National Pet ID Week

All pet lovers worry that their cat or dog will go missing at some point in their lives. Thankfully, there are more ways than ever to provide your cat with identification that shelters, animal control and veterinarians can use to reunite you and your cat. To remind pet lovers of the importance of those ID methods, National Pet ID Week shines the spotlight on this issue every year.

When is National Pet ID Week?

National Pet ID Week is observed every year from April 17-23.

Related post: National Lost Pet Prevention Month

How many pets go missing every year?

The statistics are grim.

Approximately 10 million cats and dogs in the United States find themselves lost each year, with 6 – 8 million winding up in the shelter system.

While only 2 percent of cats who are in shelters without any form of identification are ever reunited with their human families, the American Veterinary Association reports that our purring pals who have a registered microchip are 21.4 times more likely to be returned home.

We know, as cat lovers, that the fear of your cat getting lost is a constant worry. If you have an indoor-outdoor cat, you worry that your cat won’t come back home after he makes his usual rounds. If, like us, your cats are exclusively indoors, you still worry that one might dart out an opened front door, a fear that can be all too real during the holiday season as company and the general hustle and bustle means a lot of open and closed doors.

A few years ago, a study in Ohio found that a cat is far less likely to be found than is a lost dog. One reason is the lack of identification–whether collars, tags, or microchips–on many cats.

How to Increase the Chance of Finding Your Cat if Lost

To increase your cat’s chances of returning to the comforts of home if he or she becomes lost:

Make sure that your cat wears a collar which displays an ID tag, rabies tag and city/county license along with your contact information.

Check to see that all of the information on your cat’s license, ID or microchip is current. ID tags get scratched and damaged which can make them unreadable.

Make sure your contact information on the tag is up to date.

Be sure your microchip is registered and the information is up to date. Many people forget to update their address when they move–and often adopters forget to register the microchip after adopting a cat at the shelter! (And don’t forget to have your veterinarian check that chip! Microchips have their own National Check the Chip Day in August!)

While many of our four-pawed pals may live inside the home, pet parents should remember that it only takes a moment for their cat to dart out the door and into unfamiliar territory. All pets, regardless of their living situation, should wear a tag or be microchipped.

Using a pet finding service

Using a lost pet finder system can greatly increase your chances of finding a lost cat.

PetAmberalert.com offers cat lovers the ability to broadcast the news of their missing cat using phone and fax broadcasts. News is sent out to your neighbors as well as local veterinary clinics and pet businesses. Businesses receive a flyer of your lost cat within an hour of the alert being sent because time is of the essence when trying to locate a lost cat.

PetAmberalert.com has even had a pet detective examine some of the most common scenarios in which cats are lost, from accidentally being transported to predators to confusion.

The service is even exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry so they’re able to call all of your neighbors, even those on no call lists. If your neighbor isn’t home when the call comes in, PetAmberalert.com will call up to four times within an hour then they’ll leave a detailed message with all your cat’s information.

The company says their success rate is 85% if the alert goes out within the first week the pet is missing, 75% after two weeks, and 65% even after eight weeks.

Help promote the importance of pet ID by sharing photos on National Pet ID Week with the hashtags #NationalPetIDWeek and #PetIdWeek.

More Cat Holidays

National Pet ID Week is just one of many spring cat holidays here on CatTipper; you also might like these holidays and awareness days:

National Heartworm Awareness Month

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month

National Pet Day

National Kids and Pets Day

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