Why is it that a pet chooses the worst time to go missing? Granted, no time is ever good, but it is especially worrisome when it happens as you are walking out the door for a trip or it’s pitch dark and a storm is raging.

My daughter’s cat ran off right before her wedding. My dog dashed through the hotel door and out into the street at rush hour in San Francisco. Both came to happy endings, but they left fear etched on our hearts.

Most recently, the door to my neighbor’s house blew open on a rainy night last month. Even though neither of her cats had ever shown much interest in exploring the great outdoors, one of them took advantage of the situation and decided to cross the threshold. She was not discovered missing until sometime later, but by then Mim was long gone.

That night it was raining and very windy and there was a party going on a couple of houses down. The storm and the unusual activity of vehicles and people most likely spooked her as she is a shy cat.

A frightened cat will run and not take the time to mark her route or take mental notes of landmarks in order to return home. Watch a cat or dog sometime as it saunters down the street. There is a repeated glancing back over a shoulder as it walks, even on leash. This is the way they find their way back home, by imprinting the landscape in their memories.

When a pet goes missing, alert all your neighbors and post flyers, even blocks away. Enlist the help of kids that walk to and from the bus stop every school day. Ask the postman and the gardeners in your area, and of course call the shelters.

As I write this, Mim has been missing for four days. Just this morning I showed her photo to my gardener. Fifteen minutes after he left my house, he returned to tell me she was around the corner and down the street. I hopped in his truck, and he took me back to the place. There she was, sitting in the sun on the curb.

As I got out of the truck, she scuttled down into the storm drain beneath her feet. No amount of calling or offerings of smelly tuna brought her forth. She appeared once again a couple of hours later, but ducked back into the culvert at first sight of me.

Her human and I set a trap at dusk and sat for three hours waiting with no luck. We are worried as more rain is in the forecast along with freezing temperatures.

It is important to have pictures of your pet around, just in case you need to make a flyer some day. It was lucky that I had kitten photos of Mim, as I had fostered her litter before she and her sister moved across the street into their forever home. Even though the cat is now an adult, my gardener was able to recognize her from the markings as they do not change. (This is not the case for Siamese, however, as they are all born creamy white and morph into something completely different by the time they reach adulthood.)

Hopefully, none of you will experience the fear and heartbreak of losing a pet. It only takes a split second for an animal to go missing. If you have indoors-only cats, keep your screens in good shape and door latches working. The brutal summer sun takes its toll on screens, breaking them down so that they will tear at a slight push. Check yours periodically for strength. Our prevailing winds blow dust and grit into door latches causing them to stick, which is what happened to my neighbor. Lubricate or replace them as needed.

Be ever vigilant, never complacent, and take head counts of your pets frequently.

Product of the week: The Tori Trotter Mystery series for 8- 12-year-olds is a great read for youngsters who like mysteries and cats. Victoria (Tori) Trotter, a feline sleuth, and her kitten sidekick Scout, solve mysteries in the small town they live in, working for tasty tidbits of lobster and fish and chips. You can find the series at http://www.ToriTrotter.com

Mim update: I am happy to report that Mim was finally caught the following night, right before another storm unleashed. She is obviously very glad to be home, snuggling close to her human every night now and chattering, neither of which she did previously. The only outward signs of her ordeal are a small abrasion on her nose and her hunger.