How do I tell if outdoor cat is a stray or not?

momofmany

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What a great story! Chances are if she is declawed, she is also neutered. My experience with ferals is that pregnant ones show up at my doorstep (I feed the outdoor cats daily) because they are looking for regular sources of food. They have their kittens close by so that they can continue to easily feed once they deliver, and it's a convenient way for the mom to teach her kids how to "hunt" (the elusive food bowl). Some of the female ferals in the neighborhood disappear for months at a time, only to show up near delivery time. Hopefully yours is neutered and you won't have to go thru the catch-the-kittens routine.

My hat is off to you! 10 of of 11 of my cats were acquired as strays or ferals. They have all adjusted very well....some need more patience than others, but they do adjust.
 

momofmany

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For shelter, I leave one of the garage doors open just enough for them to climb under. I also have 2 barns and an underground storm cellar that I leave open for them. Lastly, I cut a small opening under the front porch (it's a wood porch and a lot of room for them). Since I have so many ferals in the neighborhood, they all have their places. I'm on 10 acres (as well as most of my neighbors) and am one of the few that does this - most neighbors have free-roaming dogs that drive off any cat that wanders by. We have lots of land for the cats to claim their territory around.

For water, I bought a large stainless steel bowl and change it daily. I like the stainless cause I can throw it in the dishwasher once in a while.

For food, I don't use bowls at all, but throw out scoops right on my concrete patio. I tried bowls for a while but there was too many of them and too much fighting over bowls. If the food is spread out, they can pick their spot and there is no contention over the meal.

When I go on vacation, I have someone over to my house to take care of both the indoor and outdoor cats. I'm fortunate to have neighbors willing to do this, as well as our vet tech who lives fairly close to me. They tag team duties while I'm gone.

Interesting, some of the ferals have been around for close to 10 years now. Those are the ones that I caught and neutered early. The ones that stay are all neutered. Some of them have never let me touch them (I've caught them in live traps), and some allow a brief pet when they are eating. None will make indoor cats, but at least I give them a daily meal, fresh water, and someplace to call home.
 
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coco maui

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I am very worried about Peaches! Last time I saw her was yesterday morning

This is the first time she has left the porch in a few months! I wonder where she is???
I am very worried she is hurt or lost or something happened to her.

Here is the link to the thread I started in the lounge about Peaches...http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...threadid=23633
 

ldg

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Ginger - did you decide whether she was pregnant or not? And I'm sorry I don't remember - did you take her to a vet?

If she was pregnant, she might have nested to have her kittens. Food's not disappearing when you leave it out?
 
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coco maui

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Food is disappearing but there is a black and white kitty that eats the food too.
I don't think she was pregnant, she was a little chubby thru the middle, but it the chub never got bigger and I watched her for about 3-4 months.
I think her owners must have found her and taken her home. I will keep and eye out for her around the neighborhood. I sure do miss the little girl
 

meowerpower

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Originally posted by DragonLady
White black and orange are calico markings, almost all calicos are female as it is linked to sex genes. Hopefeuul it is fixed, it could look healthy sized if it is with kittens and starving. Good luck in catching this baby and getting a collar on her. A lot of pet stores have a "print it yourself" ID tag machine. Let us know how it goes!
That's what I was thinking. That sounds like a Calico. She might have hungry babies hidden near your house.

Three summers ago, this happened to me. Some people down the street had moved and left a grey and white cat. She became pregnant. She had been a pet, but was so afraid of everyone no one could pet her. Several of us fed her. When I saw her all skinny, I was sure her babies had died. I didn't see them anywhere. One night, very late, I was jogging and ran across her on the next street. She stopped and looked up at me with the saddest big sea green eyes and cried pitifully. I picked her up. She let me hold her. She purred. I took her home and set her up a bed in my shed and fed her some tuna cat food. (I already had a cat of my own) She disappeared and only came back once each night for food. When I went on a long vacation I paid my friend to make sure she had food. When I got home, I saw a little kitty face under the chair in my shed! One by one they came out- 5 pretty babies! They hadn't died, she was just hiding them. She had been so hungry and desperate, and I had helped her so she moved them to my place. I kept 2 of her daughters, and the rest went to a rescue organization and found homes.

Please let us know what happens.
 
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coco maui

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Peaches is back now, she was in my garage for a week. i looked in there several times for her but she was hiding and scared. I found her by accident when I went to the garage to get some cokes to put in the fridge. Something caught my eye. It was Peaches running back to her hiding place. Poor kitty had lost weight and was soo frightened.
She is better now and again living on my doorstep. I went to Pet Supermarket and got her a collar and a tag that reads:

MY OWNER CALL
954-857-XXXX
THANKS

Hopefully if she has an owner that she visits sometimes then they will call me and I can tell her where she has been staying.
If there is no call from anyone, I am going to try to adopt her out. I have a couple people that may be interested in her but none too serious at the moment. The local cat adoption place might have room for her in 2 weeks time. They are a great adoption agency and I feel safe having them help adopt her out.

I am so happy she is back!!!

Here are come pics of her with her new collar:



 

ldg

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Ginger, we're in the process of putting up an Adoption Agreement on the SaveSamoa.org site. I don't think they're up yet, but Heidi posted direct links to where they are for someone else.

If you adopt Peaches out directly, especially it it's to people you don't know well, PLEASE use an adoption agreement! Gary and I learned the hard way and adopted two kitties into an abusive home. The people weren't purposefully abusive or evil - just uneducated. We rescued the kitties back - but we've never made the mistake of not using adoption agreements. Also, people bringing in a rescued kitty might want a little extra help. We always hand this along with the kitty:

Adopting a New Kitty This combines several articles on the homepage of TCS (Bringing home a new cat, The Litterbox - How to Make Sure Your Cat Uses It, Tips for Keeping Your Indoor Cat Happy," and tips for making your rescue feel comfortable in her new home.


Here's links to the Adoption Agreement:

Here it is in Microsoft Word: http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF...onAgreement.doc

Here it is in Adobe Acrobat:

http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF...onAgreement.pdf


I'm so glad she's back!
 
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coco maui

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A recent pic of Peaches:
 
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coco maui

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Peaches got to spend the night in our bedroom last night!!! She did soo good. She snuggled on our bed, slept in the closet some of the night. She ate her food and even used the litter box a couple of times. She was in "kitty heaven".

Here is a couple pics of her all snuggled up on the bed:



 

ldg

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I love it when they first come in! Booger was scared that first time in our home. Every little inside noise was cause for alert. But boy did she love it (for 2 to 8 hours at a time) - especially during those heavy snow storms we had last winter!
 

tuxedokitties

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How sweet!
hmmmmm...sounds like she's worked her way into your heart pretty thoroughly!
 
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coco maui

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Originally posted by tuxedokitties
How sweet!
hmmmmm...sounds like she's worked her way into your heart pretty thoroughly!
Definatly! She's moving on in! Literally
 
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coco maui

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LOL!!! That's so true!
Peaches is doing a good job of not being a stray cat for long.
 
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