Lost cat: where to look first

A lost cat is usually close and hiding. In a study of over 1,200 missing cats, indoor-only cats were found a median of 39 m from where they got out; cats that went outside, 300 m (Huang and others, 2018).

Where they were found

In the same study, among cats found alive outdoors, most were in a yard, waiting near home, under bushes, or under a deck or porch. Only about 4 % were inside their own house.

How to search for a cat

1. Search your garden and your neighbours' gardens, slowly, looking under everything: decks, sheds, cars, bushes.
2. Go out at night with a torch. A cat's eyes shine back in the light.
3. Call softly and stop to listen. A scared cat stays silent and still.
4. Leave its litter tray, food and something that smells of you by the door.
5. Many cats come back on their own: in a US survey, 59 % of the lost cats that were recovered came back by themselves (Weiss and others, 2012).

When a drone helps

For a cat hiding under a deck, a drone does nothing. It is worth it for cats used to going outside in the countryside, where the search area is fields, hedges and farm buildings, and above all with a thermal camera at night, when a warm body stands out against the cold ground.

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Reviewed on October 23, 2026.