Differentiating between strays, wanderers and missing cats?

[sidneykitty]

I hope this is the correct place for me to post this question... I have been wondering recently, how does one differentiate between a stray cat, a wanderer with a family and a missing cat who is lost? Besides ID and the very obvious physical clues that a cat is not doing well. Since they're so good at hiding pain and problems, its not easy to tell even if something is wrong. I've been wondering how lost cats are found by strangers recently, and how do you know if a cat is lost or not and I can't really find much information about it. I even asked a local group who gave me a not very informative answer.

What has me wondering this once again is because I saw what appeared to be a pregnant cat recently while out walking who was very friendly, seemed to be doing okay although she seemed scared of street traffic, no collar or ID visible, and I am still worrying: what if she is lost? what if she is a stray and needs help? How do you make a decision to TNR or intervene if you aren't sure? There is no way for me to know if she belongs to someone or not. I checked all the lost cat postings I know to be sure she wasn't missing and I don't see her anywhere. So presumably she is either stray or someone's unspayed wanderer.

To be clear, I don't plan to do anything but I am curious how one decides if a lost cat is "found" and takes them or a stray in to care for them without knowing its a stray you regularly see. Does anyone have much more experience and wisdom with all this than me?

 

[shadowsrescue]

The similarity between house cats, stray cats and feral cats is that they all come from the same species and they are all domesticated cats. The similarities end there. The biggest difference between the 3 types of cats is in their relationship and interactions with humans. House cats are fully integrated with their humans and have daily interactions. Stray cats have had past interactions with humans while feral cats have had no or very little interactions with humans.

House cats can be living both indoors and outdoors. Yet they are completely socialized to humans. They interact and usually enjoy interactions with people. They can still be skittish around strangers, but they can and do seek out human interactions. House cats are socialized with humans at a very young age. As kittens they get used to being held, picked up and petted. They learn to enjoy human companionship.

A stray cat was at one time socialized with humans. The cat has lost its home and now lives on its own. The longer the cat is left on its own, the less it seeks out human interactions. As time goes by, the stray cat can often become feral due to lack of human interaction. A stray cat may walk and move like a house cat with its tail up or it may act more feral like and crouch or stay low to the ground. A stray cat will often make eye contact with you. A stray cat might be communicative and meow. It may also look unkept, dirty and matted due to the change in the its environment (generally, a stray cat will actually look more unkept than a feral cat). Stray cats will often be seen at all times of the day not just dawn and dusk. Stray cats can often once again be socialized and learn to enjoy human contact yet it can be a very slow process. The stray cat has a chance to be adopted once it has been socialized again.

A feral cat is one that has never had human contact or the contact has diminished over time. The cat will be fearful of humans. Feral cats will not seek out human interaction, but they can be social with other members of their cat colony. You will not find a feral cat sitting on your patio looking into your home. Feral cats will not make eye contact with you and their body language often suggests fear. They may run or walk low to the ground constantly looking over their shoulder. When sitting they may wrap their tail around their body in protection mode. Feral cats are often silent except for hissing if they are approached by humans. They appear clean and healthy since they have always lived outside and adjusted to the environment. They are usually only seen at dawn and dusk when they come out to feed or hunt. Some feral cats are noticed by their ear tip.  his is a universal sign that a cat is feral has been spayed or neutered. In general, feral cats cannot be trapped or caught and brought inside to be socialized and adopted. It is possible to socialize a feral cat, but the process is extremely slow. I know many people (including myself) who have worked tirelessly to socialize feral cats. They can be rescued by the right person, yet generally speaking it is very difficult to socialize a feral cat.

I hope that if you realize this cat is all alone that you consider helping.  If the cat is pregnant, kittens will born and the cats will begin to multiply before your eyes. 

 

[ondine]

Hi, SidneyKitty:  Thank you for worrying about this cat.  Her behavior tells me she was, at some point someone's pet.  Whether she is a stray or a wandered is something you'll have to determine.  Put up posters, talk to your neighbors and call the local shelter.  This will give you some info and help you make the next decision.

I have a rule.  If I do not recognize the cat as a neighbor's, I trap it and foster it.  During that time, I make sure the cat is healthy and will take it to the vet for a check-up.

Unfortunately, in spite of flyers, posters, calls to neighbors, notices to the local shelters and sometimes, notices in the papers, I have never identified an owner of a cat who appeared in my yard.  (This is why I have eight cats and have found homes for more than 50).

