# New kitty hanging around, is he a stray?



## kellysue301 (Aug 3, 2011)

A couple of days ago a new cat showed up. He seems to be around 6-8 months, has a brown (very tight, looks like a dog collar that was cut actually so it is very frayed on the end) collar on him with no tags. He is so sweet and comes right up to me and my SO when I call him. However we have lived here for 20 years and have never seen this cat in our lives, and we've seen plenty of cats. He is not neutered, but I have yet to see him spray. The first day he appeared he was running around the yard playing like crazy and actually kept going up to my front door trying to get inside! He stuck around all day and at night seemed to have disappeared. Yesterday we did not see him at all, so we figured he might have been someone's cat that escaped and found his way home. However, lo and behold, today he shows up in our front yard out of nowhere! I'm not sure what to make of this guy. I really would like to call my low cost spay and neuter and just get the poor thing fixed, but what if he actually is someone's pet? I suppose I could try asking around, but I have a sinking feeling someone dumped him near our house since we are known as cat/animal lovers and feed anything that comes around. What are your opinions? What would you do in my situation? Thanks guys!


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Why not post a quick Craigslist ad? It's free and owners of lost pets will look there! Also, my local newspaper will run lost pets ads in the classified section for free - your local newspaper may do the same. A large sign on a light post near your yard may produce an owner. My gut feeling is you are probably right, someone took him home as "free" decided he was too much work (or too destructive to the furniture, curtains, babies, etc.) and dumped him. It's very common. If you are sure no one else is feeding him and he is coming around looking for companionship and food, then by all means feed the poor baby!! Put out some fresh water too until you find his owner or decide to adopt him. Yes, by all means get him neutered if you keep him - spraying is inevitable. Even if you look for an owner to no avail and get him fixed after a few days,you can already rehome him as already fixed if you can't keep the little guy. Can you post a pic?s


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Merrys Rule: If your unneutered or unspayed cat is in my yard it will be s/n, vaccinated and ear tipped. End of discussion. If someone claims this cat and doesn't like the ear tip then talk to the hand. They get my speech on why didn't you s/n your cat? Tough beans!

Can you put up a flyer to see if someone is missing this kitty. Definitely feed it and if it were me I would bring it in, s/n while looking to see if it has an owner or if it is micro-chipped. Chances are if it is unneutered then there is not microchip.


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## kellysue301 (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks for the opinions! Like I said I had seen him briefly today and I called him to me, he came running up and I gave him some pets and then he walked away to sniff around some more. We went out to the doctor for a few hours, came home and now he is gone again. I am so curious as to whether or not he is someone's pet! I tried contacting my one neighbor I get along with, she knows everyone and anything going on around here, but she has not responded yet. I brought him inside the first night he was here for a brief moment but my other kitties saw him and surrounded him (very curious) and he started to growl and get defensive so I let him back out. I had tried feeding him the first day he was here and he wouldn't touch it. He seems to be very well fed. I will certainly try getting a picture and possibly then making a CL ad. If I get no response the poor guy is getting neutered and taken in with us. He is so sweet that I worry he will go up to the wrong person and it won't end well! We have someone on our street that finds it to be a good idea to shoot any and all cats they see with a BB gun, even neighbors' dogs that are in a kennel in their own yard! It makes me sick!


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

kellysue301 said:


> We have someone on our street that finds it to be a good idea to shoot any and all cats they see with a BB gun, even neighbors' dogs that are in a kennel in their own yard! It makes me sick!


Oh my gosh. Another one who has some serious mental issues (honestly, I believe that anyone who's that much of an animal hater has some undiagnosed psychological issues - self-hatred? - that they're redirecting towards animals).

The only other possibility I can think of is that someone new moved into the area. Maybe your neighbor will know. If he seems well-fed and wasn't starving when he showed up, it seems like he must belong to someone. If he'd been abandoned, even for a day, he'd be wolfing down food, wouldn't he?


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

kellysue301 said:


> I brought him inside the first night he was here for a brief moment but my other kitties saw him and surrounded him (very curious) and he started to growl and get defensive so I let him back out.


I would NOT recommend bringing this cat inside again without getting him vet checked. Bringing an unknown animal into your household with existing cats could be a disaster for everyone! The hissing and nervousness on his part is perfectly normal, but you don't know what he might be carrying - maybe nothing, but maybe something deadly to your resident cats! If it is unavoidable that you bring him inside, keep him isolated until he gets the all clear from the vet.


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