Sorry if this seems a silly question but I have never owned a cat (only dogs) but I am in a bit of a quandry with regards to a cat we seem to have 'inherited' this week.

Last friday a cat jumped out of the hedge at the end of the street whilst I was taking my children to school, the children admire the cat from a distance but didnt stroke it, then on our way home he popped out again and followed us to our door. He has been doing this all week and last night it was sat on my front door step and tried to come into the house ( when it heard the dogs bark it step back out again). I went into the house and the cat had gone around the back and was sat looking in through the patio doors. It stayed in the garden for a good three or four hours, even when the dogs went out it never bothered it just stayed on top of the wheelie bin.

Last night I went knocking on the doors of the surrounding streets and no one has a missing cat or one that fits the description (it has a blue collar but with no name or address on it), but one neighbour said it was sat in her garden a few afternoons last week.

Now when I have come home from picking my son up from nursery this the cat has been on the door step again and is still on the garden.


My question is how do I know if it is a 'homeless' cat or if it is one that is just wandering and likes the look of our house then goes home again at night.

My daughter was distraught last night thinking it was homeless and I would be happy to rehome it if I need to but how do you know??

First off a collar would certainly make you think he is an owned cat rather than a homeless one, but sometimes this isn't the case. You've made th 1st step on knocking on neighbours doors, now i think you should post leaflets and put a few posters up around your area. At the same time you can take the cat to a vet and see if's the cat is microchipped cause if he is then the owner can be traced. Vets will scan the cat for the microchip free of charge. If nothing shows i suggest take the cat back home with you look after it for now feeding it and so forth and try and put messages in shops. If no one comes forward after a few weeks then likelyhood of the owning being traced is very slim. Then either you can take the cat in as your own or take it to a good animal shelter.

There are also a few website where people place add for lost pets, try Animalsearch UK, petregister, petslocator and petsearch. Also ring RSPCA to see if this cat matches descriptions of missing cats.

Thank you FCUK, I will look on those websites as suggested and try to arrange for someone to take it to the vets for me.

In the meantime should I feed it or not, as I wouldnt want to discourage it from actually going home or to make him over weight if he is getting fed at home as well if that makes sense.

When a stray started crying in my garden, following me etc and it became obvious it was hungry . I ended up taking her to the vets. She looked healthy and was a healthy weight so it was assumed she was lost or recently dumped for some reason. The vet scanned her for a mircochip which there was none and checked if she was spayed, she was. This is a good first step to get an idea. I also wormed and de fleaed her. Often there are so many stray cats out there, people capture them, spay and release but obviously finding a home would be great. I put her on lots of sites. Posters all around the area and rang loads of shelters who didnt respond, told me they were full or added me to an ever expanding waiting list. I began to feed and water her twice daily. She found shelter nearby outside which was safe from the weather etc. I added an old duvet in there for her and there is still is. Like you I sadly cannot have her due to a non accepting dog, but it is the best I can do for her now. What I would say is try and get her to the vets, get a advert in your local papers but be aware of people who arent genuine in replying, add posters in local shops and enquire in shelters to. If all else fails get an outside cat kennel. They are really helpful!

I see what you mean. Someone was feeding my Heidi for months and months before we found out. She has a collar yet this lady thought she was a stray.

I would feed it just to be on the safe side. Cause if he is homeless then he will go hungry which is awful to think about. Buy some dry cat food and feed him everynow and then. If he is owned am sure the owner won't hate you for doing this, they will probs sing your praises for caring for the animal. Josephine is right, be careful of those who are not genuine. Putting pictures up can attratced random people beit good or bad. So i wouldn't do a photo just describe him and if someone comes forwards ask them a few quesiton about the cat, if there are any special markings and so forth.

Take it in and, if "Lost Cat" posters start appearing on local lamp-posts, you'll know its got an owner.

Put a tag on it's collar asking it's owner to call you.
If no one calls...

That is a great idea thank you.

For now I have put a notice up in the local shops and at school and I have bought him some cat biscuits of which he ate a handful like there was no tomorrow.

There is no cats like him on any of the website FCUK mentioned but I am shocked at how many cats have gone missing in our area.

The children have made a bed for him in their play house just in case.

Thank you for the replies.

I think you've already been given the best advice possible but just wanted to add good on you for caring because it sounds like the little fella is in need of that right now for whatever reason. How sweet of your kids to make him a little bed in their playhouse, especially with the weather getting bad now. He may very well have a home and have wandered too far to find his way back or he may be abandoned. You'd be suprised how many people move away and leave their cats behind or just dump them. He must have had an owner at some point or another to be wearing a collar but that may have changed. If he does have a home and is just lost I'm sure the owners would be happy to know that someone is caring for him. I know I would be. I'd hate to think of my cats being in that position and no one give a damn.

Our local branch of Cats Protection have a Lost and Found section of their website, so if your local branch has a similar thing you could check to see if the cat has been listed on there. It might also be worth making a 'Found' listing incase there are owners looking for it. As someone has mentioned, you could put a note on the collar, or there are paper collars downloadable from the RSPCA website which serve the same purpose I suppose (I haven't used one myself). And I would also say that getting a vet to scan for a microchip would be a good idea.

Its great that you're looking after it!

