July 25, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode of Animal Posse, Dixie speaks with Jeanette Garlow from MicrochipHelp.com and Lost Dogs of Illinois about the critical role of microchipping in pet recovery. Jeanette shares expert insights on why microchips fail, how to track down chip data, and what steps to take the moment a pet goes missing. Whether you're a seasoned rescuer or a concerned pet parent, this episode arms you with the tools to turn heartbreak into homecoming.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dixie (00:02):
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Welcome everybody.
We're gonna have aninteresting show today.
We are gonna be welcoming Jeanette Garlow.
She is the director for microchip help.com
and also the co-directorfor Lost Dogs Illinois
. Jeanette (00:24):
Hello.
Dixie (00:25):
Hi Jeanette.
How are you?
Jeanette (00:27):
I'm good.
Dixie (00:28):
To get started, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Jeanette (00:34):
This is Jeanette Garlow.
I am the co-directorfor Lost Dogs Illinois.
I have been with Lost Dogs, Illinoisfor nine years now, and I am also
the director for Microchip Help.com
and I have been with Microchiphelp for nearly nine years as well.
Started that almost a year aftermy start with lost Dogs Illinois.
(00:58):
And we reunite, lost and founddogs with their families.
Dixie (01:04):
What prompted you to get involved with helping people find their lost dogs?
Jeanette (01:11):
As most people in animal welfare, i've always
had a passion for dogs.
Just even as a toddler, Iwould gravitate to dogs.
I have always had empathy fordogs and shelters and I know, deep
down that some of these animalsare there and don't belong there.
That there's homes they belong in.
(01:34):
And I had a friend about overnine years ago who lost her
dog and I was helping her.
I was very involved withhelping her find her dog.
And that's when I learnedabout Lost Dogs Illinois.
And just felt like that wassomething that aligned with
everything that I felt in my heart.
(01:56):
That's how I got involved with theorganization, fell in love with what
they do and that's where I started.
Dixie (02:05):
Yeah.
I'm very passionate about helpingpeople find their pets as well.
I started some groups on Facebook.
Jeanette (02:11):
Yeah.
Dixie (02:11):
Several years ago and I got involved 'cause it's an easy
way to help people from home,
Jeanette (02:17):
absolutely.
Dixie (02:18):
Everybody can do it.
And I know I got in touch with youbecause we had a cat pop up on our
group and it had a microchip, butthe microchip didn't go anywhere.
And that would be what's calledlike a dead end microchip.
And normally I'm pretty goodat tracking them, but with
this one I got really stuck.
(02:39):
So I sent that information overto you and you were able to pull
up that information right away.
The cat did end up going home.
We did find the owner and I know wedid tell the owner to go ahead and
make sure that all the informationfor the microchip was updated.
Can you explain what a dead endmicrochip is and why it is a common
(03:01):
problem with pet reunification?
Jeanette (03:06):
Absolutely.
So as I said, I'm thedirector for microchip help.
We have researched, oh, about 1500 chipsjust last year of the dead end microchips.
And what they are either a microchipthat is registered to an owner.
The owner information has not beenupdated either it's the same owner
(03:29):
with a new address and phone number.
They've moved, they haven't updated thechip or it the owner had rehomed the dog.
And therefore the informationis updated as well.
Or we have many scenarios where the chiphas just never been registered and and.
(03:50):
You have to look for the facility thatmicrochip the dog or cat and contact
them, get the owner information.
Sometimes that informationis also outdated.
And then you have the scenario wherethe microchip is just impossible to
find even who the manufacturer or theimplant facility, person or facility
(04:12):
that, that actually microchip the.
Those are a little bit more of a challengebut it without, we find that 30 to 40%
of people don't ever register theirmicrochip and facilities and rescues.
Assume that people go home andfollow directions, read the
(04:34):
paperwork, call the chip company,make sure their information's in.
People get home, they're excited tohave their new animal, or they get
home from picking up their animalfrom a shelter after being reunited.
If it's been missing a while, they forget.
They don't think aboutit, they don't realize.
But super important to make sure thateven if you do register, that you
(04:54):
call back later and make sure thatthe information was input correctly.
We're all human and sometimesnumbers are entered wrong.
So we always suggest that, butanytime you have an address or phone
number changed, super critical thatyou contact the chip company and
change that information with them.
(05:16):
That's really the only way that.
That there's gonna be an easy wayfor your animal to be reunited.
If there's no ID tag on, which of coursewe recommend ID tags first and foremost,
and the microchip as well to back that up.
'Cause those are sometimes missing.
(05:36):
Super important.
We also recommend you have an alternatecontact on your microchip that you trust,
either a family member or a close friendin case something happens to you or
you're out of town, you can't be reached.
And always make sure that getsupdated to somebody you trust as well.
We've had cases where the alternatecontact was an ex and they really
(06:01):
didn't own the dog anymore, butthey were contacted and picked
the dog up and things like that.
Super important to, to be aware of whoyour microchip is registered to, and
the contact information be current.
Dixie (06:15):
Can you take us like, I guess through the beginning of
basically like what is a microchip?
For people that don't knowwhat a microchip is, and they
always hear this term, you'regonna get your pet microchipped.
Or they adopt an animal from the shelterand the shelter says, okay, it is
microchipped Can you explain what that is?
A little bit?
Jeanette (06:34):
So a microchip is about the size of a grain of rice.
It's implanted under the animal skin,usually between the shoulder blades,
and what they do is they each containa unique identification number.
So when a lost pet is found, a microchipscanner, which picks up the frequency of
(06:57):
that microchip, reads the identificationnumber, and then it displays it on the
screen so that microchip is supposedto be registered with a database.
Which links it to theowner's contact information.
So it's basically a little chip that,that goes under the skin that contains
(07:18):
a unique number, and that number islinked to the owner if it's registered.
Dixie (07:26):
So if somebody picks up a pet and the pet is microchipped,
you'd wanna take it to a vet or ascanning station and get it scanned.
To see if it has a microchip.
Jeanette (07:34):
Yes.
A vet, A lot of police departmentshave scanners, animal control
facilities can scan the dog, like yousaid, a vet even like a pet smart,
they oftentimes will have a scanner.
But if you call around, you can almostalways find something really close by.
And yes, as soon as that chip number comesup on the scanner, that, so once you pull
(08:00):
that chip number up, if you check Aha,this is how it should work if you go onto
the pet microchip lookup database online,it will tell you where that microchip is
registered, if it is registered, and thenyou would call that microchip company and
you would owner information from that.
(08:21):
Super important to have your animalmicrochip and, registered because
without a caller, an ID tag on.
That's really the only waysomebody can know that is your dog.
Dixie (08:36):
Absolutely.
