We recommend using the PawBoost website as your main lost and found web resource, as they keep you anonymous. PawBoost does not require a Facebook account and they are completely free. Your submission will automatically create a post on the PawBoost Facebook page.

We recommend not entering your name, phone number or address in the comment field on any site you may be listing on. We also advise against advertising a reward. PawBoost provides a template for flyers in addition to a wide social media distribution. 

For a Facebook-specific option, we recommend Winnipeg Missing and Found Cat Watch. Take steps to protect your identity on social media to avoid rescue-related spam and other annoyances.

Please be sure to include the following information in any of your listings:

• Cat’s name, age and gender
• A good, clear photo that shows facial/body markings
• Location the cat is missing from (e.g. Inkster Blvd, near Charles
• The date your cat went missing
• If your cat is intact or spayed/neutered
• You cat’s tattoo or microchip number
• If your cat has been outside before or NEVER been outside before
• If your cat was wearing a collar and tags and description
• If your cat has a medical condition and needs medication or a special diet or care.
• If you cat is friendly with strangers or not

1. Ensure your cat did, in fact, get outside. Search your entire home, including ducts, drop ceilings, behind appliances, in basements and crawlspace and in furniture. Create a grid on each floor of your home of imaginary 3ft x 3ft squares and check up, down, under and in everything for each square. If you’re in a multi-family dwelling, check laundry facilities, utility rooms, storage rooms. Knock on doors or slip flyers under the doors as cats can get confused and enter any open door via a hallway and may be in another suite.
2. If you saw your cat get outside, set up a feeding station of their favorite food/treats and a bowl of water from where they escaped. Ensure you only use dry in the winter unless you have a heated pet dish. Set the food up where you can watch it from inside your home. 
3. If your cat has never been outside, you can place their litterbox outside the door from where they escaped, to potentially signal to them “this is home.” The litterbox is not necessary if the cat has been outdoors and knows where home is. Ensure you bring the litterbox indoors at night to prevent attracting wildlife. Place an item with the cat’s scent outside overnight instead.
4. If you have a window that can be left open while you are home, remove the screen and open it enough for your cat to get back in the house. If you can leave a door ajar, your cat may just walk back in. If you have other pets, ensure you do not allow them access to the open window or door. Secure them in a separate room.
5. If you are missing a KITTEN up to a year old, find a YouTube video of kittens meowing (but not in distress) and play that in each room of the home (if no one witnessed an escape). Listen for a responding meow. If your kitten doesn’t turn up, they may be outside. Head outside and play the meowing kittens while you are sitting in one spot in your yard. LISTEN for a responding meow. Your kitten may not come out from hiding, so try to follow the meows and coax them out of their spot. Some kittens will just come running while others may be too scared. If they do not respond, you will have to continue with a ground search. Be sure to play your video beside cars and trucks as many kittens will get under the hood.
6. Fill out the Winnipeg Humane Society’s online lost report If you do not have access to a device or do not have Internet service, please call 204-982-2021 Option 5 and speak to an employee. If you get voicemail, please leave a message with your contact number. If you do not know your cat’s tattoo number, WHS may have it on file. Please request that information and add it to any online listing you may have created.
7. Access the Winnipeg Humane Society’s lost and found database. This is a live, current, listing of cats that have been brought to WHS or have been reported found to WHS where community members have sent in info and photos. Check this page daily after 6 pm to see which cats have been listed. If your cat does not have ID, WHS cannot easily get them home to you. WHS will hold adult cats for three days before assessing them for adoption. Kittens under 6 months of age are held for 24 hours.
8. If your cat was spayed or neutered at a private clinic (as opposed to WHS) or if they were adopted from a rescue, please contact the clinic or the rescue to report your cat missing and to request the tattoo or chip number. Ensure you update your contact information with them. 
9. If you live outside Winnipeg, contact your local animal control. They may have a holding facility where your cat may be impounded.
10. Create flyers and get 200 printed to start. Go door-to-door with them and talk to people. Pay special attention to those who have a feeding station in their yard. This is a good time to request permission to search people’s yards. If no one is home, leave a flyer in the mailbox with the “LOST CAT” heading hanging out. If your cat is missing from an apartment or condo, ask management if you can put a poster up in the lobby. If not, get flyers under car windshields or slip them under suite doors.
11. Create eye-catching posters for the area and place in highly-visible locations (intersections, schools). Use neon posterboard as a backer when placing them up at intersections. If you do not have access to a printer, Staples is very reasonable for black and white copies. If you cannot access Staples, even handwritten posters is better than nothing.
12. If your cat was accustomed to going outside and you have recently moved to a new location close to your old home (within 8 blocks), make sure to put flyers in people’s mailboxes in the old area where you used to live. Sometimes their compass sends them back to the area they knew.
