Jenne Mundy - Catprofiler.com

Frequently Asked Questions

1.   What is so important about profiling?
2.   What makes your service so unique?
3.   How many cats have you found - what's your success rate?
4.   Do you have cats?
5.   Have you ever lost a cat?
6.   How did you become involved in the lost pet community?
7.   Where will my kitty go?
8.   Where will he hide?
9.   Does my kitty remember me?
10. Is my kitty terrified?
11. Does my kitty want to come home?
12. Everyone says that my kitty “ran away” or “wandered off”. Is this true?
13. Does he want to live somewhere else?
14. Why won't my cat come home?
15. Are there any cats who will just come home by themselves?
16. Why won't my kitty answer me when I call?
17. Why do some cats hide from their owners and some cats don't?

1. What is so important about profiling?

Without your cat's profile, you are very likely searching in the wrong places. You also might be searching incorrectly. Not every cat is the same. The way they behave when they are lost is due to many factors including personality, its history, and its “normal” behavior. A profile also takes into account the environment, the terrain, the presence of other animals – just to name a few more factors. There might be other circumstances at work which you haven't even considered.

Your cat's profile is very similar to a criminal profile. Crime investigators study the "where" and the "how" in order to discover "who" committed a crime. Cat profiles tell us " who the cat is" and " what happened" will lead us to " where your cat is now." WHO your cat is will lead you to WHERE he is.

Once you know where your cat is, all you need to know is how to get him back. It is part of my job as a Profiler to answer these questions.
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2. What makes your service so unique?

I know what you're going through – I've been through it myself, and I recovered my own lost kitty after she had been missing for three months! Since then, I have five years of experience reuniting families all over the world!

My services are customized for both you and your pet. Not every owner can use certain methods for recovering a kitty. Not every kitty will feel comfortable with humane trapping. We work put a plan that will work for both of you and get your baby back in your arms as soon as possible!

3. How many cats have you found - what's your success rate?

If you're looking for a finite number or a percentage, I can't give it to you. I have assisted in the recovery of hundreds of cats during my volunteer work at the Missing Pet Partnership, the Missing Cat Assistance, and the Lost Pet Resource organizations. I have also helped colleagues, friends, neighbors, and talked to people pro bono both by phone and through emails.

I have worked hundreds of cases, but I do not hold the sole responsibility for bringing cats home. I don't fly to where you live and do the trapping for you. I don't know of any service which will find your cat and drag it by the scruff back to your household.

It is my job to assess each situation and give advice. It is up to the owner to take that advice and go find the cat. Cats get found because of the bravery and tenacity of both owners and their pets.

4. Do you have cats?

I live with four. Katka and Dashing Man are my primary cats, although I have inherited two more. I have owned cats my whole life, despite the fact that I'm allergic to them. This is frustrating. However, the cats aren't going anywhere. I have my priorities in order.

5. Have you ever lost a cat?

Yes. Many of the cats in my family have been displaced over the years. Each situation was different due to the circumstances and personality of the animal. Most were recovered. Unfortunately, due to our lack of understanding of lost cat behavior at the time, two were never returned. We didn't know where or how to look - or even if they were still out there.

6. How did you become involved in the lost pet community?

In January 2003 my indoor-only Kitty Katka escaped out of my apartment late one night. I don't know how she slipped by me that black night. I never saw her. The guilt was - and still is - overwhelming.

For months I searched for her. I tried everything I could think of, and then I tried everything other people could think of. I consulted experts and flat-out begged for help.

During my search I became more and more active in the lost cat community. I supported and received support from others who were going through the same horror. We shared everything we learned by trial and error. After I recovered Katka, I continued working as a volunteer, sharing information and giving support to as many people as possible.

I was then given the chance to train with Kat Albrecht and Missing Pet Partnership. I now work as the first professional Cat Profiler.

7. Where will my kitty go?

The first place he will go is away from the danger. He will find the nearest possible shelter and stay there until the danger has passed. Cats don't keep running just because they're terrified. They don't run miles and miles away. They don't go far at all – usually not futher than a few blocks away.

Cats always have a plan for everything. They never do anything without a reason. Their first concern is for their own survival. This is a primal, basic instinct. It is more powerful than anything. It overrides everything else in your cat's head. Do not feel that your kitty loves you any less because he is following this need.

8. Where will he hide?

It is likely that he will choose the closest possible shelter that gives him a lot of options for escape. Cats think ahead: they like lots of exits. If given the choice, a traumatized cat most likely won't choose to hide in an enclosed space. He will go to location where there are many opportunities for escape should he need it. First rule when you are terrified and running for your life is that you give yourself many escape routes. Cats are experts at this trick.

Cats are brainy creatures. The stubbornness that frustrates you whenever it comes time to drag them to the vet or force them to do something they disapprove of is the same stubbornness that will serve them well during this adventure in the outside world. Be thankful for it.

9. Does my kitty remember me?

Of course! But he's pretty busy right now. Thinking about you is a distraction.

I heard a General talk once about the thoughts that go through a soldier's mind during battle. He said that it is part of their training to put the thoughts of loved ones aside during combat. I imagine kitties do the exact same thing: they put those thoughts aside for the moment and concentrate on surviving.

Surviving isn't easy. It will take all of your kitty's skill. Don't feel snubbed. Feel lucky – it means that he's doing a good job. The better he is at surviving means that you're more likely to recover him healthy and unharmed!