And another thing that I would like tomention too, 'cause I think there's this
misconception that a microchip is GPS.
And it definitely is not GPS.
So if your pet does go missing, you wannanotify that microchip company as well
to tell them that your pet is missingbecause it doesn't have any kind of GPS.
Yeah.
You're not gonna be able to findout from that microchip where
(08:58):
your pet is actually located.
Jeanette (09:02):
Correct.
People do think that they areGPS also, but they are not.
They have to physically be taken somewhereto be scanned to get that chip number,
and that's the only way you're gonnato know if the dog has a microchip.
Dixie (09:19):
Now, have you ever come across any situations to where the microchip has
migrated to another portion on the body?
I know they insert it between the shoulderblades, but I have heard that they could
also move like down the arm or a littlebit off to the side of the shoulder.
Jeanette (09:34):
Oh, yes, they definitely can.
And yes, there's, we'vedefinitely run across that.
A good facility will know to scan thedog or cat thoroughly like an s pattern
across their body from their shoulderblades, to their back end and down their
legs, up and down their legs as well.
It does happen, see they're implantedand they're supposed to grab into
(09:58):
the muscle tissue right there.
They do over timesometimes they can migrate.
And we always recommend once whenyour dog is microchipped, to keep
'em quiet for 24 hours, no baths.
Not a lot of huge playful activity.
'cause you know you wanna let thatkind of settle into the tissue.
Dixie (10:18):
Can you run us through the process of somebody contacting
you for a dead end microchip?
What is step one?
What do you do?
And also is this something thatpeople can do at home on their own,
Jeanette (10:33):
On their own?
Some of it they can, yes.
If the chip is registered,it should be an easy process.
It's how it should work.
So how we work?
Let me explain I guess how it shouldwork and then what to do if it doesn't.
So when a, when you find an animal,if you get the dog scanned, and as
(10:53):
I mentioned before, if the dog hasa microchip and you put the number
into the pet microchip lookup tool.
It's called aha.
It's the American AnimalHospital Association.
They have a registry and it showswhere the chip is registered and it
(11:16):
may show the chip is registered intowhat company, along with the contact
information for that chip company.
or.
It may show that the microchip is notregistered, but it might show you what
company to call to find out who thechip was sold to, like if it was sold
to a vet, then you can contact the vetclinic and find the owner information.
(11:40):
Very often.
When a good Samaritan finds an animaland calls a vet clinic, they will try
to contact the owner themselves ratherthan giving out personal information.
That is the same with same betrue for most chip companies.
A lot of times the information isprivate, but they will reach out to
(12:01):
the owner for you and get in touchwith them and have them contact you.
But.
When you contact the microchip company,they should be able to provide you
who they sold the chip to so thatyou can contact that facility.
Or another scenario is whenyou put the number in aha.
It might show a list of manufacturersthat possibly manufactured the chip.
(12:25):
And with those cases, very oftenyou're gonna have a dead end.
And as I mentioned there'sdifferent scenarios for dead end.
It could be outdated information,could be the dog was re-homed and the
information isn't current again, or thatyou can't find any owner information.
So in that case.
(12:45):
We recommend you submit tous to microchip help.com.
It's a quick jot form, so youwould just fill out that form.
It comes to us directly, toour nonprofit organization.
And the case gets posted to our group.
We have a group of about 20 volunteersright now all across the nation.
(13:07):
We do the same thing.
We get the chip number from your jot form.
It'll have all your information wherethe dog was found, the microchip number,
how long you're gonna hold the dog,if the dog gets taken somewhere else.
We get cases from shelters, policedepartments that clinics as well.
And we work with a lot of animal controlfacilities throughout the nation.
(13:32):
So we're pretty busy.
I.
But if you're a good Samaritan,yes, you can take those steps, as I
mentioned before, get the chip number,check aha check if it's registered.
Contact the chip company.
If the chip companycontact the owner for you.
Great.
If they provide you informationsome will, not all will.
(13:53):
It depends if there's a privacyon that information or not.
So yes, you can do these things athome, but when you hit a dead end,
submitting the form to us is superhelpful because, and depending on the
scenario when you submit it to us, asI said, it gets posted to our group.
We look up the same thingthat you would've done.
(14:13):
We look up the chip number, we checkaha, we call the manufacturer, or
we, we have agreements with them.
So we get owner information.
As a shelter or police departmentwould, animal control facility would,
because of our nonprofit and becauseof the work that we do we've made
agreements with the chip company so theinformation isn't held private from us.
(14:36):
So we get the owner information or we, ifit's one of those chips where you couldn't
figure out who the manufacturer was.
We work really hard on trying to getsome information on who the chip came
from, who the chip was sold to, tryingto get owner information that way.
And we take that information if it'soutdated owner, if we have an owner's
(14:57):
name and the information's outdated, wehave a few paid subscriptions that we use.
And we do background searches skiptracing, if you wanna call it that.
And we work on reaching thatowner or a family member, people
at the address things like that.
We so we're really diligentabout trying to make sure that
(15:21):
we have turned everything.
That we can to find this owner.
Yeah, ask, I think if there'sanything else that I missed.
So yeah, that's basicallywhat we do in a nutshell.
Dixie (15:33):
I know it works.
'cause like I said, I had that one thatI totally hit a dead end on and you were
able to come through with that one now.
Another thing too that I would liketo mention, just from like the chips
that I have gotten and the groups thatI work on, 'cause sometimes people
will contact me, give me the chip,is I find a lot of times they'll take
the animals maybe to a vet clinic.
(15:55):
They'll get 'em scanned, they'llstart doing the process and they
never ever hear from the owner.
And so at that point theystart going into panic mode.
I found that if at that point if I textwho the owner is, usually the owner will
come through right away and reply to thetext and be like, oh yeah, that's my pet.
I've been looking for my pet.
(16:16):
So do you think it would be helpfulwhen you bring a lost pet to the
vet's office to scan if it does scanfor a chip to tell them to maybe
text the owner instead of calling?
Because I think sometimes with the callingthey, you get those kind of robocalls and
a lot of people just tend to ignore those.
Jeanette (16:34):
100%.
Yes.
We work with one large animalcontrol facility and they do
not have the capability to text.
And I do feel that is a definitedetriment because you're right,
people think everything's a scam.
They don't answer, theydon't pay attention.
I don't know if it.
What the actual screen isshowing when those numbers call.
(16:58):
But we find the same thing thatwhen we text and especially we
like to text a photo of the animalthat it really makes a difference
in the responses that you can get.
We always call first just tosee if it's a working number.
We listen to see if the owner.
Has an outgoing message with theirname, so we know we've got the correct
(17:19):
phone number because sometimes you'recalling and texting someone that
you know the number really isn'tcurrent, but you don't know that.
