Night is often your best chance. Take a flashlight, go slowly and look for eyeshine low to the ground near where your cat went missing.
The short answer
To find a lost cat at night, go out after the street gets quiet with a strong flashlight, walk slowly and sweep the beam low across bushes, under cars, under decks and along fences. Your cat’s eyes will shine back at you, often before you can see its body. Bring a bag of treats, speak quietly and stop often to listen. Start close to home, because most lost cats are nearby. If you see your cat, stay still, sit down and let it come to you. A short, calm search at 11 p.m. can do more than an hour of calling in the afternoon.
Why darkness helps
A frightened cat often stays hidden during the busy part of the day, when there is traffic, noise and people. Once the street quiets down, it has more reason to move, look for food or head toward home. This is a common pattern in advice from people who search for cats, though every cat is different. Night also makes eyes easier to find. Cats have a reflective layer at the back of the eye, and a light held near your own eyes bounces straight back to you. Daylight gives you none of that.
What to bring
A bright handheld flashlight is the main tool. A headlamp is useful too, as light that comes from near your eyes makes eyeshine easier to spot and it keeps your hands free. Bring a phone with a saved photo, treats or a can of strong-smelling food, a towel, and a carrier or a pillowcase you can get your cat into safely. Wear dark, quiet clothes and shoes with soft soles. Take a charged phone and, if you can, one calm friend. Let someone know where you are going, and do not go alone into places you would not visit during the day.
How to do the search
Hold the light at about eye height and move it slowly along the ground. Look for two small reflections at low height. Eye color varies, and other animals shine too, so wait for it to blink or move. Check under cars, shrubs, porches, decks, sheds and window wells. Walk a little, stop for a full minute, then listen. Call softly with the phrase you normally use at dinner time, and rattle the treat bag once or twice. Long shouting is not helpful: your cat may recognize you and still stay put. Keep the search near home unless you have a real sighting.
Pick your hours and your route
Late evening and the early hours before dawn are usually the quietest. Try the same route on more than one night, as your cat may be moving or may have been too scared to respond last time. Stick to your own street and the streets behind it, and go through the neighbors’ yards only with permission. Tell neighbors you will be out, so a person with a flashlight near a fence at midnight does not get reported. A friendly note on your flyer such as we will be searching this block after 10 p.m. can save a lot of trouble.
What you might find instead
Night searches attract raccoons, opossums, skunks and other people’s cats. Do not approach or corner any animal you are not sure about. Leave wildlife alone. If you see a cat that resembles yours but will not come near, take a photo if you can, note the time and spot, and come back tomorrow at the same time. Put out a small dish of food there if it seems safe, and a camera if you have one. That one spot may be the most useful information you get all week.
When you see your cat
Do not rush. Turn the light slightly away from its face. Sit on the ground, side-on, and look away as you talk quietly and slide a treat toward it. Let your cat eat and come to you. If it will not, stay where you are as long as you can, then leave a piece of clothing and some food and come back within an hour or so. Grabbing a frightened cat can end in a scratch and a cat who runs further. Scoop only when you are sure you can hold it, using the towel, and go straight into the carrier.
Back it up during the day
Night searches work best alongside daytime work. Ask neighbors to check their garages and sheds during the day, and put flyers on the doors nearest the spot you were searching. If your flashlight search turns up a likely cat twice in one place, that is a good place for a camera and, later, a humane trap borrowed from a shelter or rescue. Keep your notes, because a pattern of times and places will tell you when to come back.
Sources
On how close lost cats stay: Huang et al., Animals, 2018: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5789300.