10. Is my kitty terrified?

Cats aren't humans, and they don't feel human emotions. They don't feel fear the way humans do. When your kitty is faced with this traumatic situation, his priority is survival, not fear. He won't waste any of his time being terrified. This is a natural animal response that will keep him alive.

Right now your kitty is busy absorbing his new environment. There's a lot to assimilate out there!

I know it's extremely difficult to refrain from projecting your own fears onto what you feel your kitty might be feeling. It's terrible knowing that he's naked to the elements out there – the cold, the rain, the snow, the wind, or the heat.

But take comfort in this: cats don't think about any of this the way humans do. Cats don't associate emotions with facts. They don't feel the rain and snow and get depressed or upset. They just feel cold – and then they do what they can to remedy the situation. If it's raining, they find a way to avoid being wet. They don't waste a lot of time being sad because it's raining.

Your kitty has strength and resources beyond your understanding. Have faith in him!

11. Does my kitty want to come home?

Yes!!! Of course! All cats behave differently. Some kitties even call out to their owners when a few days have gone by. For the first few days, they lie low and wait for the danger to pass. When they start to feel more confident in their environment, some kitties meow. It's the strangest thing – you can be calling your kitty, and suddenly you'll hear him answer tentatively, but you won't be able to tell where it's coming from. Your kitty might be too afraid to come out from undercover, but he might be able to work up the courage to give a meow.

Kitties have a need to come home, but most of them just can't cross that threshold. Then once they've been out there for a while, they get so practiced at surviving the day to day work of the outside world that it becomes their new routine and their new territory – and it becomes harder and harder for them to leave it.

Displaced cats focus primarily on surviving. They don't have time to spend pining over their owners or their housemates. This does not mean that they have stopped loving you. It means that they are doing their job: they are staying alive.

12. Everyone says that my kitty “ran away” or “wandered off”. Is this true?

Unfortunately, a lot of people think this. Cats have some bogus stereotype that they're the Happy Wanderers of the animal kingdom. This isn't even remotely true. Cats live and die by their territories. Their territories are always in flux, and always negotiable -- meaning that cats share their territories with other animals. Several cats' territories can overlap. The lines where two cats face off might be a battle that takes place on a daily basis. These battles can often be fun for the kitties involved -- especially when the cats are owned kitties and they are squaring off more for exercise and entertainment than for survival.

The point is this: cats simply don't just run away like Snoopy with their luggage on a stick. They will fight for the land they own, and if they lose, they will move to the closest land possible, and then they'll stay there.

13. Does he want to live somewhere else?

Your cat wants to LIVE. He's going to survive wherever he can until you figure out a way to bring him home. This is a two-man exercise – you can't depend on him don't all the work! His job is to take care of himself. Your job is to find him and help him come home.

14. Why won't my cat come home?

If your kitty has been displaced, he has been forced away from his territory and is now surviving in a new one. There was something that forced him away from your territory: some kind of traumatic event. Now that he is in his new territory, he knows that he is doing okay – he's alive and he's safe, and he's not going to take any risks that might get him hurt.

Everything that happens depends on who your kitty is. Every kitty behaves differently because every kitty is unique. Some kitties are easy-going, and some kitties just – aren't!

15. Are there any cats who will just come home by themselves?

Yes. Sometimes kitties who are stuck somewhere are gone for a few days or even for a few weeks before they are freed again when someone opens a garage door – and when that happens, they will show up at their front door, tired, hungry, and thirsty, ready to come back in. Every once in a while, there is the odd cat who will seem to turn up on his own – and no one seems to know what that cat was doing while it was missing. However, the chances that your cat will come home on his own are NOT high, and so you MUST work towards going out and getting him. If you sit back and wait for him, you are gambling with his life. You are risking his future. What if he's sick or injured somewhere? What if he's stuck and he needs your help to escape? What if he's been forced away from his own territory and he needs your help to get back? Don't waste valuable time waiting for him to turn up when you could be searching.

16. Why won't my kitty answer me when I call?

When cats are forced away from their own territories, they suffer a huge trauma. Your cat's behavior under stress could very likely be that he will NOT answer you -- no matter how close he is hiding or no matter how long you have owned him. It is a concept that is difficult for owners to understand at first -- it goes against all human logic, so it seems completely illogical and therefore impossible.

Think of it like this: If he has been outside with you in the past during an unstressful time, he has felt safe and protected. He will behave accordingly. Now that he is alone and frightened, his first priority is survival. He will not answer you when you call him. If he makes a sound -- a movement or a meow to let you know that he is there -- he is announcing his presence to any nearby predators in the area. All of his ancient instincts are screaming at him to keep quiet -- and to stay alive.

His first priority is to seek shelter and concealment. Most displaced kitties DO NOT MEOW even if their owners are calling from five feet away! Silence is an overwhelming instinct response for a frightened or injured cat.

After searching, calling, and receiving no answers, owners start to think that all hope is lost. They give up – not realizing that their kitties are STILL OUT THERE. The cats don't disappear just because their owners stop looking. Kitties stay nearby, and they usually become strays.

17. Why do some cats hide from their owners and some cats don't?

Because no two cats are alike. Every cat is unique. Every cat has a distinctive personality that dictates his behavior.

Don't let anyone tell you that your kitty doesn't love you or trust you enough to come out from hiding. It doesn't work like that. Cats can only do what is possible for them to do. It has nothing whatsoever to do with their bond with you.

It's very simple: Your cat wants to live. His job is to survive.

Your job is to find him.

Jenne Mundy