So we always call first and then wefollow up with a text with why we're
calling and with a photo of the animal.
And it helps tremendously if the phonenumber's correct and if it's not, they'll
say, I'm sorry, this is the wrong number.
(17:40):
She used to have this numberbefore, or something like that.
So definitely, I agree with youa hundred percent that texting.
Is way better than thephone calls and emails.
We follow up with emails as well.
But again, not everyone'schecking emails as often.
So texting is definitely thequickest and most successful way.
(18:04):
We Facebook message, we do allkinds of things to reach owners.
We spend a lot of time,exhausting everything we do.
LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, anythingwe can find on these owners just in
case they're not getting the messages.
If the phone numbers aren'tworking and emails aren't going
through and things like that.
But yes, I agree.
(18:25):
Texting is huge.
I wish all the facilitiescould start with that,
Dixie (18:30):
You said you have a group about 20 volunteers.
Do you ever recruit new volunteersif people wanted to assist with this?
Jeanette (18:38):
Oh yeah.
We're always open totaking new volunteers.
We like people that are self-starters,don't mind making phone calls that like to
do detective type of work and are adamantabout finding families non-judgmental.
We don't judge the owners.
We feel everyone shouldbe able to have a dog if.
(18:59):
As long as they're not abusingor neglecting, things like that.
But yeah, we're always looking forvolunteers that fit that kind of slot.
Dixie (19:10):
Okay.
I'll include a link to yoursite too in the description so
that way people can contact you.
Jeanette (19:16):
Thank you.
Yeah.
Dixie (19:16):
If they're interested.
So I'd like to move on to your workwith Lost Dogs of Illinois and,.
If you could go over when yourpet goes missing, what are the
top three things maybe that youshould do to try to locate your pet
? Jeanette (19:31):
We have a list of five things people should do
when their pet goes missing.
So first thing we and thesearen't necessarily all in
order, depends on the scenario.
Dogs are missing from accidents,car accidents, or from a pet
sitter, things like that.
But if the dog's missing from home we sayimmediately put out food, water and your
(19:52):
dog's bed or an article of your clothing.
Even a used pillowcase at thelocation where your dog was last seen.
A lot of times dogs will circlearound and come, just come back
to the area they took off from.
That's just their instinctual.
Pattern.
If they're chased however, or,pushed out of the area for whatever
(20:14):
reason then, that's harder forthem to make their way back.
But scent items are huge.
So food, water, your dog'sbed, or an article of clothing.
Then we also suggest getting theword out by flyers and yard signs.
We suggest going door to door, givingflyers to everyone in the area.
(20:34):
Having a picture and a phonenumber on that flyer is huge.
All over the neighborhood.
Then we say contact your localanimal shelters and animal control
facilities, vet clinics in yourarea, and definitely report your
missing dog to the police department.
We recommend if you can eitheremail them or bring over flyer
(21:00):
a flyer of the, of your dog too.
So they have picture, very important.
We say instruct everyone that's helpingyou not to call or chase your dog.
When a dog's been missing for a while,they go into flight mode, fight or flight
mode, and they won't even sometimesrecognize an owner right away because
they've been, out for a while and they'rejust trying to stay safe and get food.
(21:24):
Just trying to cover their basicneeds and they're not really
paying attention to who it is.
They're just.
Taking off wheneveranybody tries to pursue.
So we instruct that anyone that ishelping you and anyone in the area not
call or chase a dog we recommend luring.
So sitting down with treatswaiting for the dog to come to you.
(21:46):
And then obviously post to PetFBI.org,
which is our sisterorganization that will.
Get your dog registered and postedto Lost Dogs Illinois right away.
They are our database and lost Dogs.
Illinois is our Facebook page.
We send tips and flyer templates ready foryou guys to print, for anybody to print.
(22:10):
So you don't have to worryabout trying to make those up.
They're ready.
You send them to you, you just print them.
But social media.
Is huge.
Next door is huge.
Any of the local often foundFacebook groups are very important.
Not everyone's on social media.
So the flyers are number oneto get everyone in the area
(22:32):
able to see your animal.
Making your dog famous is what we say.
Yeah.
So those
are really the five things.
Yep.
Dixie (22:41):
So you said that you should always go to the shelter in
person to go look for your animal
Jeanette (22:48):
the stray holds, can be short.
If your dog is not microchipped itcould be three days for the stray hold.
So we recommend you go in person.
Definitely keep checking thewebsite, but if you can go in
person at least once every few days,you know , it's really helpful.
Dixie (23:07):
Now, would this be true, even if your dog is microchipped, would
you still go check the shelters?
Jeanette (23:14):
If it were my dog, I would go still check their shelters.
Microchips can be missed.
It's not super common,but they can be missed.
And especially as we talked about,they can migrate it's not 100%.
And you may think your chip is registeredand maybe it isn't, or, maybe the
(23:35):
phone number was entered wrong or maybethe shelter overlooked the research.
If it were my dog, yes, Iwould say definitely go every
once, at least every once.
Every three days or sojust to, for peace of mind.
At some point if your dog'smissing a long time, that might
not be something you can do.
(23:55):
But definitely check the microchip.
I mean that, that's on the list as well.
I guess I skipped over that, butdefinitely when you're contacting
animal shelters and all that, makesure you contact the chip company
and report your dog is missing.
Dixie (24:10):
I agree with you too on that.
And I find too that people don'tunderstand that a lot of the times
the shelter staff is also very busy.
When an animal comes in, they may notbe able to scan the animal right away,
or they may quickly scan the animal, andif the chip has migrated, then you know,
they may not actually detect the chip.
(24:33):
I've heard of a couple of situationswhere the chips can actually go bad
after a certain amount of time as well.
Jeanette (24:41):
I've heard
that, but I have not.
Actually ever had evidence of that.
So I cannot confirm or deny that.
I have never heard someone say, my dogis chipped, but the chip didn't work.
In nine years I have not come across that.
So I can't confirm or deny that.
But I will say that, sometimesanimals have been, dogs are
(25:01):
cats have been scanned in.
When they come into the shelterand they've found no chip, but they
also scan when leaving with a rescueand then the chip is detected.
So again, chips can be missed.
And I have definitelyhad that scenario happen.
I wouldn't say often, but occasionally.
So you know, don't always100% rely on that microchip.
Dixie (25:26):
And I can see how that could happen too, because it is a frequency, so if
it's a chip and the scanner doesn't havethat particular frequency to detect it,
then you know, it could just be a matterof the scanner that's being used as well.
Jeanette (25:41):
It could be.
I would hope that the facilities areusing the scanners , that can scan all
the frequencies that are out there.
They should be using the correct ones.
But, there are things that interfere withscanning too, if you're around a lot of
metal it, there are scenarios for sure.
