I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post this so if it is not please let me know and I will post about this in the proper place.
I have just found a cat I believe to either be lost or stray/abandoned in my backyard. The only reason I suspected this was because she is about a foot and a half to two feet long and she’s so skinny that I can literally grab her with one hand and almost touch my fingers to my thumb. She is also matted pretty extremely for a longhaired orange tabby. I’ve been searching online for people who may have lost her but my question is mainly this; how long would she have to be outside with little to no food to get as skinny as she is? She’s currently thinner than most glasses in circumference. Is there a sickness she could have that could make her so skinny in a week or less? I found and contacted one person who has a cat that ‘looks’ like it could be her but they say they lost their cat 6 days ago and the picture they have is a rather fat cat, especially compared to the one I found.
I’m taking her to the vet as soon as I can, but I have work tomorrow so that’s not going to happen. I know the SPCA doesn’t charge for looking for chips but I’m not sure about the vets. I had to give her a few pieces of dry kibbles to tempt her to come near me so I could catch her. I’ll be switching her to small amounts of wet food tomorrow morning and she’ll be getting fed twice a day to try to fatten her up. She also drank more than half a bowl of water once I brought her inside.
My own cat, Atari, is not happy about this new comer. She’s not hissing like she did with the last cat we housed, but she’s hiding and refusing to come see me when I call her like she usually would.
EDIT: Also she is super affectionate and not afraid of humans now that she's indoors. Also she is locked in the bathroom to keep her away from Atari in case she's sick, and because I have read the guide on introducing cats from this site. If I can not find her actual owner I am contemplating keeping her. Atari has been rather lonely lately and my family has a policy on pets; the ones meant for you will always find you on their own.
I have just found a cat I believe to either be lost or stray/abandoned in my backyard. The only reason I suspected this was because she is about a foot and a half to two feet long and she’s so skinny that I can literally grab her with one hand and almost touch my fingers to my thumb. She is also matted pretty extremely for a longhaired orange tabby. I’ve been searching online for people who may have lost her but my question is mainly this; how long would she have to be outside with little to no food to get as skinny as she is? She’s currently thinner than most glasses in circumference. Is there a sickness she could have that could make her so skinny in a week or less? I found and contacted one person who has a cat that ‘looks’ like it could be her but they say they lost their cat 6 days ago and the picture they have is a rather fat cat, especially compared to the one I found.
I’m taking her to the vet as soon as I can, but I have work tomorrow so that’s not going to happen. I know the SPCA doesn’t charge for looking for chips but I’m not sure about the vets. I had to give her a few pieces of dry kibbles to tempt her to come near me so I could catch her. I’ll be switching her to small amounts of wet food tomorrow morning and she’ll be getting fed twice a day to try to fatten her up. She also drank more than half a bowl of water once I brought her inside.
My own cat, Atari, is not happy about this new comer. She’s not hissing like she did with the last cat we housed, but she’s hiding and refusing to come see me when I call her like she usually would.
EDIT: Also she is super affectionate and not afraid of humans now that she's indoors. Also she is locked in the bathroom to keep her away from Atari in case she's sick, and because I have read the guide on introducing cats from this site. If I can not find her actual owner I am contemplating keeping her. Atari has been rather lonely lately and my family has a policy on pets; the ones meant for you will always find you on their own.
Last edited: