Moving Season

moving day

A little bit of advice for those who are moving this year. As we all know the abandonment rates are really high, (sadly we are the worst in Canada for this), but there’s also another phenomenon, and that is cats that get lost during the move. It’s incredibly stressful for pets to change environments so it’s important to keep them safe during the packing up of your old house, and unpacking in the new. The biggest mistake some people might make is letting kitty out to explore it’s new territory as soon as they arrive in their new home. Because the old location is so strongly imprinted, the cat then gets lost trying to return to it’s familiar territory. This can lead to the cat getting hopelessly and dangerously lost in between the two locations. It’s recommended to let your cat get used to the new house slowly, which can take weeks. It’ll probably demand to go out even more adamantly, but that should be all the more reason to resist. What he’ll do is rub his face on objects and furniture when he feels safe, leaving his scent. You can even help the process by rubbing your cats muzzle and head with a soft cloth and transferring the scent from his glands onto the new home, on doorjambs, walls and furniture that are at cat level.

And because there are a ridiculous amount of pets abandoned, especially in the summer, it’s all the more important to have a collar and tags on your furry friends, so that there’s no doubt as to your desire to keep them safe!

Important notice to residents of N.D.G.

There is a warning being put out for pet owners in the the area of N.D.G. It’s believed someone has been putting out antifreeze to poison skunks in the area. It’s recommended that you keep your pets inside! It’s also advised to bring your own water when taking your dogs to area parks. There is a report on the CTV news website : http://montreal.ctv.ca/

Very disturbing, please keep your pets safe!

Instructions – how to be posted – please read before sending your ad!

I’m hoping to provide a good tool for reuniting lost and found pets with their owners. Send the information on the pet you’ve lost or found to with a picture (jpeg) if possible and any details, and I’ll publish it for you here. Please be clear as to the text and contact information you want published! I’ll need, of course, the closest address to place it on the map. (a postal code works really well) I also highly recommend subscribing to your post once published, so that you’ll receive any comments left for you without delay. The form to subscribe will be found just underneath your ad. To access it click on your ad title. (If your notice hasn’t been published within 24 hours, I didn’t receive your message!)

I also wanted to provide some useful tips as well as links to places that you might also think about listing. As well as putting up posters and checking shelters there are many places to list and not everyone’s familiar with them all. Please feel free to send me any useful links that I might miss. You’ll find them on the tips and links page. I’m hoping that the site will stay as up to date as possible, and that even if you’re posters are down and listings dropped down further on the classifieds sites, your pet will stay on the map till you’re hopefully reunited.

The only thing I ask in return for this service is that you please keep me informed if you find your pet, or found the home of the animal you took in. It’s important that the blog be as up to date as possible for it to be most effective. I can’t stress enough how important it is that the attention is completely focused on those still in need. And besides, I’d love to know how things turned out, as would many of my readers! And if you think the site is worthwhile and want to see it continue, please consider donating the price of a cup of coffee.

IMPORTANT : On the links page I have included those to city shelters. The Montreal SPCA has a blog where they post their strays, including pets being held by the people who found them. A.M.R. also has a page for their strays. Berger Blanc, has finally started to publish their strays (July 14th, 2011). But it’s still very important to physically go and check the shelters. Animals are often only kept for 3-5 days depending on their age, condition, and time of year, and if unclaimed they are then either euthanized or put up for adoption. For various reasons your pet might not end up at the shelter serving your area, so check all. It’s not enough to call them. Even if your pet has tags this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be notified. It’s best to act as though your pet didn’t have any identification when conducting your search. And please realize it could be many months before your pet shows up !

*** Please do not submit your ads by comment !!