Dixie (26:03):
Now when it comes to people finding dogs, what are
the first steps they should take?
Jeanette (26:11):
So similar we still always suggest flyers but we have our five
things to do if you find a dog as well.
If you go to our website, you could seethat, but you just, obviously you check
if the dog has an ID tag on, take the dogto the nearest shelter or veterinarian's
office to scan for a microchip.
(26:33):
Notify the police department animalcontrol facilities to make sure that the
owner hasn't reported the dog missing.
Call the animal control agency to completea found dog report or bring a flyer to
them same as you would for a lost dog.
(26:53):
Create lost or found dog flyers.
Post them around the area.
Very important 'cause not everybody,again, is on social media.
And then again, post toour group pet fbi.org
to, to get the dog.
Registered and posted to LostDogs Illinois or whatever
state the dog is missing from.
And next door we always recommend, andthe local lost and found Facebook groups.
(27:19):
There's a lot of Facebook groups now forall different kinds of lost and found
pets and there, a lot of local pages.
So those can be super helpful.
But again, not everyone's on socialmedia, so the flyers are really important.
So that's really those fivethings are what we recommend.
Dixie (27:38):
I know a lot of people tend to lose hope when they do lose a dog.
So do you see an average amount oftime with a reunification happening?
Jeanette (27:51):
I wouldn't say there's an average amount of time.
But we do tend to, the more you makeyour dog famous, the more likely.
The dog will get home,as quickly as possible.
We have cases of dogs missingfor, a couple hours to a couple
of days, to a couple of years.
(28:12):
There's really all kinds of scenarios.
The microchip obviously is when they'regone for a longer period of time.
That is really the keyto getting your dog home.
Dixie (28:26):
Absolutely.
And one thing that I did wanna endon too before we close out this
conversation is that I know a lot ofpeople, they're always, oh, I'm busy.
I can't volunteer with a group.
I'd love to help animals, but I can'thelp animals because I'm busy with work.
But what you do with the Lost DogsIllinois, and then the microchip help.
(28:50):
That's all stuff that you can do.
From home and so youcould do it on your own.
Absolutely.
Time schedule, especially like withthe Lost Dogs, any of the lost pets,
you can go scour through the Lost Petsgroups and just do what I call matching.
You go look for photos of foundpets and you compare 'em with lost
(29:11):
pets, and a lot of the times that'show these pets are getting home.
So do you have any concludingmessage for people and can you give
us more information on how peoplecan get involved with your groups?
Jeanette (29:27):
Yeah, of course.
If you're in Illinois Lost Dogs, Illinoisis always looking for people to help
our volunteers actually pick up shifts.
So you can pick times that work for you.
You can do hour, an hour,two hours, however many hours
you wanna put in on a shift.
And we have a calendar, our volunteersput themselves in those shifts.
(29:50):
When you take those shifts, youcover incoming loss and found dogs.
You message owners you send flyersto them, give tips what to do.
So anybody really can do that because youcan really make your own time, make your
own schedule for when you're available.
(30:11):
We, weekends, evenings,we work around your work.
So very easy to do.
And then as far as and tovolunteer for Lost Dogs, Illinois,
you just go on our website, wehave an application form there.
pet fbi.org
Is our partner organization.
They are our database.
They have their Facebookpages for different states.
(30:33):
So if you are in another state,you can go to pet fbi.org
and sign in volunteer application There.
And then for microchip help.com,
if you go to our website,it's near the bottom.
There is also a form to volunteer with us.
It's a little different as far as timecommitment because when you pick up
(30:53):
a case, you're not gonna know whetheryou're gonna reach an owner in five
minutes or you're gonna be workingon trying to find family members or
some connections to other people.
You could be working on it for days.
I hate to say that, but it happens veryoften where you don't hear back from
anyone and you're just trying and trying.
(31:14):
We don't give up.
So we do spend a lot of time.
That's a little different scenario.
But again, when you pick up a case,you pick up a case when you have time.
There are definitely ways to get involved.
As you said, the matchmaking thatisn't an actual position that we have.
But we have a lot of fans thatgo to our page and kind of
do that stuff on their own.
Then they comment on our posts andthey've matched many dogs that way.
(31:39):
Whatever your level of commitmentis . It all helps for a team takes
a village to get these animals homeand any help is always appreciated.
Dixie (31:49):
Thank you for the work that you do and I, like I said, I can
definitely attest that it worksbecause you did get a cat home.
Jeanette (31:57):
Thank you.
And we loved helping.
Dixie (32:00):
Thank you so much, Jeanette, for speaking with me today.
I truly appreciate it.
Jeanette (32:04):
You're welcome.
Thank you so much.
Dixie (32:06):
Now, before we end this episode , I just wanted to go over some of
the tips if you lost an indoor cat.
We covered some of the tips for dogs,so I just quickly wanted to go over some
things that would be pertinent for cats.
And the reason I say indoor only isbecause if it's an indoor outdoor
cat, it changes things a bitbecause your cat is outside already.
(32:27):
So for an indoor outdoor cat,your cat may have been trapped.
Your cat may have accidentallyhitched a ride with somebody
and ended up somewhere else.
So the first tip specifically isgonna be for indoor only cats, and
that has a lot to do with scent.
A lot of people will tend to put a scentitem outside, like dirty towels or dirty
(32:52):
clothes some stinky cat food, like tuna orsomething that your cat really likes, and
Those scent items that you would putoutside definitely are gonna help.
But with an indoor cat, your indoor catis most likely hiding really close by.
So I find that the best thing todo is actually just lock up any
(33:14):
other pets that you may have.
Open the door, put your scent itemright by your door, and most of the
time your cat is gonna run back in.
And then of course, you'd wanna followthrough with the other things that
Jeanette suggested as well, like callingthe shelter, doing your flyers, not
chasing your cat because your cat isgonna be terrified , even though this
(33:35):
might be the sweetest cat inside.
If you're outside, your cat is not knowingwhat's going on, and your cat's still
gonna be scared of you, so you wannajust lay low and let the cat come to you.
Don't try to go grab your cat,you may have to use a humane trap.
I do find that works most of the time.
'cause your cat will get hungry, you putit really close to your house wherever you
(33:58):
have someplace that they could be hiding,like some bushes or something like that.
and if you follow those tips, most of thetime you can get your indoor cat home.
But I'm gonna say openingthat door, that's a thing
that seems to work the best.
So thanks everybody for listeningand we'll catch you next week.
Bye.
If you are enjoying our show, pleaseconsider leaving us a donation.
(34:21):
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Song by Suno.ai
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Welcome everybody.
We're gonna have aninteresting show today.
We are gonna be welcoming Jeanette Garlow.
