Stray cat in my neighborhood.. now what?

[KimchiCat]

So, there's a stray cat in my neighborhood. How should I approach it? Should I take it in? Honestly I'm a little scared to approach it because I really don't want to get scratched or bitten. Should I bring it to the shelter? There's so many options. I've actually never owned a cat but I'm doing research and trying my best to understand. Any help and replies would be very helpful!

 

[ArchyCat]

KimchiCat Put out some water and dry cat food for the cat. Watch to see if the cat eats it. You might have back away for the cat to approach and eat. Or leave it out overnight. The cat may be a stray, which is a former pet, or feral -- born to a stray or feral mother.

Hopefully, other TCS members will add comments and suggested threads and arctic les to read. Good luck! And keep us updated on your progress!

 

[tabbytom]

KimchiCat , welcome to TCS!

Thank you for noticing this kitty and thank you for your questions. We'll try to help you answer your questions here as many members have experience in stray and feral cats.

Firstly, do some observations. Is this the first time you see this kitty? Sometimes a kitty like this one shows up when it is lost or abandoned by the owner. Also it may be a house cat but allowed to roam around. And it could be one that is from another neighborhood and have wandered afar for food or mate. Do you see a clipped ear on the kitty?

See if the kitty comes around the same time everyday or does it hang around your compound and rest there. You may like what A ArchyCat mentioned, leave some food and water for the kitty and leave it in a safe and shaded area near your house.

This is how you differentiate between a stray and a feral kitty. astray is not afraid of hoomans, except if they are abused before and if they are afraid of us initially, they'll warm up to us pretty fast when they sense that we are not a threat to them and will easily give in by accepting food.
As for a feral kitty, they have never been in contact with hoomans since birth and have lived a feral life all along and at any sight of us, they'll go hide. Some ferals kitties have tipped ears meaning that they were once trapped and was neutered and released therefore on one of the ear you see a notch. This way is to help keep the population of unwanted kittens down.
But of course, she people rescue strays and ferals and keep them and have when some of them were already neutered or spayed and they have this tipped ear.

Now, the thing to do is, grab some cat food, wait for the kitty to come to you house, sit yourself down and call the kitty with food in the plate and see what's the respond from he kitty. If it's a friendly stray, it'll take awhile for the kitty to size you up and make sure you're safe before approaching you. Other than that, it may take a little while longer for the kitty to trust you. This way then, you leave the food and water at a safe and shaded place and sit back a distance and observe. Once the kitty's comfortable with the surroundings and you, the kitty will move on to eat and drink. Just don't make any sudden moves that will scare the kitty and all your troubles will be wasted.

At this initial time, the most important thing is try not to have direct eye contact with the kitty. Look away or lockdown slowly when the kitty looking at you. This is to show that you are showing submission to he kitty and the kitty's in charge. Then once that's established, always do slowly blinks with he kitty and try to catch a glimpse to see if the kitty is responding with an eye blink. If the kitty does not respond, don't worry, keep trying. Once the kitty slow eye blink back, You've won confidence in the kitty and that shows that the kitty trust you but just don't betray the kitty else it'll be harder the next time for the kitty to trust you.

Once the kitty is eating, inch yourself slowly closer to the kitty each time the kitty come around till you are close enough within arm's length. Let the kitty get use to your near distance and slowly build up a trusting relationship.

Do all these first before attempting another move and also you may want to stick a small poster near your house tansy that a cat has been found and see if any responsible owners will cone forward to claim the kitty.

Bringing the kitty in is the BEST you can do for the kitty but we'll do it slowly otherwise it'll be too overwhelming for you at this point. Don't worry, we'll be here guiding you each step of the way, all the way till the kitty is safe inside your house.

Do feel free to ask questions if you have any and there's no such this as stupid questions here.