Author Topic: I've been adopted by a stray cat  (Read 11487 times)

Offline Livis

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2009, 09:47:58 AM »
Hello all,
Little cat is still around.
Having had a cat previuosly i am aware of what it takes and costs to look after one.
But because this little one turned up unexpected, i don't have the funds to pay out for everything straight away.
Been in contact agan with cats protection and the are doing a free neutering programme at the moment so thats good.
They've told me to keep any eye on her for any signs of pregnancy, seasons etc.
Recently she seems to wander off around 10ish and is back outside my door when we get up!
I put the cats protection collar on her last night, but it was gone this morning, so i expect it came off on a bush somewhere?
I'm wondering if she does have a home round here somewhere??       

Offline Millys Mum

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2009, 20:33:31 PM »
CP may neuter her for free for you but you have to ask yourself if you cant spare the money to spay her could you budget in the expense of caring for her for possibly the next 20yrs?
God quality food, litter, flea and worm treatments, vaccinations, insurance etc all add up over the year so it isnt just a one off cost  :shy:

Any reputable rescue would spay her before rehoming (if she needs it!) and many will vaccinate and microchip her also. Is it possible to have her indoors until a rescue can help you out so no tom can get to her?

www.catchat.org lists many rescues all over the uk, you need to get her on as many waiting lists as possible  ;D


Offline Janeyk

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2009, 22:31:51 PM »
My local CP do spay/neuter cats for free if they are feral/strays, this is arranged with our vets.  I recently took a stray cat and they also did all the ferals I have previously trapped. 
Please consider the harder to home cats in rescue.

Offline Livis

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2009, 21:11:25 PM »
Hello everyone and thankyou for your kind comments and words of advice.
I am particularly worried about her getting or even being pregnant!!
I would have thought the cats protection would neuter her for free if i said i would offer her a home, but i don't think that's the case.
If she went to them, they would neuter her if necessary as a matter of course wouldn't they?
I just don't have the spare money at the moment to get her thoroughly checked out.
She seems in good health, but you just can't tell for sure can you  :shy:
Livis xx

Offline Yvonne

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2009, 21:00:22 PM »
Hi Livis and   :welcome:  to Purrs

Pleased to have you on board

Thank you for caring for the little furbabe
The Purrs 2011 Cat Show!
Could your cat be a winner? 
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,37101.0.html

Offline Millys Mum

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2009, 19:31:03 PM »
Can you bring her indoors?
If you get her on as many rescue lists as possible and ask CP for a neutering voucher whilst she waits, better they take in one cat rather than 6!

You can find your local rescues on www.catchat.org


Offline Christine (Blip)

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2009, 19:04:28 PM »
 :welcome: to Purrs, Livis, and thanks for caring about this little traveller.

Here's the advice CP gives in these circumstances (I note that you've already done some of this):

Please check out the following list of missing kitties from the national pet register - it is worth keeping an eye on the listing in case he appears in the next few days:

http://www.nationalpetregister.org/missing-cats/

If you have a cat living with you or visiting and think is either lost, abandoned, the owner has moved and left it behind, or appears to be just roaming around, sadly all too common and to think the cats/s was the result of someone’s so called good home, or you know of anyone else with such a cat DO NOT ASSUME IT HAS NO OWNER (OR ASSUME IT HAS), PLEASE REPORT IT TO AS MANY RESCUES AS POSSIBLE IMMEDIATELY (see:- http://www.catchat.org/adoption/index.html) for some in your area.

EVEN IF IT LOOKS IN PERFECT HEALTH, PLEASE THINK HOW YOU WOULD FEEL IF YOU LOST YOUR CAT AND SOMEONE DID NOT BOTHER TO REPORT IT. It may simply be lost and could have been lost months previously. It is not unknown for cats to get into cars, removal vans, and so on, and be transported miles from their homes. Rescues have hundreds of cats on their lost/found register and the number increases on a daily basis. Most of the cats who go missing must be out there somewhere and, although we do manage to reunite quite a few with their owners, most of them are taken in or being fed by well meaning people, but are never actually reported. Depending on the condition of the cat and the safety of the location rescues can decide what course of action to take to ensure the cat receives all the help it needs. E.G. if the cat is well please your local rescues and ask them to check the lost list, take the cat to a vet to see if has been micro chipped.