After two weeks, I usually spayed or neutered the cat (luckily, we have a decently priced clinic about 35 miles from me).  I also get them vaccinated and treated for parasites.

I am very, very fortunate that there is a wonderful shelter near me.  They have found homes for most of my strays.

I want to add that I am confident about approaching things this way because of a particular situation on my neighborhood.  For many years, a neighbor allowed his cat to breed and, year after year, he turned the kittens out at 12 weeks.  He loved kittens, so they were all socialized.  But for years, you could count on several dead cats in the road and even more in our yard.

Another neighbor and I begged him to spay her and even volunteered to take her.  He always refused.  After she finally died, he kept a male (and promptly had him fixed!!!)  Funny thing is, since that happened, we've had no more strays.  Go figure.

My point is, figure out if you can keep her or find her a decent home.  If these are options, bring the cat inside and at least have her vet checked.  If she's pregnant, you will have a decision to make but in the meantime, put up flyers and check with the neighbors and your local shelter.  Facebook often has local "Lost and Found" pages, too.  Fingers crossed you find her owner but my sense is that she's been put out.

After two weeks, you can decide what your next course of action is.  Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[crazy4strays]

My rule of thumb is that unless a cat is in obvious distress, I only concern myself with animals that are directly on my property. 

So if I see a kitten on the side of the road, who's going to die if I don't take them in, then sure I'll take them in. But otherwise, I leave strays alone. We have so many strays in our county and so many country dwellers let their cats outdoors and don't put ID on them, that I would go crazy and probably accidentally steal lots of owned cats in the process, if I worried about cats not on my property.

Once an animal is on my property, they become my responsibility. I've had two stray animals who've been on my property in the past 10-11 years. One was a cat. I placed an ad, scanned him for a microchip, and eventually kept him when no owner was found.

The other animal was a dog and I transferred him to Animal Control after scanning him for a microchip and not finding one.

I'm at my limit for personal animals now, so if future cats come on my property I will likely work out an agreement with my animal rescue that I foster for, so that I can foster them, until we can rehome them. 

 

[crazy4strays]

Also, another good rule of thumb is does an animal look out of place?

If you are feeding a feral colony and a friendly neutered Siamese cat comes to eat with them, there's a pretty good chance that he belongs to someone and is lost.

 

[sidneykitty]

Wow! thanks for all the very informational replies!! I definitely can tell the difference between a stray and a feral cat and if they look obviously out of place...I am wondering about more subtle things I guess.

I put up info on the local lost cats facebook page to see if anyone recognizes her but so far nothing. I don't actually live in the neighborhood so I can't keep a regular eye out, but I've been there before and know I've seen her before. I don't want to accidentally steal away someone's cat... I guess I am worrying that I am over-worried about this kitty! But if she has kittens, then there will be more cats needing a home in a world without enough homes for them.

Maybe you are right, @Crazy4Strays   - if they are on my property, I would OF COURSE look out for them and eventually take them in if they obviously didn't belong to someone... I guess I just want to help and if I could I'd save all the cats but that's only a dream.I commonly see wandering cats where I live and you can never tell if they are stray or wanderers... I guess it kind of bothers me they aren't wearing collars and/or tattoo'd so I can tell one way or another.

 

[sidneykitty]

Well I've just had an idea of something I could do. I do have a cat who has recently appeared regularly in my yard. If I can get close enough, I could put a collar on him with a tag that says "if I have a home, please call ##" so that the owners will see the tag (if there are any) and let me know. Any ideas what I could use to make the temporary tag out of? I don't want to use cardboard in case it rains or gets destroyed and I will be sure it is a breakaway collar.

 

[ondine]

Good idea!  Maybe you can laminate the tag?  It will keep it dry for a short time, anyway.

 

[sidneykitty]

Yep that's a good idea... now to get near enough to the cat to get it on is the key! He is very skittish and tends to run away when you head toward him so I am trying to go very slowly and not look him in the eyes. But he is also bold and walks right up to the house. My neighbor's cat Amber was just meowing and meowing at the window and I looked out to see him sitting there looking in at her! Been seeing him a LOT more lately and it concerns me because he got in a fight with Amber the other day and he is much bigger than her.

 

[sidneykitty]

I'm just concerned as yesterday I saw him around mid-day, then again at 4:30. Today I saw him at 8am and again around mid-day. Its typical to see him around 7:40/8. So he is hanging out around here, I wonder if he is a neighbor's cat after all though he isn't very friendly.