She is the director for microchip help.com
and also the co-directorfor Lost Dogs Illinois
. Jeanette (00:24):
Hello.
Dixie (00:25):
Hi Jeanette.
How are you?
Jeanette (00:27):
I'm good.
Dixie (00:28):
To get started, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Jeanette (00:34):
This is Jeanette Garlow.
I am the co-directorfor Lost Dogs Illinois.
I have been with Lost Dogs, Illinoisfor nine years now, and I am also
the director for Microchip Help.com
and I have been with Microchiphelp for nearly nine years as well.
Started that almost a year aftermy start with lost Dogs Illinois.
(00:58):
And we reunite, lost and founddogs with their families.
Dixie (01:04):
What prompted you to get involved with helping people find their lost dogs?
Jeanette (01:11):
As most people in animal welfare, i've always
had a passion for dogs.
Just even as a toddler, Iwould gravitate to dogs.
I have always had empathy fordogs and shelters and I know, deep
down that some of these animalsare there and don't belong there.
That there's homes they belong in.
(01:34):
And I had a friend about overnine years ago who lost her
dog and I was helping her.
I was very involved withhelping her find her dog.
And that's when I learnedabout Lost Dogs Illinois.
And just felt like that wassomething that aligned with
everything that I felt in my heart.
(01:56):
That's how I got involved with theorganization, fell in love with what
they do and that's where I started.
Dixie (02:05):
Yeah.
I'm very passionate about helpingpeople find their pets as well.
I started some groups on Facebook.
Jeanette (02:11):
Yeah.
Dixie (02:11):
Several years ago and I got involved 'cause it's an easy
way to help people from home,
Jeanette (02:17):
absolutely.
Dixie (02:18):
Everybody can do it.
And I know I got in touch with youbecause we had a cat pop up on our
group and it had a microchip, butthe microchip didn't go anywhere.
And that would be what's calledlike a dead end microchip.
And normally I'm pretty goodat tracking them, but with
this one I got really stuck.
(02:39):
So I sent that information overto you and you were able to pull
up that information right away.
The cat did end up going home.
We did find the owner and I know wedid tell the owner to go ahead and
make sure that all the informationfor the microchip was updated.
Can you explain what a dead endmicrochip is and why it is a common
(03:01):
problem with pet reunification?
Jeanette (03:06):
Absolutely.
So as I said, I'm thedirector for microchip help.
We have researched, oh, about 1500 chipsjust last year of the dead end microchips.
And what they are either a microchipthat is registered to an owner.
The owner information has not beenupdated either it's the same owner
(03:29):
with a new address and phone number.
They've moved, they haven't updated thechip or it the owner had rehomed the dog.
And therefore the informationis updated as well.
Or we have many scenarios where the chiphas just never been registered and and.
(03:50):
You have to look for the facility thatmicrochip the dog or cat and contact
them, get the owner information.
Sometimes that informationis also outdated.
And then you have the scenario wherethe microchip is just impossible to
find even who the manufacturer or theimplant facility, person or facility
(04:12):
that, that actually microchip the.
Those are a little bit more of a challengebut it without, we find that 30 to 40%
of people don't ever register theirmicrochip and facilities and rescues.
Assume that people go home andfollow directions, read the
(04:34):
paperwork, call the chip company,make sure their information's in.
People get home, they're excited tohave their new animal, or they get
home from picking up their animalfrom a shelter after being reunited.
If it's been missing a while, they forget.
They don't think aboutit, they don't realize.
But super important to make sure thateven if you do register, that you
(04:54):
call back later and make sure thatthe information was input correctly.
We're all human and sometimesnumbers are entered wrong.
So we always suggest that, butanytime you have an address or phone
number changed, super critical thatyou contact the chip company and
change that information with them.
(05:16):
That's really the only way that.
That there's gonna be an easy wayfor your animal to be reunited.
If there's no ID tag on, which of coursewe recommend ID tags first and foremost,
and the microchip as well to back that up.
'Cause those are sometimes missing.
(05:36):
Super important.
We also recommend you have an alternatecontact on your microchip that you trust,
either a family member or a close friendin case something happens to you or
you're out of town, you can't be reached.
And always make sure that getsupdated to somebody you trust as well.
We've had cases where the alternatecontact was an ex and they really
(06:01):
didn't own the dog anymore, butthey were contacted and picked
the dog up and things like that.
Super important to, to be aware of whoyour microchip is registered to, and
the contact information be current.
Dixie (06:15):
Can you take us like, I guess through the beginning of
basically like what is a microchip?
For people that don't knowwhat a microchip is, and they
always hear this term, you'regonna get your pet microchipped.
Or they adopt an animal from the shelterand the shelter says, okay, it is
microchipped Can you explain what that is?
A little bit?
Jeanette (06:34):
So a microchip is about the size of a grain of rice.
It's implanted under the animal skin,usually between the shoulder blades,
and what they do is they each containa unique identification number.
So when a lost pet is found, a microchipscanner, which picks up the frequency of
(06:57):
that microchip, reads the identificationnumber, and then it displays it on the
screen so that microchip is supposedto be registered with a database.
Which links it to theowner's contact information.
So it's basically a little chip that,that goes under the skin that contains
(07:18):
a unique number, and that number islinked to the owner if it's registered.
Dixie (07:26):
So if somebody picks up a pet and the pet is microchipped,
you'd wanna take it to a vet or ascanning station and get it scanned.
To see if it has a microchip.
Jeanette (07:34):
Yes.
A vet, A lot of police departmentshave scanners, animal control
facilities can scan the dog, like yousaid, a vet even like a pet smart,
they oftentimes will have a scanner.
But if you call around, you can almostalways find something really close by.
And yes, as soon as that chip number comesup on the scanner, that, so once you pull
(08:00):
that chip number up, if you check Aha,this is how it should work if you go onto
the pet microchip lookup database online,it will tell you where that microchip is
registered, if it is registered, and thenyou would call that microchip company and
you would owner information from that.
(08:21):
Super important to have your animalmicrochip and, registered because
without a caller, an ID tag on.
That's really the only waysomebody can know that is your dog.
Dixie (08:36):
Absolutely.
And another thing that I would like tomention too, 'cause I think there's this
misconception that a microchip is GPS.
And it definitely is not GPS.
So if your pet does go missing, you wannanotify that microchip company as well
to tell them that your pet is missingbecause it doesn't have any kind of GPS.
Yeah.
You're not gonna be able to findout from that microchip where
(08:58):
your pet is actually located.
Jeanette (09:02):
Correct.
People do think that they areGPS also, but they are not.
They have to physically be taken somewhereto be scanned to get that chip number,
and that's the only way you're gonnato know if the dog has a microchip.
Dixie (09:19):
Now, have you ever come across any situations to where the microchip has
migrated to another portion on the body?
