Cat being crying at my door for 24 hours

[getintheseaharold]

Yesterday morning I heard a cat crying and rustling in the bushes. Out pops a very chatty little tabby. Clearly very young, no collar, more lithe than skinny. Never seen her before. She seems well kept bar being little and lithe.

She hung about for a stroke, did a lot of purring, and hasn't left our yard since and has been at the door crying now for 24 hours. I went to bed with her at the door staring in. I heard her mewling as I went to sleep then woke up to her crying outside still. She has clearly slept on our outdoor sofa and the only time she stops the mewing is when she's napping on our outdoor sofa.

I've had cats before so I'm well acquainted with their ability to appear neglected and starved but isn't this a long time for a young cat to be away from home?

She's in no way trapped. She's not injured (trots around happily) . The gate is wide open to the road and she could belong to any of the houses but she's not moving from our yard.

Not sure what to do tbh! Do I feed and water her? Chase her away? Hope she buggers off? The mewing is breaking my heart (and it's VERY loud)!

Do you have a cat rescue nearby that could come out and scan her?

Congratulations on your new cat 😻
You are her chosen people ❤️

I’m thinking lost as well. You know what their like for getting lost.

Oh dear. No response on our message boards. Shes still here. Now well over two days she's been here. She's showing no signs of leaving.

Vets for a chip scan if she's still here on Monday.

It sounds like you’re rural but if there are any rescues near you they often have a microchip scanner too.

Please give her some food, and slowly encourage her to come inside with maybe food or toys by the door inside

Oh I’m so envious - Waiheke ❤️ And being adopted by a cat. Def take in, feed and FB , community will ID her pretty quick I’d have thought ?

Then have you seen bird be safe (or equivalent ) collars ? Highly recommend esp with your lovely NZ birds …

Give her cat food not chicken and cheese :)

There's no need to encourage her inside - she's clearly happy enough outside. Can you ask on facebook if anyone has a microchip scanner? She might have an owner who's really missing her.

Buy some cat food x

She's had half a pouch of cat food and left the rest. Not interested in dreamies and seemed confused by them. Rejected the fresh water and drank out if a drain instead.
Likes a stroke and a snuggle next to us but hates being picked up and isn't a lap sitter. It's almost like she's not used to being handled or being indoors!

Very sensible of you to ignore her for the the first day and not feed. As you say, she isn't under weight and cats can be discouraged from going home by someone feeding them novel food!

I wouldn't have wanted you to take her in if she was mine in case she never came back to me. Sounds like she lives outside as you say.

Chip scan on Monday is the right idea.

Aw will you keep her if you don’t find her owner? It’s quite nice having an independent cat.

We got our lost cat returned to us because he meowed outside someone’s house long enough that they realised he need help - they took him to the vet who scanned him and phoned us.

Cat family found! They responded in the FB page after a tip off. She lives 3 doors down. They've got a new kitten and Catto (our name for her) is extremely pissed off about it so legged it and clearly found a nice calm place away from the new 'toddler'. She's apparently a wanderer and very independent anyway so not seeing her for a few days is normal but they were worried when her food hadn't been eaten.

I walked her up to her actual home coaxing with treats and she scampered back to her owner happily but with some trepidation.

No doubt we'll see her again but I'm glad she's got a home close by. We are a little bereft without our chatty furry friend!

Thanks for the advice.

Awww, that’s lovely, love a happy ending. And because she doesn’t live too far away, you will still get to see her

Awwww, that's a nice story. Well done, she was a beauty!

Yay!! Love a good cat reunion.

Also she's 11!! Us and catty friend pegged her at 1 ish. She's looking good for her age!

Oh dear. Clearly not impressed with the new kitten then?

Just reading the thread - glad you finally got her reunited with her owners! Also jealous about you being in NZ, Waiheke was the first place I visited as a nervous solo traveller when I arrived there for my working holiday years ago! Good memories

@Echofallen I'm always amazed at how many people know Waiheke. For a tiny Pacific island it's so well known and visited. Glad you had a lovely experience.
We moved here from London 8 years ago. 2 minutes to the beach and so much wonderful wine and food. We love it.

I was only there on a day trip from Auckland but it was lovely and so chilled out! Glad you're enjoying life there! :)