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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Stray cat - would like to keep

151 replies

Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 13:24

Over the summer, a sweet little cat started to appear on our shed roof. Always too timid to be approached though.

In November, our neighbour remarked that it was a stray. In December I went in our shed and discovered it must be living in there - it had made a little bed from an old patio chair cushion, covered in its fur.

I built it a little den and put an igloo style cat bed inside and have started to leave out food and milk/water. She/he loves it there and looking much healthier already. She now comes in the house and is so gentle with the kids. We have no other pets and would really like to keep her.

I have checked with neighbours and our local WhatsApp group but no takers. Also checked the local missing cats Facebook page for a match, but am wary to post on there in case someone unsavoury claims her.

The vet has said to bring her in next week (now early Jan) to check for a microchip. This is where I'm curious, does anyone have experience of taking in a cat who turns out to have long lost owners, and if so were they ok with you keeping it and signing over details?

We're really quite taken with her!

OP posts:
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AlfonsoTheGoat · 01/01/2022 17:11

Oh, s/he is a cutie! Congratulations!

thecatneuterer · 01/01/2022 17:12

@milly74

Please don't steal someone's cat? Get the chip checked and take her home if she has one She/ he - I think tom cat as well
Oh for heaven's sake. Have you actually read the thread? It's been hanging around since Summer. The neighbours say it's a stray. He is extremely nervous and almost certainly an unneutered boy. AND she is has a vet appointment booked to check for a chip.

There are at least as many stray and feral cats in the UK as there are owned ones - without the help of people like the OP many more than already do would suffer and die.

thecatneuterer · 01/01/2022 17:14

@RandomMess

Oh I wonder if that's why my boy has cheeks as he was de-baubled at 3 (retired stud!

It's either a boy or spayed girl for sure.

Yes that's why. The cheeks generally deflate after neutering, but often not entirely and sometimes not at all.
Original poster
Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 17:16

@Chanel05

My two previous cats were both strays and made their way indoors and themselves at home very quickly Smile.

Sounds like you have a cat Smile, as other posters have remarked. Taking in a previously unwanted cat is a joy; it's extra special to see them so happy, knowing what a life they could have led before.

Aww that's lovely to know you have two, as I wasn't sure how common stray cats are so I will be extra careful not to steal someone's cat! At least if nothing else, we know we have room for one down the line.
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Sadik · 01/01/2022 17:38

You definitely seem to have a cat Grin Where are you - your new cat looks to be almost the double of mine! She was from the cat rescue and super timid when she came to us, she's still very, very shy of strangers, particularly men.

Stray cat - would like to keep
Stray cat - would like to keep
Original poster
Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 18:25

@Nomoreusernames1244

If she’s been there since the summer and no kittens I would think there’s a good she’s neutered already.

If you want to keep her you have to make “every effort” to find an owner- chip check, social media as you have done, maybe some flyers? If no one comes forward she’s all yours Grin

That's what I was thinking optimistically, he (🙂) has been around so long now. I look forward to getting to the bottom of it!

We were treated to a sprayed front door this morning but I think neutered cats do that too! And a dead mouse.. it's the though that counts

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Original poster
Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 18:26

@thecatneuterer thank you, I couldn't have said it better myself!

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Original poster
Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 18:28

@Sadik

You definitely seem to have a cat Grin Where are you - your new cat looks to be almost the double of mine! She was from the cat rescue and super timid when she came to us, she's still very, very shy of strangers, particularly men.
Oh wow they are so similar!! This one has a fox like tip on the end of his tail. Such pretty colours.

We are Epping Forest in Essex. Where are you?

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Sadik · 01/01/2022 18:56

I'm in west Wales, so a very long way away. But literally on first glance at your photos I thought 'she's got my cat!' Grin

Though she's a real velcro cat now she's settled with us, I thought she'd got locked in somewhere yesterday when she didn't come for dinner or within 5 minutes of my calling (no - she was keeping dead quiet because she was sleeping on my pyjamas under my pillow, which is very much forbidden in this house!) And yes, such pretty colours, she's always the cat everyone wants to pet (I have a very handsome proper black cat and a cute black and white fluffball too).

bruffin · 01/01/2022 19:07

I wrote it on here about a stray on the door step crying.( For those who remember Kitler/Cwtch)

2 years later she is still here

Stray cat - would like to keep
IcedCoffeeMilkshake · 01/01/2022 19:15

We had a stray cat come into our home (not microchipped, no response to posters etc) and stay with us for 2 years. Then he decided our elderly neighbour's tinned salmon offerings were a very great deal more to his liking and went to live there instead! After about 3 weeks of trying to entice him back I took over his little suitcase packed with his toys and blanket. Grin

Now we look after him when our neighbour goes to hospital or to see her relatives. He's definitely got us all sorted.