I know they insert it between the shoulderblades, but I have heard that they could
also move like down the arm or a littlebit off to the side of the shoulder.
Jeanette (09:34):
Oh, yes, they definitely can.
And yes, there's, we'vedefinitely run across that.
A good facility will know to scan thedog or cat thoroughly like an s pattern
across their body from their shoulderblades, to their back end and down their
legs, up and down their legs as well.
It does happen, see they're implantedand they're supposed to grab into
(09:58):
the muscle tissue right there.
They do over timesometimes they can migrate.
And we always recommend once whenyour dog is microchipped, to keep
'em quiet for 24 hours, no baths.
Not a lot of huge playful activity.
'cause you know you wanna let thatkind of settle into the tissue.
Dixie (10:18):
Can you run us through the process of somebody contacting
you for a dead end microchip?
What is step one?
What do you do?
And also is this something thatpeople can do at home on their own,
Jeanette (10:33):
On their own?
Some of it they can, yes.
If the chip is registered,it should be an easy process.
It's how it should work.
So how we work?
Let me explain I guess how it shouldwork and then what to do if it doesn't.
So when a, when you find an animal,if you get the dog scanned, and as
(10:53):
I mentioned before, if the dog hasa microchip and you put the number
into the pet microchip lookup tool.
It's called aha.
It's the American AnimalHospital Association.
They have a registry and it showswhere the chip is registered and it
(11:16):
may show the chip is registered intowhat company, along with the contact
information for that chip company.
or.
It may show that the microchip is notregistered, but it might show you what
company to call to find out who thechip was sold to, like if it was sold
to a vet, then you can contact the vetclinic and find the owner information.
(11:40):
Very often.
When a good Samaritan finds an animaland calls a vet clinic, they will try
to contact the owner themselves ratherthan giving out personal information.
That is the same with same betrue for most chip companies.
A lot of times the information isprivate, but they will reach out to
(12:01):
the owner for you and get in touchwith them and have them contact you.
But.
When you contact the microchip company,they should be able to provide you
who they sold the chip to so thatyou can contact that facility.
Or another scenario is whenyou put the number in aha.
It might show a list of manufacturersthat possibly manufactured the chip.
(12:25):
And with those cases, very oftenyou're gonna have a dead end.
And as I mentioned there'sdifferent scenarios for dead end.
It could be outdated information,could be the dog was re-homed and the
information isn't current again, or thatyou can't find any owner information.
So in that case.
(12:45):
We recommend you submit tous to microchip help.com.
It's a quick jot form, so youwould just fill out that form.
It comes to us directly, toour nonprofit organization.
And the case gets posted to our group.
We have a group of about 20 volunteersright now all across the nation.
(13:07):
We do the same thing.
We get the chip number from your jot form.
It'll have all your information wherethe dog was found, the microchip number,
how long you're gonna hold the dog,if the dog gets taken somewhere else.
We get cases from shelters, policedepartments that clinics as well.
And we work with a lot of animal controlfacilities throughout the nation.
(13:32):
So we're pretty busy.
I.
But if you're a good Samaritan,yes, you can take those steps, as I
mentioned before, get the chip number,check aha check if it's registered.
Contact the chip company.
If the chip companycontact the owner for you.
Great.
If they provide you informationsome will, not all will.
(13:53):
It depends if there's a privacyon that information or not.
So yes, you can do these things athome, but when you hit a dead end,
submitting the form to us is superhelpful because, and depending on the
scenario when you submit it to us, asI said, it gets posted to our group.
We look up the same thingthat you would've done.
(14:13):
We look up the chip number, we checkaha, we call the manufacturer, or
we, we have agreements with them.
So we get owner information.
As a shelter or police departmentwould, animal control facility would,
because of our nonprofit and becauseof the work that we do we've made
agreements with the chip company so theinformation isn't held private from us.
(14:36):
So we get the owner information or we, ifit's one of those chips where you couldn't
figure out who the manufacturer was.
We work really hard on trying to getsome information on who the chip came
from, who the chip was sold to, tryingto get owner information that way.
And we take that information if it'soutdated owner, if we have an owner's
(14:57):
name and the information's outdated, wehave a few paid subscriptions that we use.
And we do background searches skiptracing, if you wanna call it that.
And we work on reaching thatowner or a family member, people
at the address things like that.
We so we're really diligentabout trying to make sure that
(15:21):
we have turned everything.
That we can to find this owner.
Yeah, ask, I think if there'sanything else that I missed.
So yeah, that's basicallywhat we do in a nutshell.
Dixie (15:33):
I know it works.
'cause like I said, I had that one thatI totally hit a dead end on and you were
able to come through with that one now.
Another thing too that I would liketo mention, just from like the chips
that I have gotten and the groups thatI work on, 'cause sometimes people
will contact me, give me the chip,is I find a lot of times they'll take
the animals maybe to a vet clinic.
(15:55):
They'll get 'em scanned, they'llstart doing the process and they
never ever hear from the owner.
And so at that point theystart going into panic mode.
I found that if at that point if I textwho the owner is, usually the owner will
come through right away and reply to thetext and be like, oh yeah, that's my pet.
I've been looking for my pet.
(16:16):
So do you think it would be helpfulwhen you bring a lost pet to the
vet's office to scan if it does scanfor a chip to tell them to maybe
text the owner instead of calling?
Because I think sometimes with the callingthey, you get those kind of robocalls and
a lot of people just tend to ignore those.
Jeanette (16:34):
100%.
Yes.
We work with one large animalcontrol facility and they do
not have the capability to text.
And I do feel that is a definitedetriment because you're right,
people think everything's a scam.
They don't answer, theydon't pay attention.
I don't know if it.
What the actual screen isshowing when those numbers call.
(16:58):
But we find the same thing thatwhen we text and especially we
like to text a photo of the animalthat it really makes a difference
in the responses that you can get.
We always call first just tosee if it's a working number.
We listen to see if the owner.
Has an outgoing message with theirname, so we know we've got the correct
(17:19):
phone number because sometimes you'recalling and texting someone that
you know the number really isn'tcurrent, but you don't know that.
So we always call first and then wefollow up with a text with why we're
calling and with a photo of the animal.
And it helps tremendously if the phonenumber's correct and if it's not, they'll
say, I'm sorry, this is the wrong number.
(17:40):
She used to have this numberbefore, or something like that.
So definitely, I agree with youa hundred percent that texting.
Is way better than thephone calls and emails.
We follow up with emails as well.
But again, not everyone'schecking emails as often.
So texting is definitely thequickest and most successful way.
(18:04):
We Facebook message, we do allkinds of things to reach owners.
We spend a lot of time,exhausting everything we do.
LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, anythingwe can find on these owners just in
case they're not getting the messages.
If the phone numbers aren'tworking and emails aren't going
through and things like that.
But yes, I agree.
(18:25):
Texting is huge.
I wish all the facilitiescould start with that,
Dixie (18:30):
You said you have a group about 20 volunteers.
Do you ever recruit new volunteersif people wanted to assist with this?
Jeanette (18:38):
Oh yeah.
We're always open totaking new volunteers.
We like people that are self-starters,don't mind making phone calls that like to
do detective type of work and are adamantabout finding families non-judgmental.
We don't judge the owners.
We feel everyone shouldbe able to have a dog if.
(18:59):
As long as they're not abusingor neglecting, things like that.
But yeah, we're always looking forvolunteers that fit that kind of slot.
Dixie (19:10):
Okay.
I'll include a link to yoursite too in the description so
that way people can contact you.
Jeanette (19:16):
Thank you.
Yeah.
Dixie (19:16):
If they're interested.
So I'd like to move on to your workwith Lost Dogs of Illinois and,.
If you could go over when yourpet goes missing, what are the
top three things maybe that youshould do to try to locate your pet
? Jeanette (19:31):
We have a list of five things people should do
when their pet goes missing.
So first thing we and thesearen't necessarily all in
order, depends on the scenario.
Dogs are missing from accidents,car accidents, or from a pet
sitter, things like that.
But if the dog's missing from home we sayimmediately put out food, water and your
(19:52):
dog's bed or an article of your clothing.
Even a used pillowcase at thelocation where your dog was last seen.
A lot of times dogs will circlearound and come, just come back
to the area they took off from.
That's just their instinctual.
Pattern.
If they're chased however, or,pushed out of the area for whatever
(20:14):
reason then, that's harder forthem to make their way back.
But scent items are huge.
So food, water, your dog'sbed, or an article of clothing.
Then we also suggest getting theword out by flyers and yard signs.
We suggest going door to door, givingflyers to everyone in the area.
(20:34):
Having a picture and a phonenumber on that flyer is huge.
All over the neighborhood.
Then we say contact your localanimal shelters and animal control
facilities, vet clinics in yourarea, and definitely report your
missing dog to the police department.
We recommend if you can eitheremail them or bring over flyer
(21:00):
a flyer of the, of your dog too.
So they have picture, very important.
We say instruct everyone that's helpingyou not to call or chase your dog.
When a dog's been missing for a while,they go into flight mode, fight or flight
mode, and they won't even sometimesrecognize an owner right away because
they've been, out for a while and they'rejust trying to stay safe and get food.
(21:24):
Just trying to cover their basicneeds and they're not really
paying attention to who it is.
They're just.
Taking off wheneveranybody tries to pursue.
So we instruct that anyone that ishelping you and anyone in the area not
call or chase a dog we recommend luring.
So sitting down with treatswaiting for the dog to come to you.
(21:46):
And then obviously post to PetFBI.org,
which is our sisterorganization that will.
Get your dog registered and postedto Lost Dogs Illinois right away.
They are our database and lost Dogs.
Illinois is our Facebook page.
We send tips and flyer templates ready foryou guys to print, for anybody to print.
(22:10):
So you don't have to worryabout trying to make those up.
They're ready.
You send them to you, you just print them.
But social media.
Is huge.
Next door is huge.
Any of the local often foundFacebook groups are very important.
Not everyone's on social media.
So the flyers are number oneto get everyone in the area
(22:32):
able to see your animal.
Making your dog famous is what we say.
Yeah.
So those
are really the five things.
Yep.
Dixie (22:41):
So you said that you should always go to the shelter in
person to go look for your animal
Jeanette (22:48):
the stray holds, can be short.
If your dog is not microchipped itcould be three days for the stray hold.
So we recommend you go in person.
Definitely keep checking thewebsite, but if you can go in
person at least once every few days,you know , it's really helpful.
Dixie (23:07):
Now, would this be true, even if your dog is microchipped, would
you still go check the shelters?
Jeanette (23:14):
If it were my dog, I would go still check their shelters.
Microchips can be missed.
It's not super common,but they can be missed.
And especially as we talked about,they can migrate it's not 100%.
And you may think your chip is registeredand maybe it isn't, or, maybe the
(23:35):
phone number was entered wrong or maybethe shelter overlooked the research.
If it were my dog, yes, Iwould say definitely go every
once, at least every once.
Every three days or sojust to, for peace of mind.
At some point if your dog'smissing a long time, that might
not be something you can do.
(23:55):
But definitely check the microchip.
I mean that, that's on the list as well.
I guess I skipped over that, butdefinitely when you're contacting
animal shelters and all that, makesure you contact the chip company
and report your dog is missing.
Dixie (24:10):
I agree with you too on that.
And I find too that people don'tunderstand that a lot of the times
the shelter staff is also very busy.
When an animal comes in, they may notbe able to scan the animal right away,
or they may quickly scan the animal, andif the chip has migrated, then you know,
they may not actually detect the chip.
(24:33):
I've heard of a couple of situationswhere the chips can actually go bad
after a certain amount of time as well.
Jeanette (24:41):
I've heard
that, but I have not.
Actually ever had evidence of that.
So I cannot confirm or deny that.
I have never heard someone say, my dogis chipped, but the chip didn't work.
In nine years I have not come across that.
So I can't confirm or deny that.
But I will say that, sometimesanimals have been, dogs are
(25:01):
cats have been scanned in.
When they come into the shelterand they've found no chip, but they
also scan when leaving with a rescueand then the chip is detected.
So again, chips can be missed.
And I have definitelyhad that scenario happen.
I wouldn't say often, but occasionally.
So you know, don't always100% rely on that microchip.
Dixie (25:26):
And I can see how that could happen too, because it is a frequency, so if
it's a chip and the scanner doesn't havethat particular frequency to detect it,
then you know, it could just be a matterof the scanner that's being used as well.
Jeanette (25:41):
It could be.
I would hope that the facilities areusing the scanners , that can scan all
the frequencies that are out there.
They should be using the correct ones.
But, there are things that interfere withscanning too, if you're around a lot of
metal it, there are scenarios for sure.
Dixie (26:03):
Now when it comes to people finding dogs, what are
the first steps they should take?
Jeanette (26:11):
So similar we still always suggest flyers but we have our five
things to do if you find a dog as well.
If you go to our website, you could seethat, but you just, obviously you check
if the dog has an ID tag on, take the dogto the nearest shelter or veterinarian's
office to scan for a microchip.
(26:33):
Notify the police department animalcontrol facilities to make sure that the
owner hasn't reported the dog missing.
Call the animal control agency to completea found dog report or bring a flyer to
them same as you would for a lost dog.
(26:53):
Create lost or found dog flyers.
Post them around the area.
