Start here. Act fast, search close.

In the first two hours, search right around home

• Look under cars, in bins, garages, sheds, rubble walls, roofs, terraces and stairwells.
• Knock on doors along your street and ask neighbours to check their roof, washroom and garage, as cats often get shut in.
• Shake a treat bag and call softly, then wait quietly.
• Leave their litter tray, bedding or an unwashed T-shirt by the door.

Report it and share it today

• Report your cat here with clear photos. The site emails you if a new found or spotted cat looks similar.
• Share the ready-made image in the lost and found Facebook groups and your WhatsApp chats.
• Report it officially on the government's missing pets form, which alerts vets, clinics and sanctuaries.
• Phone your vet and nearby vets, as found cats are often taken there.
• If your cat is microchipped, check the chip record is up to date. How.

Keep looking every day

• Search at dusk and dawn with a torch, as their eyes reflect the light.
• Check found and spotted cats, including ones posted before yours.
• Print the poster from your post page for shops, vets and bus stops. Its QR code shows the latest news.
• Widen your search a street at a time. Unneutered males roam furthest.

Festa season, fireworks and summer heat

• Festa fireworks are the most common reason cats bolt in Malta. On nearby festa nights, keep windows and balcony doors shut.
• After fireworks, widen your search the next morning towards quieter fields or valleys.
• In summer, leave water out and check shady spots under cars, in drains and in cool stairwells.
• Cats sometimes ride off in car engines or vans. Ask neighbours who parked nearby to check, and post in groups for nearby localities.

Watch out for scams

Some people ask for money up front to “return” a lost cat. Never pay before you've seen yours. A photo taken now, with something you name in it, helps, but it isn't proof on its own.

When your cat comes home

Mark your post as found from the private link in your email (lost it?). People stop searching and you get a “back home” card to thank everyone.