I’m sorry to hear that your cat is missing. If your cat was stolen, a search dog isn’t likely to be helpful. It sounds like you need the help of a licensed private investigator in your state and probably not a “pet detective”.

Apologies for taking so long to reply. I would label your cat a former outdoor-access cat, but whether or not a search dog would be effective would really depend on the dog’s training. Many search dogs only work relatively fresh scent of a week or less, so they would not be distracted by the month old scent trails. However, some trackers do train their dogs on very old scent trails. These dogs should still focus on the fresher scent trail, but might also alert to older scent trails especially in areas that your cat spent a lot of time in the past. So I would recommend discussing your particular situation with any tracking dog teams that you contact.

What about for an indoor cat that escaped? Is it the same or different?

To give more specifics, this is an indoor cat that’s about 5 mos old but was an outdoor cat for the first 4mos. He was a stray born by a momma stray/feral that took up residence under my shed. After the momma was done rearing the 2 kittens she took off & they stayed and I took to feeding them & they never really left my yard. Very friendly, always ran up & cake inside for an hr or 2. I was gonna bring them in by winter, then last month the unthinkable happened & the sister got hit by a car right out front. I immediately took the brother in & gave love & took to vet etc…. Now a month later, (13 hrs ago,) he got out & I’m stressed. Especially after just losing his sister. He doesn’t seem to be anywhere around the yard like he used to, I think becuz the momma came back & just gave birth to 2 more babies who aren’t even 4wks old yet & they’re hanging around…. (The way he got out was when I was putting food out cuz I can’t let newborns & their mom starve..)

Anyway so he’s an “indoor cat,” technically. Hasn’t been outside for over a month. Til today. Searched everywhere I can. So much on internet says they’ll come home on their own but with the other cats out there he seems to have gone. idk what to do. Sorry this was so long I just wanted to give background on why I said he’s an indoor cat, (despite first 4mos being outdoor.)

So is it different for indoor cats? Thx for any help, it’s appreciated.

I’m sorry to hear that your cat is missing. If you want to see if there is a search dog team in your area, check out the Guide to Finding a Pet Detective or Search Dog available in our store. https://lostpetresearch.com/store/guide-to-finding-a-pet-detective-or-search-dog/

Where can I find a track dog in Michigan to find my cat he was in heat been 3 days missing

If you want to find a search dog, check out the Guide to Finding a Pet Detective or Search Dog: https://lostpetresearch.com/product/guide-finding-pet-detective-search-dog/

I live in New Jersey just moved from Brooklyn New York, is it possible to hire a search dog?