Excellent

Good advice here, sounds like the cat has adopted you though

Cats are great opertunists and not above trying to rehome themselves. For all we know it could be on a special diet, medication, or it might have wandered into a van and got carried away - the only explaination for where one of mine turned up, a couple of miles away from home across two main roads.

Getting it checked for a chip, adding a tag to it's collar if it has one or putting a collar on if it doesn't are great ways of finding the owner. Sometimes cats turn up a long way from home, so another thing worth doing is taking a reasonable photo of it, making up some A5 posters (e.g. two per sheet of A4, cut in half after printing) and taking them round all the local vets and cat rescues. Also the local papers often have a 'lost & found' section which is free.

It's all too easy to get drawn in by those lovely eyes, that pleading look, the frantic eating, and accidentally give a cat that already has a home (or three) another one. That happened to me with a cat that is chipped but hates collars. Thankfully when I put a collar on him it stayed on long enough for the other people to notice it (it was flourescent yellow) but they still carried on encouraging him into their house. Finally when he had D&V one day they thought he would die over night, he didn't, so instead of taking him to a vets they took him to the local cat rescue where thankfully his chip saved the day.

It's very sad to see how many cats go missing and dogs.

Another post mentioned the cat could be on a special diet and that's very true. Haven you been able to go to the vets yet? Cause they can determine if he is healthy or he needs special food/diet. I'd keep a close eye on the cat cause if he has no one but you right now, he's gonna need looking after and some love.

If after several weeks have past and no owner has come forward i think your free to adopt the cat as your own.

Just thought I would update the thread.

I have taken the cat to the vets and he isn't micro chipped so that was uneventful.

On Saturday morning my son (3) saw the cat outside the patio doors and let him in the house as he said the cat told him he was hungry the cat was not bothered by the dogs at all which in a way makes me think he is around dogs or has been , so we fed and watered him I put a tag on him and asked the owner to contact me.

The cat was last seen here at midday and wasn't seen again until this morning...minus the label I put on him but still with the string on his collar I used to attach it.

I think he probably has a home as surely on bonfir night we would have seen it somewhere and I did look up and down the street I presume he went home and was kept in. If this is the case (assuming the label was still on although it was securely fastened) I am a little bit annoyed that the owner didnt contact me.

That is strange. If the owner removed the label, surely he/she would have contacted you. Weird situation here. Maybe the label could have somehow fell off. Do it again and see if the outcome is the same. Til you know for SURE the cat is either homelss or owned, continue to feed it and look after it but at the same time don't 100% adopt it just yet. Have you out leaflets out or posters?

Oh yes i forgot to add the bit about posters, I have put a few on some lamposts (I put them in some of those A4 plastic sheets so they wont get wet) and put them in shop windows, me and the kids also posted some around the surrounding streets.

I will do what I can for the cat but I do seem to think he has a home somewhere and the owner just can't be bothered...maybe becasue i put.

Can the owner of this cat please contact me (and added name and number) they might think the cat has done something wrong, so I will maybe add something about wondering if the cat is homeless.

I hope that cat is owned and owned by good people. My cat Heidi kept going out for hours and hours til we found out she had a 2nd home. The lady down the road who Heidi goes to thought she was homeless and so fed her. Yet Heidi had a collar and name tag. Having those essientials doesn't always guarantee the cat is owned though. Continue doing what your doing but also look after the cat, just in case he is a stray. I wouldn't stop feeding it

I would be quite honest. "Your cat is trying to move in with me. Please ring."

Yeh, that's quite blunt and to the point which you gotta be at this point. Or something like "Can the owner contact me, your cat keeps coming to me and i'm feeding it thinking it's a stray"

Yes or I dont know if this cat is a stray please ring before it gets to comfy


But to be honest they dont have any obligation to ring you, as if they own it they probably think like a lot of people on here, that if you feed it you are out of order and are just trying to entice their cat away and should shooo it of so it goes home.

If the people that had been trying to take Rufus in had bothered to put a collar and note one when they first saw him I could have made sure they understood that 1) he already had a home and 2) please don't let him in your house.

Some people that let another cat I used to have into their house paid the price - the hamster wasn't in his cage...

The bit in bold is exactly what I am trying not to do to be honest but I can't leave an animal to fend for itself, no matter how capable of doing so it is.

I am actually finding it all a bit distressing now to be honest, if it is owned the owners should take more care of it and be resposible enough to renew its name collar and courteous enough to let a concerned person know.

Im just saying what others in Pets forum say. "Please do not feed our cat"

Why is it distressing is it there all night and day?

Why would you not want to let it fend for itself if it is perfectly capable of doing so?

Some people (not saying you) convince themselves a cat is a stray when its a healthy happy cat that just likes to stay out a lot. They do this because they want to give it a home.

I know a cat can fend for itself but for one that may have been part of a home a perhas wandered too far or been left behind or whatever reason means it may not have those natural instincts, the fact it is so placid around 2 (big breeds) of dogs tells me it has at some point been with a family. Plus I dont like the thought of an animal out in the cold over winter if it needn't be.

I am not convinced it is a stray as like I said it was no where to be seen on saturday until this morning but it once again has been outside my house since this morning and is still there now. It was outside a 4.30am the other morning when my husband went to work.

I guess distressed is a strong word, maybe I am just worried and feel if it has an owner and they have seen my note on his collar they could quickly put my mind at rest and I can be happy he will be looked after.