Mumsnet Talk

A cat followed my friend here on Friday, friend lives about 5 minutes away next to a large field.. Cat came in to the house and seemed very skinny so I fed him and gave him some water, he ate it all.
I had to go out so I let him out, when I came back in the morning it was still here in my back yard.. He came in again and I fed him. Then let it out again and went out for a cigarette a few hours later and he came in AGAIN... So I fed him again.
Today he has gone out twice and come back each time, now currently snuggled on my knee and won't go out.
I've been feeding him twice a day and filling up the water.

Have I stolen a cat?

It seems quite young but very calm and friendly, I assume its a boy because it has no nipples? Don't know if that's right?

I'm going to print some posters tomorrow and put them up around the village but what do I do if nobody claims him? I do quite like him..

Take him to a vets and see if he's microchipped?

Male cats have nipples!

If no one responds then either keep him/her or take to a shelter.

Will they do that for free Rainbow? Its just I'm rather skint at the moment!

Oh I didn't realise they had nipples! So 'he' must have some that i couldn't find then.. How do I tell if its male or female?

Haha sorry op, male because it has no nipples

Aw my last cat found me. She was a lovely pet. They do attach themselves to people who will be good for them.

Defo put up posters. If you have no replies and if your circumstances allow you to take on the responsiblity for pus for all of his/her days go for it.

Next step will be trip to vets for jabs, sexing/neutering and micro chipping.

Haha I honestly thought that's how you tell if they're male or female!

I would love to keep him/her but will obviously try my very hardest to find the owner first

Sexing a cat. Well if you cann't tell by looking at its bum there are other clues but not reliable. Toms have bigger paws and their faces are wider. If the cat's fur tortoise shell it's a female.

Yes a lot of vets will scan for free.

To be honest, if you're too skint to do that, then you're probably too skint to own a cat - they need vaccinating, feeding, de-fleaing, de-worming, and someone to look after them if you go away.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer on it

Look up its tail. Balls = male. Two dots = neutered male. Dot and a dash = female.

<snurk> about the nipples.

Under the tail, there is a cats bum and under that, if it is a 'complete' boy, will be very obvious goolies. If it is a neutered boy, the sacks are still there as furry balls but smaller and empty.

If a girl, no goolies.

Is it a very furry cat making it hard to see the general area?

I really hope it is a stray needing a home as that would be win, win. You sound fond of him/her already!

X post with skang. You need to have a look!

Get it microchipped at a vets, definitely.

If you decide to keep kitty qhy mot check to see if you are elgible for vetinary help from the pdsa?

Its not very furry but I still can't seem to see! Im off to do an inspection in better light!

Rainbow is right, I may not be able to keep RandomCat anyway.. But we'll see.. I could probably work around it if it comes to it and nobody claims him/her. I did have a kitten but had to give her away recently as she was too mad and kept jumping on my babies head and attacking me. So I'm really sad about that too.. Maybe the universe is giving me another chance at cat ownership? <hopefull>

I've been feeling really lonely recently and RandomCat has very much cheered me up these past couple of days

It seems like Random Cat may be a neutered male or a female... I still can't really tell... And still can't find any nipples

So at least Random Cat shouldn't be pregnant.

I really hope you get to keep Random and that s/he gets to keep the name!

I advise doing a flea treatment asap.

My aunt once took in a stray cat, and a flea infestation.

Could you take RandomCat to the Blue Cross or similar cat charity and explain your financial situation?

They'll be able to check for microchips, and they vaccinate and neuter their lost cats as standard. They usually ask for a donation to cover costs, but it might be that they'd be very happy to have a cat come in with a home ready to go to and would waive the fee.

I'll look into that Grendel, thanks!

It seems I'll be very busy making phone calls and posters tomorrow!

Do I have to get a flea treatment done at a vet or is there something I can buy myself?

I do hope I can keep RandomCat though!

Haha when I first moved into my flat I had a random cat follow me in one night and I couldn't tell whether it was a boy or girl for the life of me! I got my mum to come and have a look and we eventually decided it was a girl. Seems silly now - I have a (neutered) male and a female and they have very obvious little ball sac/fanjo. They're brother and sister but my girl cat is very pretty and girly too while the boy cat is very boy-ish in his mannerisms and looks like a little tiger.

Could you phone up your local vets and ask if they scan for free? Or could you put posters up or something? That's how I reunited my little tag-along with her owners. I did cry when they rang me up though, I was half-hoping I would get to keep her!

Oh nevermind - I must have missed the bit about putting posters up!

If you do keep her you can buy decent flea/worm treatment online for quite cheap and you don't need to do it very often. Also there's no need for expensive food if she's happy to eat cheaper stuff and if she goes outside for the toilet then you won't spend much on litter either (useful to have a tray though in case she gets caught short in the night!). I would recommend insurance but I have Argos platinum cover and it's less than £5 a month for my female

Don't use the bob Martin stuff, some of its poisonous. My friends kitten only lived because she went home early and found him drooling and circling.