Stray Cat - What to do?

[MomijiTMO]

Ok well we have had this little brown cat around out place for the past 3 to 4 months. It has become more gutsy around us and now comes up to the back door which connects to our patio. We have caught it eating our cat's food and Sneaky [our cat] seems quite fond of it. This morning it came while I was outside eating some food and was going ballistic because I was eating. It tweaked that hey this cat might be a stray and so I placed two large scoops of some food and gave it to it. It hissed at me the whole time. So while it was scoffing down more biscuits in one session than my cat can eat in a day, I had a good look at it. It's fur was all tatty and damn it was so tiny. So I think it's a stray.

I need help getting rid of it. It could be the poor pet of some massive jerk and I don't want to send it off to the pound and be responsible for the death of someone's pet though one can easily argue it's better off dead than starving. What other things could I do? There are a lot of dogs and cats in this area and I don't know anyone relatively new with a pet cat.

[l33t p1mp]

I would say try to take it to the vet and if it doesnt have any disease, you can keep it. I adopted a kitten last month (first cat) and I dont regret it. The kitten had tapeworm but that was taken care of in less than a week.

[MomijiTMO]

Yeah well we already have one cat and since I'm at home still [STILL . .. lol] so we aren't having another one.

PS : Our cat wondered up at our last home at about 3 months old. . . ..

[l33t p1mp]

Try to get it adopted first, and if that fails try send it to the pound, even if they are known for not being all that nice to animals.

[fart_plume]

Call animal control and have it picked up. They will try to adopt it out.(at least they do in the states.)

[Spawne32]

put a call in to your local chinese food place, usually they between 15-20 dollars american for those type of cats

[l33t p1mp]

They dont even have cream of some young guy anymore, so dont bother.

[m0da]

put a call in to your local chinese food place, usually they between 15-20 dollars american for those type of cats


They dont even have cream of some young guy anymore, so dont bother.

ROFL!!!!!!!! :ROTF:

ot- go ahead and take it to a vet for a diagnosis on everything (diseases?/stray?), also ask the vet what steps to take next. can't hurt much more than a small dent in your wallet, no?

[MotF Bane]

Grill it and eat it.

[l33t p1mp]

Grill it and eat it.

I sure hope you are asian, because if you arent, I am calling the cops. :D

[Lvcoyote]

I'm sure there is a "No Kill" shelter for animals in your area..... take it there. In many cases they are a "Ask no questions" kind of places where you can simply drop it off.

[Serpentarius]

cat are troublesome with their nightly "gang wars" and "night orchestra performances"
careful not to let them breed .. or you'll be getting some "organized stealing crimes" around your area

too much stray cats and u'll end up having cats ganging up against ur dog :(

[SpazBoy357]

can't hurt much more than a small dent in your wallet, no?

LOL, "small dent"??? Pets are almost as expensive as kids these days:)

Find a 'no kill' shelter or contact a rescue organization in your area and let them deal with it.

Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape!!! Run away quickly or it will....awwww, isn't he cute...can we keep him?

[Serra]

Call animal control, don't bother beyond that. Stray animals can carry a large variety of diseases that are transmittable to you and your cat, don't risk picking it up yourself to take it to the vet if it looks unhealthy in any way. Just off the top of my head, saying a stray has ratty-looking fur makes me think about mange, which is caused by transmittable microscopic mites (but mind you I haven't seen the thing myself to comment, nor am I a vet).

[MomijiTMO]

Well after the 10 minute psycho rain, it seems to have gone for the day. Assuming that it keeps on coming back I guess I'll have to call someone like you all suggested. I have 2 options : council pound = death, RSPCA = hold for a week max then death. I can't afford another pet. We went nuts with this guy and he is microchipped and vaccinated against feline AIDS. Those two were like 350 in total . . . lol and yes I paid because I'm a sucker.

[Serpentarius]

that's real costly .. you should've placed that cat in a box and shove it to your nearest cat-loving-neighbour's doorstep

edit: why do you have to be so nice? :D

[YukonTrooper]

Let the Australian wilderness take care of it National Geographic style.

[VOID WARRANTY]

glad i dont have to worry about stray cats...my cat beats em up when they come in my yard

[MikeB12]

lol, I have a whole family of stray cats living on the perimeter of my property.... a momma cat had kittens about 2 yrs ago, and actually one of them ended up in our garage, so we captured it and took it to the vet in hopes of either integrating it into our cats or putting it up for adoption. it remianed feral and never would let anyone pet it even after a yr old... it just refused to be domesticated... finally we found a home in the country where the owner was looking for barn rat cats.. old izzy is till there today as a feral barn cat... likes being around the humnan population, just not too near them....

anyway, I've called animal control for the rest of the family in the edge of the woods this past year to try and get them to pick them up, and the answer I received is "we dont do feral cats". they were aproblem for a while getting into trash, invading my cats territories, and sneaking through the patio pet door to get at the cat food on the patio. since then we seemed to have struck a bargain... I live in a rural area, large property, and have a storage shed for lawn equipment about 60 yards from the house on a 2 acre fenced lot... they sleep under the shed at night and pretty much roam the woods or edge of the yard during the day... theres about 20 acres of woods on the other side of the fence and shed anyway, the bargain is, I leave dry food and water out near the shed 3 times a week, and they dont invade my trash or my cats territory... and they also keep the snake population down inside the yard, which is nice because my last dachshund suffered a copperhead bite. and befoe the cats were around I normally found several snakes in the yard every spring and summer. they also patrol the shed for rats, which is nice because I store birdseed and dried corn for squirrel and deer in there...


anyway, my point is you can try the shelter and see if they will pick the cat up.. but my advice is dont tell them its a feral cat.... catch the cat and take them in as a cat that is not working out. no matter where you take a feral cat that wont warm up to people they are gonna be euthanized though...
the cat only has a couple options..
-either you strike a baragin like I did and accept them for what they are..
-they change their outlook on humans and domesticate for adoption.
-possibly find a adoption that needs a cat for pest control (like we did for izzy) - not an easy task.
-trap them and take them into a shelter for euthanization... (many people here will say, no that wont happen.. yeah, it will. they'll give the cat 48 hrs to domesticate, then needle it)

that's it in a nutshell... I would probably try and domesticate it first for a couple weeks. then if refuses to warm up and I'm not in a postitio to strike a bargain with a feral cat, then a trap and off to the shelter.