Stray Cat Behavior

[Chris_Takas]

hello all, i just signed up to this site and this is my first post.

i have to elaborate a bit first, before i can make my point, so bare with me. (sorry for my english). so, i live in a country that is not yet very developed when it comes to stray/feral animal. the neighborhood im living in is full of cats and dogs that roam freely. i live in a tower block that has no front door. (for some reason this is very common here) this in turn invites all kind of animals to enter the building unchecked. about a month ago this black and white male cat showed up in the building and made it his home. sleeping on peoples door mats and got fed dry food by one of my neighbors. he seemed in very good health and well nourished. after a couple of days he followed me to my doorstep and head budded me and started to purr. (very cute) of course i had a spare sausage with his name on it. he devoured it happily. the next day i bought some wet food and read about stray cats. once he saw me on the staircase, he followed me immediately. i opened the door and he came inside, had a look around while i prepared a bowl with wet food and some clean fresh water. i put it outside my door and he ate. this was our routine for a few more days until he felt comfy enough to have a nap inside my flat. it seems he was very used to humans cos i could pick him up and cuddle. he even jumped on my lap to curl up and nap. we grew very close to one another and he never did anything bad inside the flat. never sprayed, never scratched furniture, never went to toilet inside the flat. super well behaved stray cat. he spend most of the day indoors with me, playing and sleeping and cuddling and over night he went outside. i checked up with the local vet to get him checked out for any health issues and vaccinations and neutering. it all changed 2 days ago when i had to go to do some errands. he was sleeping on my lap and i had to pick him up and sat him outside and i went. this was the last time i have seen him. he is nowhere in or around the tower block.
i was just wondering if this is normal behavior to disappear for a few days? will he come back at some point? i really miss him and my days are as joyful anymore. i read that male cats are very territorial and quite frankly, he had no reason to abandon his territory. other cats wouldnt come into the building neither. i keep saying to myself that he is just out gallivanting. can that be or is that just wishful thinking.
thanks for your time and patients to read all this. all advice is very welcome.

 

[Chris_Takas]

*my days are NOT as joyful anymore. (my mistake)

 

[tabbytom]

Hello Chris_Takas , welcome to TCS

Male cats that are not fixed are not only territorial but they donwander into other territories to mate and many times ends up in fights. So he could have gone away from his territory to find a mate or could he be in someone's home? Since he follows you home, he could have followed someone home.

But if he returns, can you get him neutered and keep him indoors permanently? Cats have a better life indoors than outdoors.

Hopefully when he's back, he is in a good shape and have not gotten into any fights. Please keep us posted

 

[Chris_Takas]

thanks for the welcoming and your reply, just before he disappeared, i wanted to take him to the vet to get all the necessary procedures. i would love to take him in (btw. his name is otto). i am just not sure if he would be very happy in a very tiny one bedroom flat. the landlord also might not be very happy about that but she doesnt have to know that yet. perhaps one of the neighbors took him in also. (not very likely but still an option) i sadly dont speak the the language yet and nobody speaks english around here, so communications is an issue as well. i will wait and see what happens for a few more days and if he doesnt return, i will ask my neighbors with hands and feet. i hope he is good and not hungry and/or scared. just thinking about it breaks my heart.

 

[StefanZ]

There are also evil possibilities. Not all persons are friendly to cats. And him being friendly, makes it inviting to spontan adopt him, but also makes it easy to do evil things by villains.

I dont know how common its in your place with open evil.

Cars and trains do take their share too. (where I live, its mostly the train - almost all neigbours has lost a cat to the train passing nearby - even cats whom were known to be cautious afraid of the train coming)

That is one of the reasons why its best, once you decided to take care of a homeless and adopt him / give him refugee asylum - do all necessary at once, ie let him be inside, well protected.

Lets hope for the best. Him either returning happily to you, or at least, someone else did spontan adopted him.


Ps. Your english is very good, more than adequate here on this international forum.

 

[Chris_Takas]

thanks for the reply StefanZ
so far i havent seen any hostilities towards stary animals here in my area. its fairly quite also. meaning, no cars around and no trains for miles. there is just one small drive way with huge speed bumps.
by the way, this is otto: any idea how old he might be? my guess is somewhere between 2 and 5 years.

 

[Chris_Takas]

Otto came back! i couldnt be happier! he stood in the morning in front of door as of nothing happened. he seems in good health, no signs of fights or other injuries. only a bit hungry and demanding cuddles.
thank you all for your messages and i hope every lost kitty will come back at some point.

 

[tabbytom]

I'm so happy for you

Please try to keep him indoors and have him neutered and vaccinated. He'll be a happier cat indoors