In Kazakhstan, the “Kis-Kis, Find Yourself!” project has begun recruiting outdoor cats to help find missing pets. Cameras and GPS trackers are fitted to their safety breakaway collars. During their usual walks, the animals may encounter a lost cat somewhere a person would struggle to spot it: in bushes, under a porch or in a courtyard.
This is a new phase of a project launched in Almaty in 2025 by the agencies Ogency and JAM with support from Whiskas. Its core is the Telegram bot @GdeKotBot. Owners upload a photo of a missing cat and specify where it disappeared. Anyone who spots a cat outdoors can send the bot its photo and location. The system compares images and notifies the owner if it detects a potential match.
Why other cats have joined the search
A missing animal does not always approach people, even when it is close to home. A cat may hide for several days and fail to respond to calls. Other cats pass through the same courtyards and hiding places. That observation underpins the project’s new phase.
The team recruited owners whose pets already roam outdoors. Collar cameras record the cats they encounter, and the images enter the search system. GPS trackers let owners follow their own pets’ movements. The developers are improving recognition of animals in footage captured while moving and in low light.
The project’s creators emphasize that involving camera-equipped cats is not an invitation to let indoor pets roam freely. The search recruits cats that already go outdoors with their owners’ consent.
You can help without a camera
To participate, simply photograph a cat you spot outdoors and send the image and location to the Telegram bot @GdeKotBot. Owners of missing pets can post an alert there. The service also offers “Neighborhood Radar,” a subscription to reports of missing animals in a selected area.
The project began in Almaty and, according to its creators, is now available across Kazakhstan. They report that more than 28,000 users have joined the bot and that the system has helped locate 407 pets. The editorial team has not obtained independent confirmation of those results.
Camera-equipped cats increase the number of sightings entering the system. But the search still depends on people: the sooner owners report a disappearance and neighbors report a sighting, the more information becomes available about where the animal has been seen.
