Author Topic: How to tell if a cat's a stray?  (Read 10995 times)

Silverleaf

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How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« on: October 16, 2014, 21:08:56 »
I've been seeing a young black cat in my garden quite a lot this year. She (I think it's female) is very friendly if you approach, headbutting your hands in that insistent way some cats do when they want to be stroked, rubbing against your legs, etc. Nice cat. Tends to sleep on my salad bed, but nice cat anyway. ;)

Anyway, I keep being a little concerned about her. She's a bit thin, is obviously hunting wild birds (saw her catch a blue tit once) and her longish fur isn't brushed. I bought some dry cat food thinking she'd kill fewer birds if I fed her, and she eats quite a lot pretty fast so I assume she's hungry.

No collar. I can't tell if she's a stray, or if she has neglectful owners. Any advice?

Obelixx

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2014, 22:25:37 »
If she's skinny and ungroomed it suggests she has no owners or neglectful owners and has no time to devote to keeping her coat clean as she's too busy hunting and conserving energy.    Well fed, well kept cats have plenty of time and energy for grooming.

I would keep putting out food for her and water too and see how you get on.   She'll adopt you if she needs a good home.

Our current cat is a similar case.  Saw her hunting in the field next door all summer and assumed she was a neighbouring farm cat then found her sleeping in our shed one cold, wet September and clearly too thin and very unkempt.   I started feeding her and then managed to get her to the vet's to be sterilised.  Friendly but very suspicious of us and it's taken her along time to trust us so we assume she was abandoned.   3 years later she's clean and sleek and as cuddly and chatty as can be but doesn't approve of our two rescue dogs so tends to stay upstairs in her kingdom and only sneaks outside now when they're not looking.

Obxx - Vendée France

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2014, 22:37:07 »
She's clean, and obviously washing herself, but she could definitely do with a brush and she has an obvious "waist" when you feel her and I can feel ribs. I'll try to take some pics if she's around tomorrow, but it's hard to see with her fur.

I'm not sure if she'd be keen on my old (and quite slow) Labrador either, and my house rabbit might object. ;) I wouldn't mind taking her in but of course I don't want to steal someone's cat!

I guess we'll see how it goes... I can make life easier for her with food and water anyway.

BarriedaleNick

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2014, 07:32:46 »
You could try taking her to a vet to see if she is chipped.  Or a local cat charity or RSPCA - I think they will all do it for free.
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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2014, 09:16:43 »
Can you check around neighbours to see if she belongs to anyone? The lack of collar is no guide - I don't collar my cats because of the danger of entanglement. My vet says if you can't feel the ribs, then the cat is overweight, so that's perhaps misleading...
It's just that if she does belong to someone, they may be a bit miffed if you feed her - hunting doesn't mean a cat is hungry, it's just an instinct some cats have. Hope you can sort it though, and can adopt her if no-one claims her.

Ellen K

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2014, 10:17:44 »
My Mum once started to feed a stray young female and the next thing that happened was she (the cat) became of sufficient body mass to reproduce.  Be careful there!

Borlotti

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2014, 13:04:35 »
Think you just have to trust your own judgment.  If he isn't in any distress or pain probably has a home and is just pushing his luck.  Dulce occasionally catches birds and mice, and that is after a good meal.  Black cat at the allotment always comes up to me to tell me how thin, hungry it is, but I know the lady who owns it, in one of the houses backing on to the allotment and it is a very healthy, well looked after cat so I just ignore all its pleading and crying.  Some cats have more than one home and if a new baby or animal is introduced sometimes they find somewhere else to stay that is quieter.  Keep us updated.

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2014, 02:54:15 »
So hard to know what to do. She/he (can't tell, too much fur) seemed pretty hungry when I came out with the food and it's only boring dried stuff. In my limited cat experience it can be hard work to get cats to eat dry food!

It was less eager for food today and much more interested in affection. It's a very sweet cat.

I have to admit to being a bit jealous though - I often stroke and talk to the cat because I see it in the garden a lot. Although it's very friendly it waits until I approach, but Him Indoors was around this afternoon and the cat ran straight up to him and practically jumped on his knee as he crouched down! And when he went back inside the cat walked off a little way in disgust and sat with its back to me, ignoring me completely. Hhmph!

Obelixx

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2014, 12:36:57 »
Cat's can definitely have their favourites.   However, if you look a cat in the eye, they see it as a sign of non acceptance and a possibe prelude to aggression.  I exect your husband ignores it and the cat sees that as acceptance but it will stil lik eyou for feeding it.
Obxx - Vendée France

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2014, 23:02:57 »
I always try not to look a cat in the eye, and I only stroke any cat when it initiates stroking - I know cats can be what would be called moody in a human, and sometimes just don't feel like it. I respect that.

