Interview! Kim Freeman, Professional Missing Cat Finder

“I would really like anyone who has anything to do with lost cats to realize how important it is not to give up, and not to assume anything.”

Kim Freeman turned her lifelong love for cats into a career as a professional missing cat finder. When her own cat Mr. Purr went missing in 2008, Kim realized how little support families with a missing cat receive, and what bad advice they tend to be given. She set out to change this and today has developed a very specific process to help people all over the world find their missing cats.

Kim starts by educating the cat’s owners using a downloadable online booklet and videos on her website. She then asks the owners to fill out an extensive cat profile questionnaire so that she can determine a search strategy. Kim tells us that there are eight probabilities of what could have happened to a missing cat, and her questionnaire, which asks about indoor behavior patterns, helps determine which of those probabilities is most likely. Based on the results of the questionnaire, Kim then coaches the owner on what they need to do to try to find their cat.

When Kim does in-person searches, her cat Henry sometimes accompanies her. Henry is trained to track scent, and she often uses him in cases where an indoor-only cat has escaped outside. Kim knows of only one other trained search cat out there, but she believes that it is a great way to go, as search dogs are more likely to scare off a missing cat than find it.

Kim is also passionate about the role shelters play in reuniting lost cats and their families. Nationally, the return to owner rate once a cat reaches a shelter is a dismal 2%. Kim feels shelters can help get this rate up by becoming a resource for the community around best practices for searching for a lost cat—or by directing the community to resources that can help. She believes strongly in Return to Field, and in microchipping as well. She would love to see shelters offer mobile, low-cost, in-home microchipping! Kim has a presentation on simple system that shelters can use to organize their lost and found data that she is glad to share if folks want to get in touch via her website.

Finally, Kim would like to spread the word about the “litter box myth”—the idea that if your cat goes missing, you should put out her used kitty litter box to attract her back to the area. Not only does it not work, Kim tells us, it is actually a bad idea because it can attract wildlife and predators, as well as territorial bully cats who may chase your cat farther away. As Kim puts it, “your house smells more like home than a kitty litter box!”

Learn more about Kim and her services at lostcatfinder.com. You can also stay up to date on her happy reunion stories on her Facebook page, facebook.com/LostCatFinder.

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