how cats end up homeless

Someone must love cats – after all, by pure numbers – they are man’s best friends. There are 86.4 million pet cats in the United States, compared to 78.2 million pet dogs according to the American Pet Products Association 2011-2012 survey. (Learn more about pet statistics in our gallery of infographics.) Still, far too many cats end up in shelters each year. And when pets are lost, far fewer cats are ever returned to their people when compared to dogs (ASPCA).

So how could any cat, even yours, end up in a shelter some day?

1) Cats Get Lost, Even Indoor-Only Cats

According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy 1997 survey (NCPPSP), only 35% of cats that ended up in shelters were relinquished by owners. People sometimes assume that because their cat is indoors, kitty will never get out, therefore never get lost. Dr. Linda Lord at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine has studied the issue. She’s demonstrated that indoor cats do get out. In one community she found that about 40 percent of lost cats were identified as indoor cats. (AVMA)

Once outdoors, most cats either hide or run for their lives. The lucky ones are obviously found, or the next best thing is that they find themselves at an animal shelter. Others may have a difficult time finding food, may need to deal with very cold or very hot weather, fend off savvier outdoor cats, or may lose their lives to coyotes, birds of prey or cars.

Lord reported finding that nearly half of the lost cats she studied were never found and only 7% of cat parents who recovered their pet found him or her at the shelter.

2) Microchipping Can Help, But Only If The Chip Information Is Up-to-Date

One savior for pets is the microchip. Another study by Lord highlighted in Ohio State University’s Research News, showed that shelters were able to locate owners for 72.7% of stray pets who were microchipped. [Editor’s note: The same study found that microchipped cats who came into the shelter as strays were twenty times more likely to be reunited with their families than unchipped cats.)

While microchip numbers for cats in recent years has skyrocketed, cats started from pretty much ground zero. So, despite the trend – most cats remain without a microchip. The Petfinder, the ASPCA and others now endorse that cats also wear a collar with an ID as a secondary form of identification, but that idea has yet to catch on with most cat parents.