Check for injuries, see a vet soon, keep the pet secure and take down your posters. Here is what to do in the first few days.
First steps
When your lost pet comes home, secure it first: close the doors, and put it in a quiet room with water. Then look it over gently for injuries, and call your vet to arrange a check. Offer a small amount of food rather than a big meal, and ask your vet how to feed an animal that may have gone hungry. Do not rush to bathe or celebrate with a crowd. Once your pet is safe, tell everybody who is looking so they can stop, and go and take down your posters. The rest can wait until tomorrow.
See a vet, even if your pet seems fine
Animals often hide pain, so a pet that looks fine may still have a wound, a broken tooth, ticks or a tummy problem. Tell the vet how long your pet was gone, where it was found and what you know it ate. Ask about parasites and vaccinations. Tell them about anything you noticed, such as limping, weight loss, vomiting or not using the litter box. If your pet is having trouble breathing, is bleeding heavily, cannot stand, or seems very weak, treat it as an emergency and go right away.
Feed with care
A hungry pet will want to eat everything at once, and that can cause trouble after days without food. Call your vet for advice on how much to give and how often, particularly if your pet has been gone for a long time, is thin, or is a cat, since cats that have not eaten can develop liver problems. Fresh water should be available, and offer a modest portion of normal food until you have spoken to the vet. Do not add new treats or rich meals as a welcome home present.
Keep the door closed
The days after a reunion are a risky time to lose a pet again. Your pet may still be alert and jumpy, and a door opened by a guest could undo all your work. Use a leash or a long line in the yard for dogs, even if they never needed it before. Keep cats inside. Tell the family and any visitors about the rule. Check the place where your pet got out, and fix it now while it is on your mind. If your dog slipped its collar, get a better fit, and if a gate failed, repair the latch.
Expect some changes in behavior
Some pets are clingy after a long time away, some hide, and some act as if nothing happened. A frightened dog may need time before it is comfortable around visitors. A cat may hide for a while, and other pets in the home may not recognize its smell and react badly. If that happens, keep them apart at first and reintroduce them slowly. Ask your vet if the behavior does not settle, or if your pet stops eating or using the litter box normally.
Tell everyone and close the reports
Call each shelter, animal control office and vet you contacted, and ask them to close your lost report. Mark your pet as found with your microchip registry. Update each post, with FOUND in the first line, and ask group admins to close any posts. Tell the neighbors you spoke to and the mail carrier. This takes time, but it matters. Staff and volunteers stop looking for your pet and can turn to the next one. If you hired anyone, let them know too, and ask for a final account of any charges.
Take down every poster
Use your list of locations and collect all your posters, flyers, yard signs and sleeves. Do it within a day or two. Stale notices cause false calls and can make people less likely to pay attention to the next missing animal. If you have used a sheet protector or tape, remove those too. If you stapled anything to a pole, pull out what you can. Ask helpers to tell you what they put up, since they may have added locations you do not know about.
Thank the people who helped
Pay any reward you promised, in person. Give a word of thanks to those who shared posts, kept an eye out or checked their sheds. A short FOUND update in the local groups does this for you, and it lets everyone know that this search has ended. Do not name a finder or share a neighbor’s camera footage without asking first. If a shelter or a volunteer group helped you, consider a small donation or a note that they can share.
Plan so it does not happen again
Once things are calm, take care of what would have helped. Update the microchip and your phone number. Get a tag with your current number on it. Take clear face and full-body photos in good light and save them in a shared album. Keep your poster file. Note the numbers of your local shelters. Having those ready can save you a day of panic, and it means that your pet is better protected the next time a door opens at the wrong moment.