Evening-

Last night i heard a cat meowing (howling) out the front- on the main road side, i went out and called, then this sweet black cat came tottering over from under a car.

I checked him- healthy and young (1yr ish), i felt his bits- all there! couldnt believe it, after being a nurse- ive seen alot of kittens born due to un-neuterings....

anyway, he wouldnt leave me be, i didnt want to leave him on main road, so walked round the back of terraces, where he followed me all the way down to my porch, at which point my female cat chased him back! thought i probably wouldnt see him again..

Then tonight- he was at back door howling! I came out and got bit worried- so gave in and give him some food, he is lovely, and very confident- tried coming in house-came nose to nose with my terrier- and the cat only gave a growl and walked back out!

What should i do? dont know whether he is stray or pet? ive put a sign on front window- to say if you own an entire black cat- to knock or call. Any other suggestions- i would like to get him castrated, but not if he is owned....

help!

Don't casterate him yet! Inform the police that you have him, find the local cat rescue groups and tell them, and if 'found' ads are free in your local paper, put an ad in to run for a couple of weeks. Also local vets, shops, those sort of places. Have you had him checked for a chip? Take advice from Police as to when you can assume ownership, and when it is OK to have him casterated, if they can't help the cats rescue possibly will know the civil laws relating to it, so check with them.

Mind you, if he's just a wonderLUST pussycat, you may never see that much of him again....:D

The police don't take reports of lost and found cats, only dogs.

or...and we need a devil smiley here... you could take the sign out of your front window, get him neutered and feed him if he hangs around - if he goes back to his owners they'll never know who was responsible :D

>i felt his bits- all there!

>anyway, he wouldnt leave me be

I'm not surprised! :D

M.

If you can get close enough again, pop a paper collar around his neck with a message saying that if he isn't a stray could the owners let you know as you are concerned for him or asking that they put a safety collar on him with id.

Val

Last year my neighbour knocked hoping that I could take in a little stray outside our houses.  What with my dog?  Cat was very friendly and very very hungry. While she was nibbling at some dog kibble we cut off the collar that the cat had somehow managed to get one front leg through.  Just shows how much weight she must have lost. The collar was embedded in her flesh and stank badly.  Neighbour rang RSPCA and they came and collected the cat and scanned for a chip and hey presto she had one.  The owners came and personally thanked my neighbour as they were so pleased to have their cat back home.

hmm- maybe, but me being a vet nurse- i would have thought he could smell the nurse in me and run for it before i whip em off! :P

he sprayed me aswel- urgh..

(meant to be under lily's post!)

Maybe you could take him to a local vet and see if he's been chipped?

He sounds lovely, and black, my special weakness.  With a personality like that I'd bet he has a loving family who miss him.  In my experience the ferals and uncared for strays don't get very old before they learn humans can be mean and the cats become very wary of strangers.  So I agree, try the paper collar, phone the neighbours and put up notices to try to find his owners.  I've never yet found a microchip in a stray but a visit to the Vet might help find his owners, even if he isn't chipped, as the Vet practice may recognize him.  I have taken photos of found strays, cats and dogs, and emailed to all my local Vets to see if they have the critter in their practice.

Totally agree if you can get near him again sounds like he wants to be wanted - pick him up and take him to the vets to be scanned, or ring the CPL near you and they do have mobile scanners they will scan with. Other than that paper collar idea is good. I've done that with "stray's" who weren't just wanderers.

Karen

its ok- i'l go and borrow a scanner from the vets i worked at, and scan him next time he 'pops by'!

i think he is owned as he is confident around humans and dogs, theres stray here that wont even look at you- hes a lot different to this cutie!

i think hed probably just tear the collar straight off- will try though.

thanks- i would love to cat nap him as he obviously doesnt want to be kicked out every night to sleep outside- he deserves to be kept lovely and warm- i could facilitate that! but that wouldnt be fair on the owners :(

just hope the owners see the sign and get him neutered- very silly!!

xx

Of course, being a cat, he probably has 24x7 access to warmth, food and love at home, but feels the need to get a bit more from the neighbours - although the fact that he's entire would make me wonder if he has a loving home, don't know how anyone could live with it in a pet environment.

M.

This story reminds me of a friend of my mother's - when her neighbours went out to work and put the cat out, it used to spend the day at our friend's house...so there were red faces all round when the neighbour popped round one day to help our friend un-stick her bedroom window, only to see his own cat curled up asleep on our friend's bed!

I took a stray cat in years ago obviously lost and had recently had kittens I put notices up contacted the local vets in the area all the rescue centres etc:
I heard nothing so decided to have her spayed paid for by the local rescue centre as they were happy that I was prepared to take her in although I already had 3 cats (all rescue)
12 months down the line a stranger was at my door talking to the cat when questioned by my brother as to what he was doing he said he recognised the cat as his girlfriends who they lost the previous year apparently she had had a litter which had all been re -homed and she ran off probably in search  of them.
I told him the story and offered the cat back , I told them I had her spayed , they were happy to leave her with us(thank god) by then we had all become very attached plus they were emigrating to New Zealand so all ended well ( they did visit her occasionally which was nice to see).
Sadly we lost her last year to liver failure but we had her for 6 years a very lovely adorable cat (we miss you Minnie x)

My roommate and I took in two strays, one a distinctive looking intact male with an equally distinctive personality.  One day the landlord and his neighbour, workman friend came to do some work on our cottage and the workman had such a strong reaction to the cat.  He actually said, "that's my cat."  The man and his family had moved from a house close to us to one further away and on moving day the cat disappeared.  He would not take the cat back though.

Well, our work in that area ended and my roomie took one cat home with her but I already had two at my Mum's house so I bundled up Rusty and drove to the workman's new house, thinking to present the cat to the wife and kids, surely they would be more receptive to taking their own cat back.  Wife and kids were thrilled and delighted to see a cat that looked so much like their lost pet.  They even brought out a portrait to show me the similarity.  There was no doubt it was the same cat but these idiots would not believe it was the same cat and also refused to take him back in.  I took him home with me where he aggressively fought with our first two and I eventually found him a different home.

One of the regrets of my life is that I did not report these owners for abandoning the cat.  Especially since my landlord's wife worked in a new association with the local humane society to try to make summer cottagers (it was a popular tourist area) aware of the dangers to their pets when summer time pets were abandoned at the end of the cottage season.  And this poor cat had been abandoned by not only a full time resident but a friend of theirs.