Original poster
Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 20:22

@middleager

She's adorable! Thank you for looking after her. Hope it works out for you all.
Thank you! He is a cutie pie. Has a real thick coat I think from living outside, but feels rather bony under all that fur and a crooked tail along with some nicks in his ear. Needs some love and good stinky food I think
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Original poster
Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 20:24

@Sadik aww I find black cats so enchanting! The arrogance of cats cracks me up. I hope your pyjamas were nice and warm for you at least!

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Original poster
Mistressofnone · 01/01/2022 20:28

@bruffin Kitler what an amazing name! 😂 And so very pretty. I'm glad she chose you as her people.

@IcedCoffeeMilkshake oh no you were very gracious in that situation! At least you know he is safe but ouch I would find that tough

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SpookyScarySkeletons · 01/01/2022 20:29

Difficult one.

Trying to put myself in a potential owners shoes as our little torture disappeared 3 years ago. I miss her terribly.

But if I found out she had started living with a new family who adored her and wanted to keep her I'm not sure I could tear you and the kitty apart.

Sounds like little cat has landed firmly on her paws with you!

SpookyScarySkeletons · 01/01/2022 20:31

Urgh torture = tortie!!!

thecatneuterer · 01/01/2022 20:34

So if you've seen him spraying and I can see the beginnings of tom cheeks then he's unneutered. Yes, neutered male cats can spray, but it's not usual. I predict that the vet is going to say he's a young, unneutered boy and that he doesn't have a chip (that's because cats that aren't neutered are almost never chipped - both because it's done at the same time and the sort of owners who are responsible to chip are also responsible enough to neuter).

And this is probably why he's a stray. Unneutered males can smell a female in heat from half a mile away. They go following the scent and then can't find their way home. This is why something like 85 per cent of stray cats in the UK are unneutered males.

awesomekilick · 01/01/2022 20:36

He looks like my cat

Stray cat - would like to keep
Stray cat - would like to keep
Fluffycloudland77 · 01/01/2022 20:43

Well that’s why there’s been no kittens if it’s a boy.

My hospital file has a letter to my mums gp describing me as a healthy boy 🤨

TheMadGardener · 01/01/2022 20:47

What a cutie. Looking forward to hearing what the vet says. I'm sure if they turn out to be a young unneutered male they will not have a chip.
I buy the Whiskas cat milk for my diva kitty. Never had a cat who liked cat milk before but she loves it. She boycotted me yesterday after the trauma of a trip to the vet but she has got over it now. Bribed her with the huge tub of American cat treats that my SIL sent her for Christmas!

violetbunny · 01/01/2022 20:54

Nothing helpful to offer other than to say he is lovely, and you are just as lovely for helping him xx

PurpleVivo · 01/01/2022 20:57

What a lovely little moggy. I hope it all goes well for you and he can come live with you. He seems to have settled in nicely and it’s fab he is so good with the kids. I have got a neutered tomcat and he is an arsehole 😂😂😂🤦‍♀️ (But he’s my arsehole and I love him 😅)

TrainspottingWelsh · 01/01/2022 20:58

I would guess you have a cat too. I appear to be on some form of feline trip advisor for the place to go for lost/ stray/ feral cats. (In reality I suspect that it's down to seclusion and because I've always had horses and feral cats at home there's always food and shelter available)
Ime the genuinely lost cats are never toms. I suppose it wouldn't be impossible for a young kitten to escape before it could be done, but generally you'd still expect to find evidence of the owner online.

thecatneuterer · 01/01/2022 21:05

@TrainspottingWelsh Lost cats are nearly always toms! That's why they're lost, because they weren't neutered. You seem to assume that everyone gets their cats neutered as kittens - I can assure you they don't. Well, they probably do if you happen to live somewhere terribly middle class, and maybe that's what's skewing your experience, but they don't everywhere else.

TheSpottedZebra · 01/01/2022 21:06

He is very lovely!
What we're you calling him when you thought he was she?