To help you get your cat back, please do the following:
  1. Leave canned cat food and fresh water outside your back door. If possible, leave something that has your smell on it—a blanket, towel, etc, outside. If your cat is near your home this will anchor him/her to the area. Also, leave a light on at night.
  2. MOST IMPORTANT: Make up flyers with your cat's picture, using a font large enough to read from a passing car, and immediately blanket the neighborhood with them. (You can create a flyer with our free tool.) Start close to home; then, distribute them in an ever-widening radius, dozens of them. Post them where people will see them from their cars when stopped, or out walking. Print them on bright, eye-catching paper. Go door-to-door and talk to as many neighbors as possible, enlisting their help. Also (very important) drop them at people's doors or mailboxes. Typically cats do not wander far, but "hunker down" until they feel it is safe to move (usually at night). Your cat could very well be at a neighbor's house a few doors down the street and your neighbor could be feeding him/her, unaware that he is lost! If you do this and someone contacts you and says they've seen him, ask if you can put food in their backyard to anchor him to that location. Then hang out and call your cat's name—your cat won't wander if he/she has food and feels safe.
  3. Drive around your neighborhood at night and call for him. Lost pets will hide during the day. They may even recognize the sound of your car.
  4. Please contact your local animal shelter and file a missing cat report; you may have to do this is in person. There is a list of local animal shelters on our Resources page.
  5. Talk to your neighbors, and especially children! Children are often outdoors and ride their bikes around, and thus know what's going on in the neighborhood. They are often the first ones to notice a newcomer.

In one case, a cat companion followed these suggestions and found their cat 4 weeks later—a neighbor down the street had been feeding their cat, and didn't know he was lost. Another family had lost their cat, and found it by walking the neighborhood at night while calling its name. Don't give up too quickly!

Good luck! You may request a community listing in our adoption gallery by submitting this form online. Visitors to our website who are interested in your cat will submit an application online which you will then be able to view.

You should always charge a sufficient fee for the adoption to ensure that the potential adopter is serious and is likely able to provide medical care for the cat. This call screening guide can help you to interview and assess potential adopters. Always keep in mind that you must be able to sleep at night with whatever adoption decision you make, so don't ignore any nagging doubts you might have about a potential adopter.

Although we do not charge for a community listing, we would always welcome a donation to help us continue our rescue work.

Many common houseplants and flowers are toxic to cats when eaten; lilies in particular can be fatal. Check here for a quick list of problem plants. The ASPCA's website has a list of over 300 plants that are toxic to cats (and photos of the toxic plants). The site also has a list of over 500 plants that are safe for cats. Please make sure you are looking at the correct list!

The Cat Fancier's Association also has a list of plants toxic to cats.

Please visit our adoption gallery to see which cats are available. Click on a photo for more information. If you are interested in the cat, the click on the "Adopt name" link beside the main picture.

The Little Blue Society offers human-animal conflict resolution services. It has successfully intervened in many situations in which the welfare of feral cats has been threatened through ignorance or indifference. "TNR" stands for Trap, Neuter and Return (or Release). This has proven to be the most effective and humane approach to managing the homeless cat population. The population of a colony of cats is stabilizied by systematically catching, spaying/neutering, and then returning each cat. It is uncommon for new cats to join an existing colony and the existing colony members can no longer reproduce. Alley Cat Allies also has a good introduction to TNR.

An adjunct part of a TNR program is feeding and monitoring the colony. By providing food and water on a regular schedule, the cats remain anchored to the area and will appear at the regular feeding time so that a caregiver can see if there are any symptoms of illness or injury that would require intervention.

Please contact us if would like to find out more about using a TNR program for a colony of cats near where you live. We can always use more volunteer feeders and trappers! You can see what is involved by reading our trapping instructions.

Please contact the Palo Alto Humane Society at (650 424-1901 or pahs@paloaltohumane.org to get introduced to an experienced trapper who can show you the ropes. And thank you!

If you will only need a trap for a short time, Peninsula CatWorks has a few Tru-Catch and Tomahawk traps available for short-term loans. We require a $50 deposit, which will be returned when the trap is returned in good condition. Please review our trap lease agreement, which you will be asked to execute.

Other organizations that rent/loan traps for short periods:

If you expect to be trapping often enough to own your own trap, our members use Tru-Catch and Tomahawk traps, depending on personal preference. Please visit their respective web sites for purchasing information. Our volunteers also recommend Animal Care Equipment & Service for a full range of cat handling equipment.

For especially trap-wise cats it may be necessary to use a Drop Trap (known to our trappers as the "Magic Trap" for its high rate of success). Please contact us to find out about the availability of a drop trap. These traps are not commercially available and require a team of a least two trappers to use. You may of course, build your own drop trap.

If you are new to trapping and wish to protect your hands, you can find heavy gloves that fit ladies hands for $10-$15 at MADCO (Welding Supplies) at 1988 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View. (650) 969-2323. Other animal handling gloves are available through Animal Care Equipment & Service. Please read our detailed trapping instructions.

If the cost of spay/neuter surgery at a low-cost clinic is still a financial burden, you may be able to obtain a voucher to cover some or all of the cost of the surgery. At some clinics the vouchers may also cover one or more vaccinations for feral cats. Inquire at the clinic before making your appointment or requesting a voucher.

Vouchers are accepted at the following veterinary clinics. If the clinic has a website you may click on its name. Click on a clinic's address to get a map or driving directions. Some clinics may charge a small additional fee in addition to the voucher for the spay/neuter surgery.

Name Address Phone SCC Voucher PAHS Voucher PCW Voucher
Akal Animal Clinic 940 Berryessa Road
San Jose CA 95133 		(408) 453-2524 Yes    
Alpine Animal Hospital 2460 W. El Camino Real
Mountain View CA 94040 		(650) 969-8555   Yes  
Animal Medical Center 1820 Hillsdale Ave
San Jose CA 95124 		(408) 267-7387 Yes    
Animal Medical Clinic 1405 N. Milpitas Blvd.
Milpitas CA 95035 		(408) 262-7190 Yes    
Bascom Animal Hospital 2175 S. Bascom Ave
San Jose CA 95008 		(408) 371-5630 Yes    
Bay Cities Veterinary Clinic 16 Corning Ave
Milpitas CA 95035 		(408) 262-2518 Yes Yes  
Cat Hospital 137 East Hamilton Ave
Campbell CA 95008 		(408) 866-6188   Yes  
Forpaws Spay & Neuter Clinic 40501-B Fremont Blvd
(Enter on Eugene)
Fremont CA 94538 		(510) 573-4660   Yes  
Pacifica Pet Hospital 4300 Coast Hwy
Pacifica CA 94044 		(650) 359-3685   Yes  
Spruce Avenue Pet Hospital 135 South Spruce Ave
South San Francisco CA 94080 		(650) 873-6880   Yes  
St Francis of Assisi 12000 Murphy Ave
12000 Murphy Ave San Martin CA 95046 		(408) 683-0866 Yes    
The Animal Clinic 45 Cronin Drive
Santa Clara CA 95051 		(651) 565-0273 Yes    

Take a look at our population calculator. You don't have to believe our assumptions; you can alter the assumptions for yourself to see the effect on the size of the cat population.

There are various directories for online pet supply sites. We neither recommend nor endorse any particular directory. Please use them at your discretion.