Very important 'cause not everybody,again, is on social media.
And then again, post toour group pet fbi.org
to, to get the dog.
Registered and posted to LostDogs Illinois or whatever
state the dog is missing from.
And next door we always recommend, andthe local lost and found Facebook groups.
(27:19):
There's a lot of Facebook groups now forall different kinds of lost and found
pets and there, a lot of local pages.
So those can be super helpful.
But again, not everyone's on socialmedia, so the flyers are really important.
So that's really those fivethings are what we recommend.
Dixie (27:38):
I know a lot of people tend to lose hope when they do lose a dog.
So do you see an average amount oftime with a reunification happening?
Jeanette (27:51):
I wouldn't say there's an average amount of time.
But we do tend to, the more you makeyour dog famous, the more likely.
The dog will get home,as quickly as possible.
We have cases of dogs missingfor, a couple hours to a couple
of days, to a couple of years.
(28:12):
There's really all kinds of scenarios.
The microchip obviously is when they'regone for a longer period of time.
That is really the keyto getting your dog home.
Dixie (28:26):
Absolutely.
And one thing that I did wanna endon too before we close out this
conversation is that I know a lot ofpeople, they're always, oh, I'm busy.
I can't volunteer with a group.
I'd love to help animals, but I can'thelp animals because I'm busy with work.
But what you do with the Lost DogsIllinois, and then the microchip help.
(28:50):
That's all stuff that you can do.
From home and so youcould do it on your own.
Absolutely.
Time schedule, especially like withthe Lost Dogs, any of the lost pets,
you can go scour through the Lost Petsgroups and just do what I call matching.
You go look for photos of foundpets and you compare 'em with lost
(29:11):
pets, and a lot of the times that'show these pets are getting home.
So do you have any concludingmessage for people and can you give
us more information on how peoplecan get involved with your groups?
Jeanette (29:27):
Yeah, of course.
If you're in Illinois Lost Dogs, Illinoisis always looking for people to help
our volunteers actually pick up shifts.
So you can pick times that work for you.
You can do hour, an hour,two hours, however many hours
you wanna put in on a shift.
And we have a calendar, our volunteersput themselves in those shifts.
(29:50):
When you take those shifts, youcover incoming loss and found dogs.
You message owners you send flyersto them, give tips what to do.
So anybody really can do that because youcan really make your own time, make your
own schedule for when you're available.
(30:11):
We, weekends, evenings,we work around your work.
So very easy to do.
And then as far as and tovolunteer for Lost Dogs, Illinois,
you just go on our website, wehave an application form there.
pet fbi.org
Is our partner organization.
They are our database.
They have their Facebookpages for different states.
(30:33):
So if you are in another state,you can go to pet fbi.org
and sign in volunteer application There.
And then for microchip help.com,
if you go to our website,it's near the bottom.
There is also a form to volunteer with us.
It's a little different as far as timecommitment because when you pick up
(30:53):
a case, you're not gonna know whetheryou're gonna reach an owner in five
minutes or you're gonna be workingon trying to find family members or
some connections to other people.
You could be working on it for days.
I hate to say that, but it happens veryoften where you don't hear back from
anyone and you're just trying and trying.
(31:14):
We don't give up.
So we do spend a lot of time.
That's a little different scenario.
But again, when you pick up a case,you pick up a case when you have time.
There are definitely ways to get involved.
As you said, the matchmaking thatisn't an actual position that we have.
But we have a lot of fans thatgo to our page and kind of
do that stuff on their own.
Then they comment on our posts andthey've matched many dogs that way.
(31:39):
Whatever your level of commitmentis . It all helps for a team takes
a village to get these animals homeand any help is always appreciated.
Dixie (31:49):
Thank you for the work that you do and I, like I said, I can
definitely attest that it worksbecause you did get a cat home.
Jeanette (31:57):
Thank you.
And we loved helping.
Dixie (32:00):
Thank you so much, Jeanette, for speaking with me today.
I truly appreciate it.
Jeanette (32:04):
You're welcome.
Thank you so much.
Dixie (32:06):
Now, before we end this episode , I just wanted to go over some of
the tips if you lost an indoor cat.
We covered some of the tips for dogs,so I just quickly wanted to go over some
things that would be pertinent for cats.
And the reason I say indoor only isbecause if it's an indoor outdoor
cat, it changes things a bitbecause your cat is outside already.
(32:27):
So for an indoor outdoor cat,your cat may have been trapped.
Your cat may have accidentallyhitched a ride with somebody
and ended up somewhere else.
So the first tip specifically isgonna be for indoor only cats, and
that has a lot to do with scent.
A lot of people will tend to put a scentitem outside, like dirty towels or dirty
(32:52):
clothes some stinky cat food, like tuna orsomething that your cat really likes, and
Those scent items that you would putoutside definitely are gonna help.
But with an indoor cat, your indoor catis most likely hiding really close by.
So I find that the best thing todo is actually just lock up any
(33:14):
other pets that you may have.
Open the door, put your scent itemright by your door, and most of the
time your cat is gonna run back in.
And then of course, you'd wanna followthrough with the other things that
Jeanette suggested as well, like callingthe shelter, doing your flyers, not
chasing your cat because your cat isgonna be terrified , even though this
(33:35):
might be the sweetest cat inside.
If you're outside, your cat is not knowingwhat's going on, and your cat's still
gonna be scared of you, so you wannajust lay low and let the cat come to you.
Don't try to go grab your cat,you may have to use a humane trap.
I do find that works most of the time.
'cause your cat will get hungry, you putit really close to your house wherever you
(33:58):
have someplace that they could be hiding,like some bushes or something like that.
and if you follow those tips, most of thetime you can get your indoor cat home.
But I'm gonna say openingthat door, that's a thing
that seems to work the best.
So thanks everybody for listeningand we'll catch you next week.
Bye.
If you are enjoying our show, pleaseconsider leaving us a donation.
(34:21):
A hundred percent goes to our animals.
Paws in
the night Claws in thefight Whiskers twitch and
(34:42):
tails
take flight
They’re calling in Stories to spinFrom the wild to the heart within
Broken wings and hopeful springsWe’re the voices for these things
animal posse hear the call.
(35:05):
We stand together.
Big and small Rescue tales We’vegot it all Animal posse Saving
them
(35:28):
all
The vet’s got tips The rescuer’sgrit The foster homes where love
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(35:49):
the
strain
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Hear the call
We stand together Big
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and small Rescue tales We’ve gotit all Animal posse Saving them all
Every caller tells a tale, everyhowl a whispered wail, we rise up.
We never
(36:35):
fail.
This
is
the
bond
The holy grail
(36:55):
Animal posse Hear the call We standtogether Big and small Rescue tales We’ve
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