List Spots Room by Room, Ranked by Preference
Cats hide in an order, and emergencies reward knowing it. Work through your home one room at a time and write down every place she has ever tucked herself: under the spare bed against the wall, on the wardrobe top, inside the airing cupboard, behind the sofa's loose corner. Rank each room's spots by how often she uses them, and mark her first-choice bolt hole — the one she heads for when the doorbell rings or the carrier appears — with a star. Searchers who check the starred spot first find most cats in the first minute.
Be forensic in the descriptions. 'Bedroom' wastes a searcher's time; 'behind the hanging dresses, entered from the left-hand wardrobe door, visible only with a torch' finds a cat. Note access quirks too: the under-bed gap she fits through that an arm cannot follow, the cupboard that must be opened slowly because she sits directly behind the door.
Separate Resting Spots From Fear Spots
Some places are naps; others are refuges, and the difference matters in an emergency. Mark which spots she uses on ordinary afternoons and which appear only under stress — fireworks, strangers in the house, the smoke alarm's test beep. A cat found in her fear refuge is telling the searcher she is frightened: the note beside that spot should say to speak softly, avoid reaching in, and let her emerge to a familiar voice or a treat trail rather than being pulled out.
Also record the places she investigates but cannot safely stay: behind appliances, inside the recliner mechanism, the garage if she slips through. In a fire, flood or urgent evacuation, searchers check the dangerous spots too, and a cat silent inside an appliance void will not announce herself.
Photograph Each Spot and Sketch the Map
Take a photo of every hiding place exactly as a searcher would see it — the closed wardrobe, then the open door showing the gap behind the coats. Photos remove the guesswork from written descriptions when the person searching has never been in your home. Number the photos to match the written list so the two work together under pressure.
Then draw a rough floor plan — it does not need draughtsmanship, just room shapes — and mark each numbered spot on it. A responder can walk the plan room by room, ticking spots off, instead of relying on memory mid-crisis. Update the map when furniture moves: a hiding place list describing the old sofa's position sends searchers to an empty corner while the cat sits inside the new one's base.
Record How to Coax, and How Not To
Finding her is half the task; the notes should say what works next. Write down the call, whistle or treat-packet sound she responds to, whether she comes to a stranger's voice or only to household members, and the treats worth using as a trail. Note handling limits plainly: scruffing is never the method, she can be wrapped in a towel by someone experienced, or she walks into a carrier left open with bedding inside if given ten quiet minutes.
State the grab risks honestly — the spot where a startled reach earns a bite, the window she has tried when cornered. A firefighter, neighbour or sitter who knows these things keeps the cat, and themselves, safer.
Keep the List With Her Emergency Information
Store the finished list with her emergency pack and share it with the people named there, not in a drawer nobody would open. Review it every few months and whenever she discovers a new spot — cats rotate hiding places as seasons and furniture change, and last year's map quietly expires.
Passed to a stand-in carer through a KinsLe Care Pass, the room-by-room list, photos and coaxing notes give them her hiding places and the key details to act calmly the moment she cannot be found.