Stray Cat been living in my garden for 4 weeks. Help!

[Gail Bengal Slave]

Sounds like you are doing a good job by yourself  - hopefully he/ she will trust you in a few more days and let you pick them up - to get them in the carrier.

[Purrlishious]

O Gosh so it could be a girl & pregnant!!
The sooner I can get he/she to the vets the better.

[Ela]

(It could be a girl as they do spray too!)

Quite right, over the years, I have had as many females, if not more spray than males.

[Janeyk]

not far from me, I was from Wakefield but in Barnsley now.

[Purrlishious]

I bought some thermal aluminium insulation from B&Q to line the kennel £14.99.
IT'S BRILLIANT! Can certainly recommend doing it.

Also wrapped a patio table cover around it to protect from the winds.

He is talking a bit more to me now & has a very full tummy...

I'm in Wakefield adelCP & had a long talk to local protection. Will get a snugglesafe.

[Debsymiller (Rufus' mum)]

What area are you in? Well done for keeping him warm and well fed

[Millys Mum]

They can not do anything as he is not ill or injured.

PREVENTION of cruelty to animals, what a joke. Maybe you could starve him and then call them up and say now he is emaciated maybe they would like to help you. What a bunch of losers.

Your CP sound much more useful, meanwhile food and a warm hutch will suffice for him to keep warm and dry. I have 2 strays camping in one of our sheds, they have kennels and heatpads and are very cosy, its much better than being under a car so dont feel guilty for not being able to let him/her in your house. (It could be a girl as they do spray too!)

[Ela]

Advice our Branch of Cats Protection gives out when people think they have found a cat.

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.org.uk/
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

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

To be honest if you'd have phoned us (CP) it would have been very similar advice. You're doing everything that we could ask of someone in providing shelter and food. In time he will get used to you and we can take it onto the next step (neutering, vet checks etc), but for the moment you're doing the right thing. Cats are pretty hardy and at least he has somewhere safe and warm to go to. You could always invest in a Snugglesafe heat pad which you put in the microwave and it keeps warm all night if you're worried, but most are fine as long as they're out of the worst of it!

In a few weeks, assess how he's coming on and contact CP again to ask if they will pay for neutering - (what's your local branch?) If you're willing to feed until we can take him in, then most branches can put stray cats on the waiting list and on their websites to re-home him asap!

[Janeyk]

I agree with Sam, do what you're doing for now we also have a kennel and if the ferals want to they'll get in there they have plenty of food and very happy.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

As long as the hutch is wind and water proof I'm sure he will be OK in there.  I have a hutch outside the back door and there is always someone snuggled up in it.  I put an old pillow wrapped in a plastic bag then add an old towel and it goes down very well.  I had to wind proof the front of the hutch by putting a piece of clear perspex (from an old picture frame) over the chicken wire side and then taped it all round with electrical tape.

I have noticed that whenever any of the kitties emerges from the hutch they are very warm and dry and seem perfectly happy to spend plenty of time in there.

I wouldn't rush your little lodger just keep feeding him and in time he will let you get close to him.  The fact that he has let you stroke his head indicates he is used to human contact so it shouldn't take too long to win him round.

[CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls]

I think they say not to feed in the hope that the cat goes home, but obviously this would not be good if the cat has no home 

I would say just do as your doing and soon he will learn where the food is coming from and get to trust you.

Have you got a shed you could put the hutch in, or put water proof cover over the open wire to keep the wind and rain off him?

[Purrlishious]

Hi Gill.
I think they mean't not to feed if I didn't want him in the garden & he would then move on to somewhere else to be fed.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I dont know and hear its so wet with gales!

I am sure he would be better in a nice warm house but one can only do what one can do 

I hate to here RSPCA say dont feed cos they are just condeming them to death 

[Purrlishious]

A black & white cat has adopted a hutch in my garden for the last 4 weeks. It was starving but a good size. I couldn't help but feed it though the RSPA said not to. They can not do anything as he is not ill or injured.
I feel it is not used to human contact & is very timid & frightened. I managed to stroke his head a little while he was eating & hope that he feels safe & can trust me eventually. I have padded the hutch out with bedding & vet bed fleece but feel so sorry for it.
I tried to get it into a carrier to take to vets for scanning but unable to entice him in even though I put food in there.
Have done some FOUND posters & put them in local shops, pubs & on telegraph posts.
Cat protection rang me last night & said to leave him longer to get used to me & then try the carrier.

It just hurts so much that he (caught him spraying) could have been abandoned, is so alone without love or contact while mine are all safe, warm & want for nothing.

Do you think he will be ok out in the freezing cold?