Start with identification no one can argue with
Gather the facts that separate your cat from every similar-looking cat in the area. Write down her microchip number exactly as registered, and confirm the registry holds your current phone number. Note her sex, whether she is spayed or neutered, her approximate age and size, her breed or mix, and her coat length and colour described in plain words a stranger would use — not just the name you call her colouring at home.
Then list the features a photograph might miss: a nicked ear tip, a scar felt under the fur, a missing tooth, a bent tail tip, one white toe, or a patch that only shows when she rolls over. These are the details a veterinarian or shelter worker can check on a found cat who otherwise matches a dozen descriptions.
Photographs that actually help
Collect your clearest recent pictures: a face-on shot, both full sides, her back from above, and a close view of any unusual marking. A video of her walking helps too, because gait, tail carriage, and body shape are recognisable in a way a single portrait is not. Save the originals somewhere safe and note which images show her as she looks now, not as a kitten or before a recent groom changed her coat.
If she was wearing a collar, harness, or tag when taken, describe the colour, pattern, and hardware, while remembering a collar can be removed — it supports the record, it does not carry it alone.
The timeline of the theft itself
Write the circumstances down before the day blurs. When was she last definitely seen, and by whom? Where was she — garden, porch, an open window, a carrier in a vehicle? Who called at the house, what deliveries or work were happening nearby, and did anyone show unusual interest in her in the days before? Note vehicle descriptions, direction of travel, and anything neighbours or their door cameras may have caught, and ask them promptly before footage is overwritten.
Keep your notes factual and timed. A clear sequence helps police and shelters far more than a distressed retelling assembled later, and it stops important small details — a gate left open that is never open, a favourite toy also gone — from being lost.
Who to tell, and what to give them
Report the theft to the police and keep the reference they give you. Flag her as stolen with the microchip registry so any scan raises the alert, and send her description and photos to shelters, rescue groups, and veterinary practices beyond your immediate street — a stolen cat may be moved or may escape somewhere unfamiliar. Share a post built from the same facts, and check found-cat listings daily against her distinguishing marks rather than her name, which a finder cannot know.
Avoid publishing your full home address or offering details that invite false claims. Enough contact information to reach you quickly is what the record needs.
Proving ownership if she is found
Keep her adoption or purchase paperwork, vaccination and veterinary records, and older dated photographs together; together they show a history with her that a stranger cannot fabricate. If someone claims to have her, ask for a photo showing a specific marking before travelling, and arrange any handover somewhere safe and public with another person present.
A theft moves fastest in its first hours when the alert is precise, and KinsLe helps you act on that window because the Lost Pet Alert System sends your cat's alert to nearby Circle of Love members and lets a finder message you directly.