I was just having a silly little jealous moment - I've been interacting with this cat for months, letting it just hang out with me without hassling it, respecting its boundaries, giving it attention when it asks, recently feeding it, not ejecting it from its comfortable bed right on top of my baby lettuces. He sees it once in a blue moon and gets that kind of greeting! Bah. ;)

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2014, 12:34:41 »
Okay, him indoors is forgiven.

He went into the orchard to hang out some washing this morning and shouted to me that the cat was there, knowing I'd been wanting to get some photos. He was stroking it as I went in, and the cat left him and ran up to me, very demanding of attention. Yes! :)

I have a great little video of how friendly it is which I'll share once I get chance to upload.

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2014, 16:05:20 »
Cat and Him Indoors, having a moment.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/silverleaf79/15387483968/

[flash=https://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=1535363810]http://width="400" height="225" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=f5e6fa6ac3&photo_id=15387483968" bgcolor="#000000" allowFullScreen="true"[/flash]

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2014, 19:10:33 »

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2014, 19:12:35 »

small

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #14 on: October 19, 2014, 22:41:46 »
That's a beautiful cat! Looks like you have been adopted, doesn't it.....he/she has obviously had loving owners at some point though to be so accustomed to knee-sitting. Have you checked if she's (looks like a lady to me!) chipped?

Obelixx

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #15 on: October 20, 2014, 08:51:49 »
It's beautiful and looks good and healthy to me now but that may just be because you've been feeding it and it has more time to groom and preen.   I suspect it's been used to having humans but has fairly recently either got lost or been left while they go on holiday or maybe abandoned if it's coming to you for food and cuddles.

The stray we adopted had been abandoned and left to fend for itself all summer before I found her sheltering in our shed and started feeding her.  She was very wary of us, our other cat and the dog and certainly didn't do pysical contact if she could avoid it but, after 3 years is now a chatty, loving, cuddly, playful puss - with attitude.   
Obxx - Vendée France

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #16 on: October 20, 2014, 11:41:13 »
It's a bit thinner than it looks under all that fur, but I got a good feel of its belly yesterday and it seems to be just a little skinny, not so bad. Just after the video I had to pick it up from Him Indoors' knee - he claimed his ankle was about to give way but was nervous of moving because it had itself anchored slightly with its claws! It didn't protest at all about being held and seemed quite comfortable. It's definitely had good experiences with people to be that friendly.

But why is it in my garden every day for hours and hours? Why is it not being brushed? Why is it hungry enough to eat dry cat food so enthusiastically, even though it doesn't seem in bad condition? Cats aren't usually greedy about boring dry food.

I guess we'll see what happens when the weather turns cold. If it's still hanging around outside all the time when it's freezing and any self-respecting cat should be inside snoozing by a radiator, I'll start to worry and take it to the vet to scan for a microchip.

One weird thing about it - it doesn't purr. You can see from the video it's clearly enjoying the fuss, but remained completely silent. I've never heard a single sound from it!

It probably needs a nickname, although I keep trying to see if it's male or female but there's way too much fur back there to see a thing so it'll have to be gender-neutral/unisex. I can't keep calling it "Catface". ;)

Borlotti

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #17 on: October 20, 2014, 12:14:34 »
From the picture that cat doesn't look like a stray to me.  Lots of cats eat dry cat food, in fact some are fed only on it.  Maybe the owners work and it is shut out all day, and just likes company. Think you should just wait and see what happens, does it go away at night, maybe it goes home then.

goodlife

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #18 on: October 20, 2014, 13:14:07 »
Gosh!....if I would live in same town as you, I would say it is the same cat that has tried to adopt us for few year now.
Our neighbours cat look exactly same...and seem to prefer our garden and food more than its own 'home'....very hard to ignore its 'plea' for attention sometimes. We cannot take her on nor neighbour would be very impressed about it.

Silverleaf

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Re: How to tell if a cat's a stray?
« Reply #19 on: October 22, 2014, 14:23:47 »
Cat seems skittish today, which isn't like it. It shrank back as I approached but then seemed to recognise me and demanded attention as usual, but it startled a couple of times at things like birds flying over and didn't hang around, heading out through one of the hedges.

It usually seems very confident and not the scared type at all. I've only owned two cats, is it normal for a cat's mood to change like that?

It also has a bare patch of skin on the back of one of its hind legs, which I haven't noticed before and I'm pretty sure wasn't there the other day. Doesn't look sore, but there's a round bald patch about the size of a 5p.

 

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