A pet owner will probably know what to do if his pet is lost. A responsible person will always register his animal with the local authorities and will have the animal wear a tag on his collar. He might also decide to have a microchip installed between the shoulder blades of the animal.
What if you are not a pet owner but found a stray cat or kitten in a busy road or in the middle of nowhere? Such an animal deserves immediate care; otherwise, a car or a bigger animal could kill him, or worse yet, he could fall into the hands of cruel people.
The first thing to do in such a case is to approach the animal slowly with a gentle manner and gain his confidence. If the animal seems friendly enough and allows a stranger to handle him, looking for some kind of identification is the next step. If his tag has the owner's phone number, you can call the owner immediately. If the cat has a license number on his tag, the local county animal agency can trace the animal to the owner.
If the animal has no identification, you may take him to a shelter or to the local animal control agency. If you are afraid the local agency will euthanize the animal, you can ask them to trace the owners and offer to become his temporary adopter until they can do so.
The next step is to take the animal to a veterinarian, even before you take him home with you. This is very important, because you don't know if the animal you found has a sickness or a disease that can infect you, your family members, and your other pets at home. Zoonoses, rabies, cowpox, ringworm, pasteurella, tetanus, Campylobacter enteritis, cat scratch fever, conjunctivitis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, salmonella, toxoplasmosis, hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms, and even plague can be transmitted from cats to humans or to other animals.
If you see a lost cat in the middle of a busy road, take care of your safety first by checking the rear-view window before stopping, signaling your intention, using your hazard lights, and then stopping by the side of the road at a safe place. Don't jump out of our car suddenly, and try to act calmly toward the animal. If he feels uneasy and becomes afraid of you, he may suddenly rush into the traffic and may get killed.
Also, if the animal looks hostile and threatening, it is a better idea to call for help rather than handle him yourself. If the animal is injured, signal the other cars to slow down until you can get the animal to relative safety or find a suitable carrier to take him to your car.
When you approach the animal, make sure he sees you and understands that you are a friend. Try to talk to him in a gentle voice and offer him food if you have it with you. If you have a carrier or a box in the car, put the cat inside it, making sure he gets enough air. An unrestrained animal whose behavior is unknown to you can be a danger to himself and to your driving.
The last but not the least is not to become too attached to a found animal. Not all cats that are lost have irresponsible owners or are abandoned. Some animals just wander away and get lost, while their owners grieve. If you take the lost animal to your home and he becomes part of your household, be ready to hand him over to his original owner if you can find him and if that owner shows up for his pet.
If you want to help stray animals, you may opt to keep some emergency equipment in your car: A carrier or a sturdy box lined with a towel with breathing holes; fresh water and a saucer; dry cat food; the phone numbers of pet shelters, veterinarians, and the local animal control agency.
As animal lovers, we need to keep this in mind: Animals that cannot defend themselves depend on us for survival. We need to do for them what we would want someone else do for us in our hour of need.
This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.PetLovers.Com/ which is a site for Pets. Joy Cagil's portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/joycag
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