13. List your cat on local neighborhood social media pages/groups where allowed. Be cognizant of the safety factor here. You will not be anonymous.
14. If you cat is indoor-only (never been outside, or only outside once or twice), they will likely be hiding very close to home (usually in the yard or next door). They are frightened and will not likely come out for treats or calling. Use a camera to take photos underneath structures like porches, sheds, stairs, decks (ensure the flash is on). Stick your hand in holes and take photos in all directions. Consider using a selfie-stick to access difficult-to-reach areas. Review before moving on. You may see their eyes flashing back at you.
15. Look up in trees and on roofs, as cats may be chased up high by dogs in the area.
16. If your cat is indoor-outdoor, they may not be as close by as indoor-only cats, but they may be stuck in a building nearby and can’t get out. Check all garages and sheds. Ensure you expand your search area up to 8 blocks in each direction, depending on how long your cat has been missing. Cover at least three blocks in each direction to start.
17. If you think your cat may be stuck in a shed or garage, request the homeowner put food and water inside and ask them to check after 24-48 hours to see if any of the food has been eaten. Often, cats will get up high in garages as they feel more safe. If temperatures are very hot, or very cold, and the garages in your area are uninsulated, searching these buildings becomes urgent. Cats can become dehydrated and suffer heat stroke in the summer and suffer frostbite damage to extremities, or hypothermia, in the winter.
18. If your cat has gone missing during winter, check to make sure they haven’t been snowed in under a porch, stairs, shed or deck. Ask neighbors to shovel out escape holes just in case.
19. Some cats walk into other people’s houses unnoticed. They will be scared and disoriented once they realize it’s not home. If a neighbor’s cat or dog has been parked in an unusual spot, this may be a clue that there is a strange animal in their midst.
20. If there is snow, sand or mud on the ground, look for paw prints.
21. Notify smaller shelters and vet clinics in your area. Give them a flyer to distribute to staff.
22. Check online postings and shelter adoption listings to see if your cat was picked up, or inadvertently put up for adoption, or is being rehomed privately on a website or social media page.
23. While searching for your cat, take note of any security cameras in the area. Ask homeowners/businesses to review footage.
24. Purchase an infrared wildlife (trail) camera and set it up outside, pointed at your feeding station. These cameras are invaluable and can be inexpensive. They will tell you who is coming around, and when.
25. If you think your cat may be stuck in your home (in a wall or other cavity or ducts), consider renting a thermal camera to find heat imprints within structures.
26. If you do not have a wildlife camera, you can use damp sand, soil or snow to watch for pawprints around the feeding station. Animals have distinct prints and you can decide if a cat, or another animal, is coming to eat the food. If you find cat prints, keep watch over the food to see who is coming to eat.
27. If you are not having any luck finding your cat in your area, they may have been relocated by those who don’t like cats. Turn your vehicle into a travelling billboard. Tape posters in windows or have them laminated and attach them to your car doors. Ensure you do not obstruct your view.
28. If you have a dog your cat loves, and responds to, take them for a walk when you go searching. Your dog may alert you to your cat or your cat may come running to your dog.
29. Sit outside in the early morning or the overnight hours, when it’s quiet, and read a book out loud. Cats can hear your voice from a distance when there is no road noise and may come out of hiding.
30. Ensure you take note of all sightings. Write down address, time of day, which direction the cat was heading, what the cat was doing, where they were on the property and a contact number for the homeowner, or person who reported the sighting.
31. If your cat has been seen frequently in your yard but they will not come to you, rent, buy, or borrow a humane cat trap and try trapping your cat. NEVER leave a trap unattended. You must be watching the trap the entire time it is set. Your cat can injure themselves severely trying to get free. Please request our “Responsible Trapping Guide” if you will be attempting to trap your cat.
32. Sadly, there are many people who trap cats and relocate them to other parts of the city, or outside city limits. People who do this are aggravated and tired of roaming cats on their property. It is inhumane and ineffective. Trapped cats should be turned over to the Winnipeg Humane Society, vet clinic, an animal rescue or animal control. Winnipeg’s Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw requires cats to stay on their own property or the property of someone who allows them to be there. If out for a walk, they must be on leash and harness, with owner attached. You may be living in a “Trapper Zone” and not even realize it. Have a look at our City of Winnipeg Trapper Map to see if your cat may have been a victim of a local trapper.
33. Check with the Winnipeg Humane Society for deceased cats they have received. Please note that deceased cats, on PUBLIC property, get picked up by the city’s deceased animal pickup service. Cats with ID will are held by WHS so they may contact the owners. Cats with NO ID, go on to a mass burial site, at the landfill, rather than being held for identification and notification of the family. Ensure your cat has a tattoo or microchip.