Advice please - stray Tom

[WelshMoth]

We have a male cat in our neighbour- really friendly, independent. We see him and feed him occasionally. He's all bones. He has the potential to be a big cat but clearly underweight. Sometimes, he's bold enough to lurk at the back door, but other times he sees us and runs off. DD has stroked him a few times and her hand is mucky afterwards - clearly sleeping rough. He's also spraying - I can smell him a lot.

DD is a softie and wants us to adopt him but we've just adopted 2 from the CPL and DH won't have more (especially a sprayer). What are our options here? DH reckons he'll be PTS if we contact the vets or CPL.

Ask among the neighbours - somebody may know who he belongs to.

Neutering an adult tom doesn't always stop them spraying, unfortunately.

Well he's not going to have owners if he's in that state. And neutering normally stops spraying (you won't be able to get it done right now though - it's emergencies only at vets). I would try to get him into a regular feeding routine for now and then make a decision once this crisis is over.

He needs your help, I'm afraid. He's obviously starting to trust you, so that's a good sign. Maybe your DD could get a comb or brush and help him keep his fur in order, if he'll let her. Do you have a shed or outhouse of some kind to set him up in, ie food and water bowls, a bed and litter tray. Would your vet let you buy some flea treatment over the counter, mine does, and are still open for day-to-day business, with social distancing in place. That'd be a start and see how it progresses from there.

I've been through this so many times, a lot of us have. All of my cats have been strays.

This is my latest boy, who is roughly 11 years old, was a stray for years, a complete and utter mess, and now he's all sorted, a home boy, really well behaved and doesn't spray - thank goodness.

Good luck. I hope you manage to persuade DH to keep him

Thanks everyone. I'll make a start and keep you posted.

Dhs often come out with that sort of thing though, they just like saying stuff.

When it comes down to his dw & dd looking up at him with pleading eyes waiting for them to do the right thing it’s a different matter because they know you’ll hold it against them. You can still get my dad in the shit by reminding my mum about the silver tabby kitten he said no to 33 years ago.

I hope you manage to establish a feeding routine with him because he must feel really ill at the moment.

I wonder if pets at home do a worming tablet that actually works?.

Fluffy - yes they do - Drontal. You can also get it in chemists and online - in fact from all the same places that you can buy Advantage.