A while back* I acquired a cat via the “stray adopts you from nowhere” method. Now there’s a new cat hanging around the garden I found gobbling up leftovers, and I am now feeding her fairly regularly. My kitty was definitely a stray, she used to sleep in the garage at night and hang round the garden all day. She clearly didn’t have a home to go to. The new interloper looks well fed and fluffy, but she’s around first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and as far as I can tell is not wandering off during the day. She was even wearing a collar – which I’ve taken off because (1) it looked uncomfortable (2) I thought that if she is going ”home” now and then, her human might replace it, or just notice that something was up? Whatever. Oddly the collar is really quite worn, it’s “decorative” (pink with rhinestone hearts etc.) rather than functional, but it looks like it has been worn for years. Faded and tattered.
More background. There are any number of wandering local cats**, I recognise four or five around the garden and about the same out in the street. This cat is new, I’ve never seen her before the last couple of weeks.
Has an old lady died, orphaning pink-collar-kitty? Someone’s moved house and abandoned her? (I’m pretty sure this is what happened to “my” cat). Or maybe I’m just a ruining a spoilt cat’s diet regimen?
I’m thinking of replacing the collar and attaching a message with my mobile number, so if hungry kitty has a human they can text me – and ask me not to keep fattening up their wandering cat.
How did this cat find me? Once you take in a stray do you become a magnet for un-attached cats? I really don’t want to be looking after a second cat. If I stop feeding her will she find some other sucker kind person to take care of her?
As in years ago, my kitty has been an old-lady-in-at-night cat for a long time now.
** This is the UK no one who has a garden has ‘indoor’ cats.
Put the old collar back on the kitty, with a note. Really wish you hadn’t taken it off in the first place. We had an outdoor kitty…my first kitty…who we gave a particularly sentimental collar to wear. She was held hostage by our across-the-street neighbors for nearly 7 months. When we recovered her, we of course did not get that collar back. It may have looked old and shabby, but it had some memories attached to it of the first cat I had ever loved. I realize having her wear it was a mistake, but I never thought she’d get stolen.
How did this cat find me? - Magic. Seriously. Cats have little sensors which allow them to find the nearest cat people.
**
Once you take in a stray do you become a magnet for un-attached cats? ** This is the case even before you do so. In fact, the cats will be attracted to you if you’ve merely thought of claiming one of the strays for your cat harem.
**
I really don’t want to be looking after a second cat. If I stop feeding her will she find some other sucker kind person to take care of her?** - Maybe, but maybe not. :\ Is it possible for you to get in touch with a cat rescue/spay-and-neuter group from the area? They would likely be interested in, if not re-homing, then at least fixing and vaccinating her.
-Waxie “Mistress of two “stray” kitties” Winged.
Bump for a little update. I managed (eventually) to get Mystery Cat’s collar back on, now with a dainty note requesting that her humans text me to claim ownership.
Apologies about the lack of pictures, my phone is just a phone and my camera is an old SLR with flat batteries. If I acquire the technology to get pics I will post them hereabouts.
At one point I had a string of stray kitties in the garden. The first one arrived, looked pleadingly at me and had some food twice a day for quite a while until I managed to get someone from CPL to trap him. They took him away and (as far as I know) successfully rehomed him.
He was followed by an adorable little ball of fluff who I believe belonged to some people a few doors down the street. When I first saw him, he was not very happy at all. Someone had the bright idea of using a man’s chunky (and very heavy) gold bracelet as a collar for the cat, unfortunately he had managed to get himself tangled up in it somehow. By the time I saw him, the bracelet had become stuck around him (he’d managed to get one leg through it but not the rest of him) and he was hobbling around with it, but wouldn’t come close enough to be helped. He was also rescued by CPL and taken straight to the vet, the bracelet had rubbed his skin raw and sadly the new skin was growing over the gold links. They did their best for him, but he had to be put to sleep in the end.
A couple of other cats came, stayed a few days, and then went on their way after a brief sojourn to stock up on food. Then Shadow appeared, courtesy of a friend’s friend. He had apparently been abandoned by his owners although I would not be surprised if they’d moved house and he had just kept going back to his old home. Anyway, he moved in, settled down very quickly and is now the much-loved second tail in the house.
It’s possible your stray does belong to someone, perhaps they’ve left the area and the kitty didn’t want to go with them, or the other way round and they’ve moved in, and kitty is just lost. Either way, you just can’t help but feed them, can you?
We are down to 7 from 11 ( 4 kits + 1 mama ) & only our oldest kitty was gotten on purpose. Strays, drops, trapped ferals that were not too far gone wild.
We have had to put down some also + bad dogs, mean raccoons, stubborn skunks. We had at the other place which was farther out than we are now had a real zoo full of critters.
I like critters more than people on most days.
Got the 100# dawg & 2 of the 7 cats in side helping me post right now. Bawahahaha
Hello.
A black cat with your mobile number on its collar has been sitting outside my house in Bradwell Common since 9am this morning. I have tried calling your number. Shirly.
Then a missed call Tuesday morning.
Finally:
Hello there
My next door neighbour took the cat to the vet and as it had a chip, they were able to find the owner who has moved from Tattenhoe to somewhere in Bradwell Common. Her name is Amy and she has been missing for two months. Thank you for helping her while she was with you.
