Stray cat etiquette

[RWright]

We have just recently adopted a cat that wouldn't leave our conservatory door.

Lovely little thing..

Except when it brings dead birds in to 'please us'!

I nearly crapped myself

I leave a window opened for my cat to come in and out of during warm months. He has brought in dead birds, squirrels and mice. He has also brought in live birds and baby rabbits. Some of which didn't make it but a couple I was able to get to before they were too seriously injured. I am lucky that when he brings me these gifts or whatever they are, he makes a very long loud howling noise. I go straight for my gloves or a towel whenever I hear it and immediately go see what my prize is this time.

 

[AndyWilliams]

I have 2 cats but look after 5. Two were found in a bag in a ditch by the side of the M4, so I kept them as indoor cats, they wont go out funny enough, got all the chips and injections etc though, great little mates to me, we get on really well.
Three are stray: 1 is now so tame she has become a real friend whenever I go outside (4yrs now), such a playful cat, we have some right laughs, sadly she doesn't get on with the other 2 indoors so lives in the garden, doesn't try and get in either.
The other two are a bit scruffy, wont come that close but enough to ask for food. They sit around howling and sharing the bowl with the 2 Hedgehogs that come and see me about 10pm haha
I love animals, absolutely adore them

 

[Pat "5mph"]

@vickster I had one cat from kittenhood. One day, several years ago, he brought a friend into the garden, a sorry looking tomcat.
Within a few days, he slept in my bed with the other one!
I called him BigCat, because he really was a massive tom.
Tried to find his owners to no avail, took him to the vet, got him "done" - he was going out fighting with anything that moves, coming home bleeding but so proud of himself.
My other cat was not so happy, he was getting bullied a wee bit, still, they shared the same bed ... mine!
After his op, BigCat started to over groom, ripping out his fur, cost me a fortune in vet investigations.
Couple of years later, my other cat decides to leave home for good.
BigCat is still with me, does not walk like the Godfather anymore since he lost his bits, eats only the most jelly rich cat food (lots of it), prawns and prime continental cold meats, still over grooms, overeats, gets sick everywhere, wakes me up at 5am to have the bed for himself.
He's a great mouse catcher

 

[Shut Up Legs]

This thread needs more cat photos .

"This is really hard work"

"Bow down, for I am the lord of all I survey"

 

[Pale Rider]

I know but it was such a nice tale until the end.

GC

I listened to magistrates' court case of common assault - two neighbours who had fallen out over the behaviour of a cat.

One man whacked the other.

His solicitor gave the usual mitigation about sorry, learned his lesson, etc, and finished with:

"I can assure your worships there won't be any further arguments over the cat.

"As the police officer who made the arrest left in his panda car, he reversed over it."

 

[Sara_H]

Way back when I was still living at my Mum's place, a stray cat just walked into the yard, and right up to the house, one day. I'm amazed she had the guts to do it, because it was always a very shy cat. We already had a cat, and she didn't think much of the intruder. The stray ended up staying with us for about another 10 years. Both cats fought with each other for that 10 years, like siblings who love each other but can't help disagreeing all the time, but when the stray finally died, our original cat actually missed her .

This is how I got one of my cats, he just walked in one day and made himself at home. We knew he'd come from a house in the next street who were well known for neglecting animals, so we didn't try to hard to trace his owners, though of course, he was always welcome to go back there if he wished to.
He had a very happy, healthy life with us for 12 years until he lost a fight with my neighbours car.
RIP Brian.

 

[vickster]

I have no intention of adopting this cat but I can't just ignore him either. Will put a collar on, take him to the vet but if no joy, there is someone who'll adopt him. I'm only giving him whiskas dried food when Harry gets spoiled with Sheba and iams!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I listened to magistrates' court case of common assault - two neighbours who had fallen out over the behaviour of a cat.

One man whacked the other.

His solicitor gave the usual mitigation about sorry, learned his lesson, etc, and finished with:

"I can assure your worships there won't be any further arguments over the cat.

"As the police officer who made the arrest left in his panda car, he reversed over it."

GC

 

[vickster]

Gingey is back and sunning himself. Now wearing a collar and note, so we shall see. I'll probably take him to the vet on Tuesday if he's around

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I have no intention of adopting this cat but I can't just ignore him either. Will put a collar on, take him to the vet but if no joy, there is someone who'll adopt him. I'm only giving him whiskas dried food when Harry gets spoiled with Sheba and iams!

Ha! You'll soon feed him Sheba too, guilty feelings gonna get you

 

[AndyWilliams]

You can keep him as a stray, they need somewhere to sleep and food twice a day. That's easy.

 

[vickster]

Ha! You'll soon feed him Sheba too, guilty feelings gonna get you

Ah indeed, the little man had a Whiskas pouch today as he saw me feeding Harry!

Gingey was hungry though as I wasn't around yesterday to feed him, he is still wearing the collar and note from Sunday so it seems he's not living with someone locally. Will need to get him to the vet for a check

 

[MisterStan]

Our cat was once feral - a thin scrap with most of its coat in a shocking state. We couldn't track down an owner and while we don't know for sure, we think it was left abandoned as a kitten when an elderly lady down the road, known for feeding the occasional stray in a barn, died and her house stayed empty for some months.

He was about six months old when we started to leave food for him in our garden. It took three months to tempt him into the house and even then the slightest noise caused him to run away. It was six months before he let us pick him up and then we found what we thought was a she was in fact a he. Over a year later, he's now a normal if slightly quirky house cat.

Our local vets give a big discount for treating and neutering feral cats, btw.

View attachment 51593

That could be my oldest cat's twin! We have just (Sunday) taken delivery of a new kitten, 10 weeks old and from a stray who took over our friend's shed to have a litter of three. Only a couple of days in and Oscar (the old one) seems quite taken with her. He has been getting extra treats as we want to keep him happy.

 

[raleighnut]

I do like the name, the odd eyed white that adopted us remained "Whitey" as he was always filthy before his little "snip" and as they said on the advert "you can get tablets for that"

 

[Globalti]

More photos needed?

Okay...

This young one also retrieves scrunched-up till receipts, usually dropping them into a slipper:

This older cat is fat and lazy: