What do I do with a cat?

[surprise]

A cat with no collar turned up on our doorstep a couple of days ago. We ignored it at first, but it kept miaowing so we gave it some milk. Then some fish (we were having it for tea) and since then he's all but moved in. I've asked around in our small village and no one seems to have lost a cat. It's quite small, but not overly skinny. Obviously the DCs are delighted as they've always wanted a pet and we've always said no. What do I do? Quite like to keep it tbh, but feel bad that it probably belongs to someone else. Also, how often do you need to feed them? Have bought a box of Go Cat today and he/she's eaten 2 bowls of it so far. Any advice appreciated.

do you live near cod?

Why not keep it / look after it, but contact the local vets etc., to see if anyone reports a lost cat.

Personally, I wouldn't put up 'found' notices, but make sure the vets and maybe petshops know you've found a cat.

Do dog wardens cover cats too???

THat's what I'd do.

I would contact local vets,if anyone in the are has lost a cat and want it back they would go to huge lengths to find it, ie local vets.

A Go-Cat only diet isn't brilliant btw, I'd give some wet food too

take it to the vet and see if its microchipped.

btw its only there because you fed it. sorry, but you dont feed other peoples cats.

It could have lost its collar, but may well be microchipped as a lot of cats are these days. You should do as others suggest and take it to the vet, who can scan it to see if it has a chip.

why do you not feed other people's cats?

if someone found my dog i would be grateful they'd found such a caring person and would be pleased he'd been fed....

Message withdrawn

Stroke it

because cats are daft and will go where there is food. some cats have many 'homes' where they get fed daily. have heard of a cat who had about 4 different 'families' and they all thought he was theirs as he ate there. also it could be on a special diet due to illnesses (sparklygothcats fluffball is, he suffers from FLUTD, a flare up costs her hundreds of pounds if he he eats somethign he shouldnt).

and its not your cat!

Tape a note around it's collar asking if it belongs to someone to give you a call.
We had to do the opposite to tell people to stop feeding our cat!
(We since gave cat to MiL as it was scared of the DC's and it got ran over last week )

Notify:

all local vets and not so local Vets;

Cats Protection League and any other animal rescue centres;

and RSPCA/SSPCA

all these places are where I'd contact when my cat is lost so if you've found one let them all know you've got it. Say you're happy to keep it unless/until their owners come forward. Not sure if there's a time limit usually worked to, CPL would probably know.