FOUND a cat?


Thanks for looking out for the stray cat you’ve found!

Before you do anything else, please call your nearest veterinary clinic and ask if you can bring the cat to them to be scanned for a microchip. Most veterinarians and 24-hour emergency clinics will do this without an appointment and at no charge. If the cat has a microchip, you’ll be able to contact the microchip company to let them know the cat has been found.

Assuming the cat is not microchipped, you can do the following:

  1. Report him as "found" to the local shelters: BARCS, the Baltimore City animal shelter, which is by the Ravens' stadium in South Baltimore; The Maryland SPCA on Falls Rd. in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore City; and Baltimore County Animal Control, on Manor Rd. in Baldwin, MD. For a list of other Central Maryland shelters, click here.
  2. Enter the cat’s information in the “found cats” section of our database. You can also search the “lost cats” section of the database to see if someone has already listed the cat as missing.
  3. Put "found cat" flyers up around your neighborhood and at nearby places people go frequently—gas stations, grocery stores, coffee shops, etc. Also drop a flyer off at the vet clinics nearest to you. Include a good photo of the cat and a description of any identifying markings, as well as the location where the cat was found. Most cats stay pretty close to home when they get lost.
  4. Utilize online neighborhood networks to get the word out. Does your neighborhood have an e-mail list, a Nextdoor.com site, or a Facebook page? Post the info there, along with a photo and your contact information. You can also post the cat’s photo on your own Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. (If you can’t find the owner, maybe you can find someone interested in adopting the cat!)
  5. You can post free "found" listings on the Baltimore Craiglist (you may want to post on both the lost/found section and the pets section), your local Patch.com publication (click "Maryland," select your local Patch, then go to News > Announcements > Lost and Found) and TabbyTracker.
  6. You can also take the cat to a shelter to surrender him as a stray. BARCS is the city’s open admission shelter, meaning they will take any animal brought to them. They will often spay/neuter stray cats and put them back where they were found, but if they have room they may also hold the cat and put it up for adoption if not claimed. If you do surrender the cat to a shelter, ask about what will happen to it if it is not claimed, and if possible, ask to be notified and be given the chance to retrieve the cat if is slated to be euthanized. Most shelters are required by local law to hold a stray animal for a certain number of days to allow it to be claimed, but after that, if the shelter is full, adult cats are at high risk for euthanasia. (And most of our local shelters are usually VERY full.) Unfortunately many well-meaning people take stray cats to the shelters assuming that is the safest place for them, which isn’t always the case. It may be better to have the cat spayed/neutered and allow it to continue living outside while you try to search for the owner or find it a new home. Call (443) 240-8530 to get information on BARCS’ “community cats” spay/neuter program, or check out Community Cats Maryland.
  7. You can see if you can find a rescue that will take the cat. Information on finding and obtaining help from a rescue is available here: http://www.thecatrescue.org/gethelp.htm. The Maryland SPCA will sometimes accept strays, although they prefer not to take cats directly off the street. If you or a friend can house the cat temporarily, you can get it on a waiting list to get into the SPCA.
  8. You can also network the cat among your own friends to try to find him a home, even a temporary one while you try to get him a spot at a shelter or rescue. Take some really cute pictures of him and email them to your friends and coworkers, post them on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter, etc. He should be checked out by a vet before hi is allowed to be with other cats, so he can get his vaccinations and be tested for FIV/feline leukemia. Hampden Pet Health is a great low-cost vet clinic, run by the Maryland SPCA, where this can be done relatively inexpensively. 

One note of caution: please do be careful to make sure that anyone who claims your found cat actually IS the rightful owner. You may want to hold back certain details about the cat on any flyers you post (like the color of its collar, or a specific distinguishing mark), and ask the owner to provide that information. You can also ask the owner to provide vet records or a photograph. Basically, you just want to ensure that the cat is going back to its real owner, and not someone who is simply looking for a free cat for some nefarious purpose. Also, use common sense when meeting with someone who claims to be the cat’s owner -- you may want to do it at a local vet clinic (with their permission), or some other public place.