My friend Jane told me her neighbors were having an Independence Day party last night. It seems the fire works put an abrupt end to the festivities when the neighbors herd of cows panicked knocked down the fence and ran off into the night. Immediately following the fourth of July is generally the busy season for those of us helping people locate missing pets.

• If you know your pet is sound sensitive make sure he/she has current identification on.
• Lock your pet into a safe area
• Consult with your veterinarian about calming drugs, which can be administered before your pet works him/herself into a full-blown panic attack.

If your pet is lost

Cats in a panic usually run until they find the first sheltered area then they freeze there. Sometimes for days or even weeks! The cats simply do not respond catatonic is the only word appropriate for these animals. Many times owners give up looking before their cat comes out looking for food and is seen by others. Get out a good high-powered flashlight and begin searching under everything in a circle from your cats last know point. Finding the cat is only half the battle often we will be in the area where the cat is but still can not reach the cat. Patience and a good cat trap are often the techniques used to recover lost cats baby monitor and feeding stations have also been used successfully to recover lost cats once they get brave enough to move or hungry and thirsty enough to come out and eat.

Dogs generally run until exhausted. For a young healthy animal you might be searching miles away from the last known point. Frequently people do not expand their search far enough afield.

• Use poster techniques to cover as much ground as quickly as you can.
• Also use the internet resources to send flyers to every veterinarian in your surrounding areas. Contact the shelters and animal control both locally and in surrounding counties.

The good news is those dogs that are naturally friendly with people and or other dogs will often be recovered in short order if they have some form of identification on them either a tag or registered microchip. If you do not have either in a bind use a sharpie to write your phone number on your dogs collar. (Yes this is the voice of experience, I found the sharpie technique lasted as long as the camping trip.)