More than 100 cats go missing in Kazakhstan every day. One in three cats runs away from home at least once in their lifetime, and fewer than half ever return. In Kazakhstan, 46% of cat owners have already experienced losing a pet, while almost every owner worries about their cat’s safety (KARE Foundation research). Despite the scale of the problem, cat-food brands had largely overlooked it, possibly because of the low rate of successful reunions. Whiskas saw an opportunity and became the first cat-food brand to step up and help cat owners.

Last year, Whiskas launched GdeKotBot, an AI-powered Telegram service that allows users to report missing cats and help find other people’s pets. Anyone who spots a cat on the street can simply upload a photo along with its location. AI compares the image against a database of missing cats and alerts owners when a potential match is found.

The biggest obstacle in finding missing cats is their behaviour when frightened. Unlike dogs, lost cats rarely approach people. Instead, they hide in hard-to-reach places: bushes, under cars, in basements and attics. Places that are difficult to explore… unless you’re a cat.

Equipped with tiny cameras and GPS trackers, the TRUE CATectives explore hidden corners of their neighbourhoods during their daily walks. After each walk, AI analyses the footage and compares the cats spotted along the way with the missing-cat database. When a potential match is detected, the owner receives an alert along with the cat’s location.

GdeKotBot launched the campaign ahead of winter to raise awareness of missing cats and encourage more people to join the search. The team recruited owners of free-roaming cats living in neighbourhoods with the highest numbers of missing-pet reports and invited their pets to become volunteer CATectives.

Since its launch in 2025, the AI-powered search platform has helped reunite 407 cats with their owners and attracted more than 28,000 users.

The mission now is to set an example for the rest of the world and help missing cats find their way home as quickly as possible. GdeKotBot hopes the project will inspire animal lovers around the globe to adopt and adapt the technology for their own countries.

Credits
Creative & PR Agency: Ogency
Chief Creative Officer: Alexey Leybovich
Creative Group Head,: Denis Bushuev
Account Director: Maria Firer
Account Manager: Diana Baktiyarova
Art Direction: Roman Mirzaev
CEO: Yulia Retunskaya

Client: MARS [Whiskas]
Marketing & Media Lead, MARS: Nikita Smerdov
Marketing Director CEA, MARS: Nargiza Imramziyeva

PR Support: BLVD Agency
Operational Director: Emma Khafizova
CEO & Founder: Leonid Nigmatullin
Project Manager: Miras Murzakhan
Creative Director: Aidana Aidarkhan
Key Account & Project Manager: Umit Nurakhmet