# stray cat **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942 "2004-07-20T04:17:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/1 "2004-07-20T04:17:34Z")
My son and I were going on our trek around our streets. I hear someone calling me. Its this woman who owns a cat. She knows my son is a major cat lover and asks if we want a cat. I tell her not til we move out of my fathers. She says she found this stray behind her condo. its gray, it looks skinny, it devoured the cat food she put out for it. Its male, and therefore, obviously not fixed. What would be the best thing to do? Have neighbors feed it? Call the shelter? Its cute, its small for a male, and has huge paws. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/2 "2004-07-20T13:41:48Z")
Aww, stray kitty. I would either take it to the nearest no-kill shelter or see if they can come pick it up. That way, it can get tested for illness and hopefully get adopted. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/3 "2004-07-20T14:14:20Z")
\*I slink down the alley, lookin for a fight Howlin to the moonlight on a summer night Singin the blues while the lady cats cry Wild stray cat you’re a real gone guy I wish I could be as carefree and wild But I got cat class and I got cat a style \* ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/4 "2004-07-20T14:51:24Z")
Tell her to call a shelter - preferably no-kill, where he might have more chance of being adopted, but any shelter will do. Some shelters will help trap a cat; others will not pick one up at all; others will pick it up if you have it confined to a small area, such as a room or garage. Is the cat friendly? How does she know he’s not neutered? (Many male cats still “appear” to have testicles - it’s just the pouches; there’s nothing in them.) How is she sure he’s an unowned stray? (I’d probably bring a starving cat in to a shelter anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/5 "2004-07-20T14:53:50Z")
If you feel comfortable posting your location, I might have suggestions for shelters. Or you can email me if you don’t want to put that info on the board - check my profile. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/6 "2004-07-20T15:15:50Z")
Actually, DON’T just go for the nearest no-kill shelter; some no-kills are horrible, horrible places that will warehouse animals for years at a time in terrible conditions. There’s a “shelter” in a neighboring county so bad that PETA is trying to focus national attention on its perils. If you take the cat to a shelter, check the place out first, and talk to your vet or to another animal professional that you trust to get some advice. Also, file a found report with your local humane society, if they take found reports: someone may be looking for their sweet cat. Its current thinness doesn’t indicate that it’s been mistreated; if somehow it got out of the house and got confused, it could’ve been on the lam for many days or even weeks, while its owners search frantically for it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/7 "2004-07-20T15:18:50Z")
Oh, okay, he’s a male, but he may be nuetered. He was friendly, her friend was petting him, and he (the cat) was affectionate but wary. Kept meowing. We are going to check this morn. We are in a suburb of Cleveland Ohio. I know there is the APL, but I don’t know if it is no-kill. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/8 "2004-07-20T15:30:56Z")
Of course any shelter - kill or no-kill should be checked out. Some of those places are horrors. If he was friendly and meowing, he’s probably not feral, which means he could be someone’s pet. You might consider posting a free classified ad on Petfinder. They also have a message board where you can post lost-pet notices. (Which is confusing, as people don’t realize there are two places to look. But I digress.) It’s nice of you to try and help this poor kitty! ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/9 "2004-07-21T02:46:37Z")
We went by this evening and there it was again, sitting on someone s back porch. We told the lady and her friend and they petted it again. My son said it feels really thin, you can feel its bones. He has felt many cats and they were always full figured. I told them about the shelter, but they said they would just kill it if it wasn’t adopted. She said she is close to adopting it. She has a cat already. Its not fixed. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/10 "2004-07-21T02:57:33Z")
Full figured cats? 😕 How much toner _did_ he use? ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/11 "2004-07-21T03:01:54Z")
full figured cats. Cats that weigh a normal amount :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/12 "2004-07-21T03:04:07Z")
Ah… I was picturing a Sophia Loren shaped kitty. I need a spankin. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/13 "2004-07-21T03:15:35Z")
or catnip ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/14 "2004-07-21T13:35:50Z")
> [@](#): > > I told them about the shelter, but they said they would just kill it if it wasn’t adopted. Do they know that for a fact that whatever shelter you’re referring to automatically euthanizes every single animal that comes in after a set specific number of days? Many shelters don’t operate that way. Not even kill shelters. It depends where they are, how big they are, how much funding they have, how many branches they have, what season it is, what state they are in and what the climate is, how many spaces they have available, what the health of the animal is, what their historic adoption rate is, what their historic surrender rate is, and so on and so on and so on. Glad she seems to have found someone to adopt him. Just don’t discount all shelters right off the bat - in any case, he’d be better off being put to sleep than starving to death on the street. Just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/15 "2004-07-22T03:04:17Z")
She caught him tonight and he’s at the vet getting fixed and declawed (she has to, her other cat is). So he now has a home. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/16 "2004-07-22T03:13:18Z")
Its a bit unusual, too. Its hind paws are longer than usual, almost rabbit like, and it has an extra toe on the front ones. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/17 "2004-07-22T03:30:39Z")
Ooh, a Rephaim kitty. From Gath? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/18 "2004-07-22T03:36:43Z")
[2 Samuel 21:20](http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=2SAM%2B21%3A20&showfn=on&showxref=on&language=english&version=MSG&x=13&y=13) - for those who don’t get the joke. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stray-cat/255942/19 "2004-07-22T13:48:51Z")
I’m glad it worked out. Now it’s time to start fattening him up!