Taken in a stray...what to do?

[greengoose21b]

This morning I found a very matted and hungry tabby cat hanging around the food bank where I volunteer. The vets aren't open today so I can't take her to see if she is chipped. I've brought her home and she's shut in our front room away from our other two girls.

I have managed to cut away a few of the worst matts...one the size of my fist. She's covered in them...all over her...so I'm trying to brush slowly but she's sensitive and reacts if I brush under her chin or by her bum, and I don't want to scare her although she is very friendly.

I've given her a dose of advantage, and a worming tablet crushed up in a lick-e-lix.

I have a vets appointment booked for first thing tomorrow.

Is there anything else I can do today? Feel a bit useless.

She's beautiful and well done you! Did the vet give her any pain relief if needed though?
Have they said about her health? Apart from being an old lady

Well done.

Hope she stays.

Google Pinot’s kitten threads on here.

Sounds like a good little time window to get some heavy pet insurance if you're keeping her, OP! She's a sweetie.

Thank you for update, we all really appreciate it - I’ve been thinking about her all day !
I wouldn’t try too hard to track down the caring owners - if it was me

She looked much happier, did the vet examine her and say what treatments she needs. Have you got a pdsa or blue cross hospital near you who might help.

So glad she’s doing well, with rest and all the much needed tlc you’re giving her, you’ll notice a difference in 7 days. Hope you can keep her!

Glad she’s ok. Did they say what treatment she needs?

That's odd, I took in a stray and he wasn't chipped and the vet just said he was ours now and chipped him immediately

She looks much happier now

I just wanted to say that I have a 20 year old cat who also looks ungroomed and un cared for (much like the cat in your photo) and this couldn’t be further from the truth. She doesn’t have a collar because she won’t tolerate it, she gets groomed as best we can because again, she get feisty and doesn’t like it and she comes home as and when she pleases. She has found a couple of gardens that she likes to lay in and we found out that one of them were feeding her, so we asked them not to as it meant she didn’t come home for food and we were beside ourselves knowing where she was!! It is not an option to keep her in because she is an outdoor cat and very vocal and why would we anyway, when she is used to being outside for 20 years! She is adored by our family and just because she is unkempt doesn’t mean we don’t love her and she certainly isn’t a stray. Put posters up for potential owners before thinking she’s a stray. Thank you.

@NinDS well said ... 🙂
@greengoose21b you've done a kind thing, but do try and track down the owner (it could be an elderly person missing a much adored elderly pet)
I don't mean to rain on your parade, and if no owner comes forward, then I hope that she can spend her last years with you 🙂

Yes they are all scenarios that need to be explored, in the meantime it’s reassuring that old lady tabby is comfy and fed, she’s so lovely
@greengoose21b
You are a lovely lady for doing this and keeping us updated

Oh I will definitely be trying to track her owner down...I will put up a poster where she was hanging about. Believe me, I don't want someone else's vets bill!

But I will repeat that she had a matted clump of hair the size of a cricket ball on her side...that's not just a big old and scruffy.

Agreed,
That is months and months of living rough
Poor old girl, but she’s in the right hands now thank goodness

She is a gorgeous girl, scruffy or not, and what a wonderful personality she has, so calm and trusting.

Virtual dreamies to her (and OPs other cats who must be a little puzzled.)

I'm so glad the Old Lady has found a loving home. It may be that just keeping her comfortable is more practical than lots of expensive veterinarian interventions.

Well done to you for being so caring

Can you get some insurance now I don’t know how long you have to wait to claim on it

I think you've probably got another cat OP, I have taken in several strays and no owner has ever come forwards, despite trying hard to find one! I'm glad microchipping is becoming compulsory, but there will always be those who won't bother.

Wow. Even her eye looks better. What a sweetie.

Did the vet do anything for her other than those instructions? Hope she's feeling a lot better

She looks much more chipper today! What magnificent whiskers. ❤️

People saying not to try too hard to find her previous owners are just nasty. Yes, the poor thing looks a state, but you don't know how long she's been missing for, or how it came about.

@greengoose21b. as well as a poster, ring around all the local vets & rescues & put up as many posters as you can in as wide an area as you can, also see if there's any retirement housing in the area & ask around there.

It would be great if you could, once again, get the joy of reuniting her with her owners x

Nextdoor app is amazing for stray/ lost cats

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Nextdoor app is amazing for stray/ lost cats

Indeed!

I found a message on Nextdoor saying "Does this cat belong to anyone? He is meowing loudly and chasing my cats around the garden" with a photograph of AlfonsoCat. When I went to their house (around the corner) to retrieve him, said cat made it clear that he had found a new home, thank you very much, and that was where he intended to stay.

Luckily for all concerned, his new family fell in love with him and agreed to adopt him.

I do miss him but I know that he is happy where he is.

@greengoose21b
How is the cat getting on OP and have you seen any lost notices yet or had any luck tracing owner
TIA