# how often do pet cats get mistaken as strays?



## Krista2882 (Jan 26, 2012)

I was wondering how often a pet cat can get mistaken as a stray and taken in by someone else. I saw a TV show once where they attached video cameras to cats' collars and recorded what they did in a typical day. There was one cat who had two families! He would go to someone's house during the day and hang out with them and I think they would feed him, and then he would go home at night!
And my cat, I got him as a stray. He was a stray in my friend's neighborhood. Her neighbor found him at the 7-11 down the street, brought him home and started feeding him, but then stopped feeding him! So my friend started feeding him and then he would be in their yard all day. But my friend couldn't take him inside and didn't want to leave him outside in the winter, and her neighbor didn't want to either, so she gave him to me. I often wonder, though, if he belonged to someone but then someone started feeding him so he stayed around. But then I think about the fact that he wasn't even neutered yet. So he might not have been owned by anyone. 
Anyway, it makes me wonder if there are pet cats who so frequently visit other houses and that person thinks it's a stray so they take him in. Meanwhile his owners could be searching for him.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Without any form of identification they may be taken in by anyone. If a cat is friendly and roaming without tags or does not have a chip then *a conscientious person may post some "found cat" flyers or post something in Craigslist*, but unless someone clams him/her the cat is fair game for adoption or turned in to animal control and most likely euthanized. Domesticated house cats rarely are likely to hunt their own prey to eat so most starve to death before being taken in.

Bottom line if you have an outdoor cat or one that tends to escape, put tags AND a microchip on him.


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## Krista2882 (Jan 26, 2012)

Yeah, all of my cats are indoor-only. But when I got the one who was a stray I just began to wonder how often that happens.
I got a tag and collar for one of my cats just in case he ever got out, but the collar rubbed the fur off his neck. :sad: I'm thinking of getting him microchipped, though.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

If my city run shelter is any indication, many, many of the cats that are brought in are strays. If they are adoptable they are given a chance. Last year we had 56% adoption rate. Year before it was 50%. Before that it was 1 in 3 cats were adopted out, so it's gotten better by quite a bit. It's just so sad. I'm trying to save the world, one cat at a time.


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## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

I have always had my indoor-only cats chipped AND wearing a collar. Now, that doesn't guarantee that their collar won't get off and the person who finds them will take them to the vet to see if they're chipped. But if they get picked up by AC, I know they will check. My biggest fear is my house getting broken into and my cats getting out. I could care less about any possessions, but my cats are a different story! It makes me sick just thinking about it...


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## Kytkattin (Oct 18, 2013)

Krista2882 said:


> Yeah, all of my cats are indoor-only. But when I got the one who was a stray I just began to wonder how often that happens.
> I got a tag and collar for one of my cats just in case he ever got out, but the collar rubbed the fur off his neck. :sad: I'm thinking of getting him microchipped, though.


Try a collar made from hemp. I use them on my dogs, one of which had a similar problem with the fur rubbing.

A microchip is only good if you keep the information up to date! So make sure you activate/update information as needed.


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## katrina89 (Jul 30, 2013)

I often wonder this too since we took in a stray... we checked lost posters... no microchip called the shelters for missing cat notification s... nothing... but sometimes I wonder why he was on the street... I'm going to get him microchips though because he has fiv and if anyone found him he would be put down

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## insubstantial (Jun 14, 2011)

As far as I'm concerned, any roaming cat without any identification is a stray. I took in a kitten from the streets a few months ago, gave myself a few weeks to find her guardian (she could have escaped after all), had no luck, then adopted her out. Turns out, the kitten did belong to someone. Someone who apparently thinks it's a good idea to allow a less than 6 months old, unspayed kitten out in the streets alone in the middle of the city with no identification whatsoever. The cat is now indoor only.


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## Bill the Cat Guy (Dec 25, 2013)

About 30 years ago my wife and I saw a stray cat while we were taking a walk. We were able to pet it and pick it up. Then it wanted to get down and it walked away. We saw it again a couple of weeks later and it was a lot skinnier so this time we took it home and it became our cat.

But to answer the question, I'm sure a lot of people will adopt a stray cat they like and not care if it belongs to someone else or not. They might not start out that way but after having it for a day or two it would be easy to not worry about who really owns it.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I think it would depend on a few things. Does the cat leave the property? Mine is a guard cat and she just sits outside around the house. One that is seen frequently wandering might give the wrong idea. Is the cat friendly? Mine doesn't approach any strangers - and hardly even anyone she knows - outdoors. I have watched people from the window as they try and call her over it's pretty funny because I know how pointless it is. Does the cat wear a collar? For sure that'll help but I know some cats hate them or can remove them easily. Is the cat well fed? If not, that's a pretty good indicator and might cause someone to think its a stray. But some cats are just naturally skinny. Does the at like going outside in all kinds of weather? Mine does, but from experience I can see the general population considers this something only a homeless cat would do... so be careful about others perceptions of what a stray really means.


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## katrina89 (Jul 30, 2013)

When we found our stray he was living in my friends backyard... and everyone said he was a stray... sitting on top of a trashcan in the rain is how we first met.... I think if you have an outdoor cat it should be microchipped. Its the only way to ensure identification

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