EARLIER THIS YEAR SO THOUGHT OF IT AGAIN AS USEFUL AS ADVICE GIVEN BY THE SITE EARLIER THIS YEAR HAD BEEN TO DO A LEAFLET DROP TO NEIGHBOURS WHICH RESULTED IN A LADY CALLING ME TO SAY SHE HAD POLLY. UNFORTUNATELY SHE HAD BEEN FEEDING HER WHICH IS WHY POLLY HAD STOPPED RETURNING HOME EACH NIGHT
Describe your emotional journey. WORRY, GUILT, SELF BLAME, TRYING NOT TO OVERTHINK IT AND WORRY. UNCERTAIN IF SHE WAS STILL ALIVE, FRUSTRATED. THEN RELIEF AND ELATION UPON HER RETURN. The emails from lpf helped keep me on track with practical advice
Describe the support you received from the local community. FACEBOOK EXTREMELY HELPFUL, WAS ABLE TO SHARE THE LOST PET FINDERS POST TO OTHER LOST PET AND LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS
Did you feel Lost Pet Finders helped in any way? ABSOLUTELY. APPRECIATE THE EXCELLENT INFO EMAILED ON WHAT TO TRY EACH DAY. SUCH A SIMPLE REGISTRATION PROCESS WITH EXCELLENT LOCAL REACH. ALSO CHECKED THE FOUND LISTINGS DAILY TO CHECK FOR A MATCH.
In the end, what was it that brought Polly home? MY PARTNER POPPED Back TO THE SAME HOUSE AMD THEY CONFIRMED THEY HAD SEEN HER THE DAY PRIOR. They’ve promised not to feed her again so fingers crossed! THE NEIGHBOURS THEN LATER CALLED TO SAY SHE WAS THERE BUT I WAS UNABLE TO CATCH HER SO I ASKED THE LADY AGAIN NOT TO FEED HER AND SURE ENOUGH POLLY RETURNED HOME THAT NIGHT AFTER 9 days missing
What advice would you give to someone in the same situation? DO A LEAFLET DROP WITH A PHOTO, TALK TO NEIGHBOURS, GO FURTHER THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED TO, USE GOOGLE MAP TO WORK OUT A RADIUS AROUND YOUR HOISE TO DECIDE WHERE/HOW FAR TO DROP THE LEAFLETS ON NEIGHBOURING STREETS, CHECK PUBLIC PARKS, CAR PARKS ETC, CALL AMD CALL FOR THEM, rattle A container of cat biscuits WHILE YOU WLK AROUND, TRY GOONG OUT AT DIFFERENT TIMES. OF THE WEATHER IS HOT, cats seem to venture outside on the evening as it cools, Feed your cat at a regular time to try to keep them to a routine. Put in the flyer to please not feed your cat and say they’re on a special food (even if they’re not!). I’m going to get Polly a collar with a tag on it that says ‘don’t feed me’.