If there is no record and the cat is well and not in a dangerous location perhaps you could on a long thin piece of paper write do I belong to you and your telephone number then attach the paper to a cat collar by wrapping sellotape round and round then put the collar on the cat if after 3 days you have received no reply take the collar off as many are considered dangerous and many cats have lost their life to them. Safer paper collars are available free from Cats Protection. Ring the local rescues and ask them to put the cat on the list waiting to come in. Please offer the cat shelter & feed it, I know some organizations say don't and they it will move on, however in our view that is callous, I am sure if you lost a pet it would be nice to think someone, somewhere was caring for it.

Also the cat has a greater chance of finding its owner or coming into care and finding a new permanent home, as it is not roaming from street to street looking for its next meal and endangering its life. If the cat appears below par please contact a local rescue immediately and ask if they will pay for the cat to be seen by a vet and if possible take the cat in.

So many people place a notice in a shop saying ‘FOUND’ etc, please remember that if the cat is going home even if only once a week as far as the owner is concerned they have not lost it so may not realise you are talking about their cat.

If the cat is timid and you cannot catch it most rescues have traps, at least then the little one can be taken to the vets to scan, have a MOT, flea and worm treatment etc, if unneutered Cats Protection can give vouchers for the cost. If feral you could ask rescues to try to find suitable homes for them. Although many cats people call feral are in fact what I call garden cats and that is cats that were once domesticated but then let down by society, these cats usually tame down very quickly once in a home.


Also check out
http://www.catchat.org/adoption/index.html Sheffield Hallam is now once again operative and their no is 01142 493330
www.animalsearchuk.com
http://www.lostcatsbrighton.org.uk/html/advice.html
purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php
mymoggy.com/
thehovel.com/bb/index.php
nationalpetregister.org
petsearchuk.co.uk/lost_and_found_pets.php
amissingpet.co.uk/lostandfound.html
animalsearchuk.com/
pet-rescue.org.uk/forums/index.php?showforum=447
animalrescuers.co.uk/html/lostfound.html
foundandlostpets.co.uk/
freewebs.com/pettalk/missingpetsbulletinboard.htm
petsmiles.com/v1/found.php
Also don't forget to check ad websites, such as.....
friday-ad.co.uk
adtrader.co.uk
uk.freeads.net
classifieds.co.uk
I'm a member of the British Humanist Association, the national charity supporting and representing people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs http://www.humanism.org.uk/home

Offline Janeyk

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Re: I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2009, 18:49:29 PM »
Hi Livis  :welcome:

You could try putting a paper collar on her (CP can give you these) and put your no on and if you don't get a reply try again - I had to do this twice before I got a call.  If no-one has come forward and you then want to keep the cat you can get vouchers I believe from the CP to help towards spaying/neutering if need be.
Please consider the harder to home cats in rescue.

Offline Livis

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I've been adopted by a stray cat
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2009, 16:45:45 PM »
Hello all,
Last Friday i saw a cat wandering in the car park where i live. So i gave it a little stroke and it follwed me across to where i live, (ground floor flat)
Anyway the cat stayed on my balcony, snuggled up on my deckchair for hours.
There are many cats round here, but i don't recognise this one i thought to myself, is she lost i wonder ??
It was still there when it came to bed time, so thinking she may be lost i put a box out for her with a blanket in.
Next morning she was still snuggled up in it  :-:
I got some cat food in and fed her and she ate it all up.
She's a very slight cat, who's in good condition with a nice clean coat, no smells etc and very friendly so i thought she must be someones much loved pet.
After day two of her sitting on my balcony i called the cats protection and local vets to see if anyone had reported her missing but nothing.
On day 3 she started wandering off exploring but still coming back and making herself at home.
On day 4 i took her to the vets to see if she had a microchip, but she hasn't. I asked them if she'd been spayed, but they said they couldn't tell unless they shaved her, to try and find a scar.
They think she's a young cat, anywhere between 8 months and 2 years.
It's been a week today since i found her and she's made herself very much at home, so now i really don't know what to do??
I've put ad's in the local paper and internet but no luck.
I'm really worried she's not been spayed and will get pregnant soon as there are lots of cats around here :scared:
I would love to keep her myself, but cannot afford to have her spayed if needed and jabs etc.
Any ideas are much appreciated
Livis xx     

 


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