A stray?

[toomanyeasterbunnies]

A cat wondered into our house last Thursday through our patio doors. It looks in good condition, has a collar but no identity tag. I'm a bit of a soft touch so gave it some food (I now know I should not have done that)and it did seem to be be very hungry. It now keeps coming back and I'm not sure what to do next. I put a paper collar on it with my phone number and it has been on the cat for 3 days but I've not had any calls about her. Tonight I let her sleep on my lap for a while but I felt awful having to make her go out as we don't have a cat flap or litter tray. I think my next step will be to see if she has a chip. But how do I do that? Will a vet do it for free? What happens if she has no chip? We are more than willing to take her in and will then install cat flap etc.. But if she has no chip will they automatically send her to a re-homing centre.

I know this is probably all my fault for feeding her, but I was worried she was lost and hungry. She is not a cat we recognise from the local area.

A vet will scan for free if you explain. It only needs the nurse to do it. If she has a chip they will, I assume, let the chip people know who will contact the owners. If no chip of course the vet would let you take her away, much better to have her go to a home where she is wanted than a rehoming centre.

Has anyone new moved to the area?

Thanks coldsancerre. I have called the vet and as you said they will scan her without charge. I'm just waiting for a friend to dig out her cat carrier so I can take her. I also want to try the paper collar over a weekend in case her owners aren't spotting it as they aren't there during the day and she comes in late in the evening.

But I feel so sorry for her. She feel asleep on our sofa and I had to put her out in the cold. It's made me very upset thinking that perhaps she has no home to go to. :(

Ahhhh, how lovely.
If the cat is owned, you can have my two shittens .
I think you are going to be the proud owner of a cat soon. I would notice if either of my boys came in with a paper collar on.
Good luck. You could consider getting her chipped when she is scanned for the chip, assuming she isn't that is.

I would also notice a paper collar. When I had a cat come visit me I bought a collar and one of those barrel roll name tags and wrote on the paper in that. Got a response within a day. I stopped her coming in after that as don't believe in feeding other people's cats. I missed her so got my lovely old ginger boy a few weeks later from Cats Protection.

With the lovely weather at the moment she'll be fine outside overnight if she is a stray, especially as you're feeding her. I have a semi-feral cat who stayed out all last night as he prefers it, just sleeps on a garden chair and is quite happy.

Well the plot thickens. I took the cat to the vet yesterday morning and she is chipped so they have kept her there. :( Despite leaving messages with the owners, the owner has failed to contact the vet. They have called me asking if I would take the cat if the owner still doesn't contact them by tomorrow afternoon. I obviously said "YES PLEASE!"

Anyway, does anyone know if a) I can change the details held by the chip company to us, b) would the owner still have a legal right to the cat say after a month? I am prepared for the owner to turn up after a week or so but I would have assumed that after a month then they have lost any legal ownership to the cat? I would hate for my family to get attached to her only for the owner to turn up a few weeks down the line.

They wouldn't let you change her chip details, it is possible the owners are away and a neighbour is going in twice a day to feed but not actually seeing the cat.

Or she might be abandoned. Someone obviously cared enough to chip her which is usually done during the neutering procedure.

afaik you don't lose ownership rights to an animal after a set time, you could ring her chip provider and explain you have the cat, if the owner has gone on holiday they have a right to have her back.

I know you have 7 days to reclaim a lost dog before it can legally be rehomed, I can't see it being massively different for cats.

The owner still didn't contact the vet so I now have him (we thougtht he was a she!) His name is Henry. I am fully prepared for the owner to come back - perhaps he is away on holiday but it is two weeks tomorrow since the cat appeared in our kitchen. The vet has also written the owner a letter saying what has happened. Henry does seem a bit disorientated now he's back from the vet. He keeps wanting to go outside - which I'm letting. But before the trip to the vet he went outside and was gone for a few hours. He is now hanging around our garden and drive and doesn't appear to know what he wants. If you call him he comes in but then wants out again. Poor cat doesn't know if he is coming or going!