It’s an awful feeling when your indoor cat dashes past you out the door. But it’s even more distressing to realize that you’ve just made matters worse by giving chase.

That’s what happened to clients of Maryland pet detective Laura Totis. She helps find lost pets via phone consultations and a trained search dog.

“They saw the cat 20 feet away, and they went after it,” she says. “It went another 20 feet away, and they did it again, and it disappeared.”

When your cat gets out, the first thing to remember is not to panic. Here are some tips:

** Make sure the cat is not in the house. Totis once helped search a friend’s one-bedroom apartment for several hours. Just when they were convinced the cat must have gotten out, they found that it had crawled up into the draperies and gone to sleep.

** If you think you know the cat’s exit point, start there, and think like a cat. It’s not going to walk along the sidewalk like a dog, so you shouldn’t either.

** Follow the likely paths and look for a hiding place. Kat Albrecht, founder of the nonprofit Missing Pet Partnership, says that the critical thing to remember about cats is “their primary protection from predators is to hide in silence.”

** Look close before far.

** Look down, underneath things, behind things.

** Use a flashlight even in daytime. “The markings on cats are designed for camouflage,” says Totis. “The light will reflect the eyes.”

** If you do find your cat’s hiding place, remember not to give chase. “The goal is to have the cat come to you,” Totis says. “Just sit there and talk to it.”