If you are reading this while it is happening, start here and come back for the rest later.

Do these four things first

1. Search the house again. It sounds absurd when you are certain they are outside, but frightened cats in particular wedge themselves into places you would swear were solid. Check inside cupboards, behind the washing machine, under beds, inside wardrobes, in the airing cupboard. Open every door and look, do not just call.

2. Prop the door open and put their bed outside. Familiar smell carries. Put out a worn t-shirt of yours, their bedding, or their litter tray if you have a cat. Many pets come back on their own within a few hours if there is a scent trail leading home.

3. Walk the immediate area calling normally. Not a panicked shout. Use the voice you use at feeding time. Stop every thirty seconds or so and simply listen. A trapped animal will often answer, and you will miss it if you are still talking.

4. Tell the neighbours either side and opposite. Before anything digital. They are the people most likely to have a shed, a garage or a garden your pet is currently shut inside.

Then widen out

Once the immediate search is done, the job changes. It stops being about you looking and starts being about how many other people know to look.

Ring the local vets and any nearby rescue or shelter, and give them a description and your phone number. If your pet is microchipped, ring the chip registry and mark them as missing, and check the contact details on file are still yours. An out-of-date phone number on a microchip is one of the most common reasons a found pet does not get home.

Post in local community groups with a clear photo and the road name where they were last seen. Ask people to check sheds and garages rather than to keep an eye out, because a specific request gets acted on and a vague one does not.

What actually finds pets

Almost every reunion comes down to the same thing: somebody who lives nearby recognised the animal. Not a search party, not a drone, not a database. A neighbour who happened to know what to look for.

That is the whole reason to get a photo in front of as many local people as possible, as quickly as possible. Every extra person who knows your pet is missing is another pair of eyes on a street you cannot watch yourself.

Start a targeted alert for your area, or download a printable flyer for free.