Lost and Found Pets with Kat Albrecht-Thiessen, Pet Detective and Founder/Director of The Missing Animal Response Network

“It’s important for TNR groups who trap cats to realize the same “feral” behavior you see in [true] ferals, may be a sign of a scared cat and not necessarily a feral cat.”

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This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie’s Fund.

Stacy talks to Kat Albrecht-Thiessen, a police detective turned pet detective and the founder/director of The Missing Animal Response Network. Since 1997, Kat has worked with search dogs trained to find lost pets and is widely known as the leading authority on lost pet behavior and pet detective training. Kat has authored two books, “Pet Tracker: The Amazing Story of Rachel the K-9 Pet Detective” and “Dog Detectives: How to Train Your Dog to Find Lost Pets”.

Kat talks about how she transitioned from police detective to pet detective. She had previous training in search management as part of search and rescue and found that many of the techniques for finding lost people can be applied to finding lost pets. Kat also has a blog that dispels myths about what to do if your pet is lost, for example, putting out a cat’s litter box to help bring the cat home (a myth). Finding a lost cat takes a lot of work by the owner including getting neighbors’ permission to search their property (and not just handing them a flier and asking them to look) and that looking for a lost pet “gets you familiar with your neighbors and community.”

Kat takes a closer look at the behavior of lost pets and how even pets that are outgoing and friendly with their owners, act differently when lost outside the home. She feels that more cats could be found if owners knew what to do and she stresses the “need to educate people in the proper things to do when a cat is lost.” She describes the “difference between how an indoor-only cat behaves when they are lost versus an outdoor access cat”, how they are often hiding close to their home, and the differences between the time frame for recovery of a cat that accidentally escapes and a cat that escapes and is injured.

Kat and Stacy briefly discuss the training of pet detectives, and how there is a need for pet owners to be trained, even if they are not going to work as pet detectives. Kat talks about what a cat recovery team consists of and what they will do for the owner if they are hired. She mentions how some TNR groups may accidentally trap a lost cat because it may be exhibiting “feral” behavior and how it’s important to start a search for a lost cat within 24 hours and not treat indoor/outdoor cats differently based on past experiences with wandering.

Kat thinks that microchips are important and explains how they work and repeats what to do within the first 24 hours to successfully recover a lost cat.

Listener Links

• Missing Animal Response network  www.missinganimalresponse.com
• Kat’s books are available on Amazon.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy’s earlier interview with feline behaviorist, Tabitha Kucera. | Episode 319.