According to the ASPCA , nearly 1 in 5 pets go missing after being scared by loud noises such as fireworks and thunderstorms.

The good news is that according to estimates, over 90 percent of lost dogs and 75 percent of lost kitties eventually find their way home. But if youve ever had a pet go missing , you know how incredibly upsetting it can be for every member of the family.

10 Steps to Take If Your Pet Goes Missing

1. Make up fliers with your pet's picture, your phone number, and information about a reward for return if you're able to offer one. Give a good enough description of your pet so that he can be recognized, but hold back at least one identifying characteristic that you can use to verify whether a person responding to the flier actually has your pet.

2. Post your fliers in the area where your pet was last seen, in grocery stores, community centers, vet offices, animal shelters, mailbox clusters anywhere the flier has a chance to be noticed by lots of people in your neighborhood or community.

3. Visit your local animal shelters, humane society, and rescue organizations. File a lost pet report with every shelter and animal control office within a 60-mile radius of your home and visit the nearest shelters daily, or as often as possible.

4. Get the word out to all the veterinary clinics in your area. Many people who find lost pets take them to their own vets office or another clinic close to where the animal was found.

5. Walk and drive through your neighborhood and the area where your pet was last seen as often as you can, and recruit friends and family to do the same. While youre out, talk to neighbors and passersby and let them know you are desperate to find your pet. Make sure to take plenty of fliers with you and pass them out.

6. Leave some of your pets favorite food and fresh water outside your home in case she finds her way back on her own. Consider placing the bowls in a humane trap that will hold your pet until you can recover her.

7. Place ads in local newspapers and online at sites such as Missing Pet Network, Petfinder, FidoFinder, Center for Lost Pets and Craigslist. If you receive a call from someone who says he has your pet, be cautious. Have the caller describe your pet in enough detail that you can be relatively sure it is your pet he has. You can also ask the caller to give you the information on the ID tag.

8. Do online searches for animals fitting your pets description. Its possible someone has your pet or cat and is trying to sell him.

9. Don't give up your search too quickly and be aggressive. Dogs and cats gone for months have been returned to their owners.

10.Practice self-care. Its very easy when a pet is missing to lose sleep, skip meals, leave normal daily routines behind, and swing from stressed out to exhausted and back again. To the best of your ability, try to take care of yourself while you search for your pet. Eat healthy, meditate, and try to get some exercise each day.

A Few Facts About Recovered Pets

A few years ago, the ASPCA surveyed 1,000 pet owners to learn how lost pets are most often located and returned home.

According to the survey results, the most important steps in finding a lost pet were:

Searching immediately

Searching the local area and neighborhood visually, along with putting up fliers and using Internet resources

Checking local shelters from the first day the pet goes missing

Of the pet owners surveyed, 15 percent had lost a dog or pet in the previous 5 years. Eighty-five percent of those pets were recovered 74 percent of lost cats, and 93 percent of lost dogs.

Of the recovered dogs

49 percent were found by owners searching their neighborhoods

15 percent were found thanks to the presence of either an ID tag or microchip

6 percent were found at a shelter

Of the recovered kitties

59 percent returned home on their own

30 percent were found by owners searching their neighborhoods

2 percent were found at a shelter

An Ounce of Prevention

The fastest way to locate a lost pet is with a GPS tracker during high-risk events, such as fireworks and backyard parties or barbeques. There are several options to choose from, including the Pod tracker, Pawtrack for cats, and Loc8tor for pets. These collars allow you to easily track your pet from your computer, so the instant you realize your pet is gone, you can identify where they are in your neighborhood.

Dr. Karen Becker is a proactive and integrative wellness veterinarian. You can visit her site at: MercolaHealthyPets.com

Her goal is to help you create wellness in order to prevent illness in the lives of your pets. This proactive approach seeks to save you and your pet from unnecessary stress and suffering by identifying and removing health obstacles even before disease occurs. Unfortunately, most veterinarians in the United States are trained to be reactive. They wait for symptoms to occur, and often treat those symptoms without addressing the root cause.

By reading Dr. Becker's information, you'll learn how to make impactful, consistent lifestyle choices to improve your pet's quality of life.

For more by Dr. Karen Becker, click here