To Catch A Cat, Think Like A Cat

After a massive blizzard dumped three feet of snow on their hometown of Madison, Terri and Mark were dismayed to find that their indoor-only cat Sammy had escaped.

So they put a notice in their local online news site, Madison Patch. And then they did some research.

This is what they decided to do: 

After following hints on the internet, we were able to cut short Sammy's unplanned vacation. We put her litter box along with a kitty condo lined with one of her favorite blankets outside on our screened-in porch. I slept in front of the slider just in case she decided to peek inside. Whatever the lure was, at 5:30 [Thursday morning, Feb. 14, 2013], Sammy took the bait and caught my attention. As soon as I opened the door, she pranced inside, no snow, no leaves and no signs that she, an indoor cat, was outside for almost 2 days. ... PS: Her sister cat Bailey is also very relieved to have her partner back.

If you have a lost pet, you are also welcome to post it on West Hartford Patch, under "announcements." Follow the link at the bottom of the home page under "Contribute" where it says "Announce something to everyone."

Here are some more tips about how to lure back a lost cat: 

• From Wiki-How, "How to Get An Escaped Cat to Come Home." 
• From Yahoo! Answers, "How do I find and lure my cat back home"
• From SPCA of Northern Virginia, some tips on luring back a newly-adopted cat.
• From Squidoo, "How To Find A Missing Cat"

Here's one of the best tips of all, from Squidoo, to catch a cat, "think like a cat."