Question to cat people.

[Doctor Amadeus]

The last few days there has been a black and white cat to greet me in the morning and when I get home. On my days off I don’t see him or her. I thought it was a neighbors cat. So I figured he go away but he seems to chill on my porch. I don’t see any identification around his neck, but he seems friendly enough.

I don’t want to encourage this cause I’m allergic to cats, but at the same time it’s gonna get cold. Is this normal activity for a new cat of someone else’s in the neighborhood?

Is it sick or something, would calling animal control just get him killed?

[Mifuyne]

Ask around the neighborhood?

[pkm]

Just a stray cat. Nothing new.

You can take it in if you want or call animal control. They won't kill it straight away. First it will be taken to a shelter where people adopt them. If no one adopts it after a while it will get put down*

*that's what I've been told to happen

[Bildur]

Cats are territorial creatures and if a neighbor got an outdoor cat it is very normal for cats to go visit other houses to expand their territories. And should a treat or two or three come their way in doing so then yay! And if they get fed better and cared for better than in their original home they might end up preferring staying at your house – cats can be very opportunists by nature. So if your visitor looks happy and healthy just say “hi” and leave him be – and don’t feed him if you don’t want to risk him moving in (Me as a huge cat lover would find it very hard not to feed him though lol) :-)

[Dacien]

Dude you need to buy some quality cat food and hook him up. And he'll come by once in a while for that awesome cat food and you'll bond and it'll be great. Man and beast, a story as old as time.

[durenas]

It's too bad you're allergic. Best to leave him alone and let him go his own way.

[Aurrora]

Dude you need to buy some quality cat food and hook him up. And he'll come by once in a while for that awesome cat food and you'll bond and it'll be great. Man and beast, a story as old as time.

And then he'll start bringing you food, little bird hearts and such.

[Celista]

Just a heads up, not having a collar doesn't necessarily mean he's a stray. Both cats I've owned manage to remove their own collars in a matter of minutes.

If you're concerned about it, however, you can take him to any vet office for a microchip scan. It won't cost you anything. And if he's not chipped, you can make flyers or at least post something on social media to make sure the cat doesn't have an owner.

I have a friend whose mother had a cat that started coming around and basically living in her apartment. She took the cat with her when she moved two hours away from where she was living at the time, and now lives with the friend in question. She never posted "found" posters and never took the cat in for a microchip scan because she's afraid that the cat was owned by somebody.

I want to say something to her because the situation really pisses me off. Whether or not you agree with letting cats outside to roam, it's not OK to just steal someone's cat. If you put food out, of course it's going to hang out with you. I've seen social cats in my neighborhood hanging outside 2 or 3 different houses during the day.

[Wyrt]

Might just be a neighbor's cat. Some cats are just really friendly with people, especially if there's food involved. Ask around the neighborhood, but keep in mind that cats will travel pretty far in their daily routines. A lot of cats have microchips nowadays, so even if it doesn't have a collar it could still belong to someone. Cats are also fairly good at getting out of their collars if the owner gives them a break-away collar.

If you don't feed it or give it attention it'll go find other people that will. If you call animal control they will check it for a microchip and return it to the owners if it has one. Otherwise it'll go to a shelter where it could end up being put down if no one adopts it.

Chances are it's a neighbor's pet since it seems to only be around on weekdays. Probably just looking for loving and food while its owners are at work.

[draynay]

Its not unusual for cats to have multiple families in this way.

Is there some reason to think its sick? Cats wander quite a bit, some are friendly, I don't see any reason to worry about it.

[Treno]

Just a heads up, not having a collar doesn't necessarily mean he's a stray. Both cats I've owned manage to remove their own collars in a matter of minutes.

If you're concerned about it, however, you can take him to any vet office for a microchip scan. It won't cost you anything. And if he's not chipped, you can make flyers or at least post something on social media to make sure the cat doesn't have an owner.

I have a friend whose mother had a cat that started coming around and basically living in her apartment. She took the cat with her when she moved two hours away from where she was living at the time, and now lives with the friend in question. She never posted "found" posters and never took the cat in for a microchip scan because she's afraid that the cat was owned by somebody.

I want to say something to her because the situation really pisses me off. Whether or not you agree with letting cats outside to roam, it's not OK to just steal someone's cat. If you put food out, of course it's going to hang out with you. I've seen social cats in my neighborhood hanging outside 2 or 3 different houses during the day.

One of the many reasons my cats are indoors. Another is I live on a 50 MPH / 80 KMH road.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Cats are territorial creatures and if a neighbor got an outdoor cat it is very normal for cats to go visit other houses to expand their territories. And should a treat or two or three come their way in doing so then yay! And if they get fed better and cared for better than in their original home they might end up preferring staying at your house – cats can be very opportunists by nature. So if your visitor looks happy and healthy just say “hi” and leave him be – and don’t feed him if you don’t want to risk him moving in (Me as a huge cat lover would find it very hard not to feed him though lol) :-)

Yeah I’ve not fed him because I didn’t want to encourage it. But it’s been more than a week. Not having a collar I don’t want to snitch him out and get him put down on accident. I have not picked him up or anything. I do know my neighbors but feels strange no cat in hand to ask right away.

My biggest concern is when it gets below zero. Would it die Winter is only a few weeks away.

I’ll admit if he’s a stray this is the chilliest cat I know. When I come home he’s just chilling on the porch not at all afraid of me.

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Might just be a neighbor's cat. Some cats are just really friendly with people, especially if there's food involved. Ask around the neighborhood, but keep in mind that cats will travel pretty far in their daily routines. A lot of cats have microchips nowadays, so even if it doesn't have a collar it could still belong to someone. Cats are also fairly good at getting out of their collars if the owner gives them a break-away collar.

If you don't feed it or give it attention it'll go find other people that will. If you call animal control they will check it for a microchip and return it to the owners if it has one. Otherwise it'll go to a shelter where it could end up being put down if no one adopts it.

Chances are it's a neighbor's pet since it seems to only be around on weekdays. Probably just looking for loving and food while its owners are at work.

I’m hoping so never seen him before the last couple of weeks afraid to get too friendly.

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Just a heads up, not having a collar doesn't necessarily mean he's a stray. Both cats I've owned manage to remove their own collars in a matter of minutes.

If you're concerned about it, however, you can take him to any vet office for a microchip scan. It won't cost you anything. And if he's not chipped, you can make flyers or at least post something on social media to make sure the cat doesn't have an owner.

I have a friend whose mother had a cat that started coming around and basically living in her apartment. She took the cat with her when she moved two hours away from where she was living at the time, and now lives with the friend in question. She never posted "found" posters and never took the cat in for a microchip scan because she's afraid that the cat was owned by somebody.

I want to say something to her because the situation really pisses me off. Whether or not you agree with letting cats outside to roam, it's not OK to just steal someone's cat. If you put food out, of course it's going to hang out with you. I've seen social cats in my neighborhood hanging outside 2 or 3 different houses during the day.

Yeah my neighbors are good people and I’m not trying to snitch him out for not having a collar just hope he doesn’t freeze to death.

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Dude you need to buy some quality cat food and hook him up. And he'll come by once in a while for that awesome cat food and you'll bond and it'll be great. Man and beast, a story as old as time.

Lol yeah feeding could get him killed. I also don’t want to kidnap someone’s cat lol.

[Smellyflute]

Good for you, Mall Security. I liked this post. Way to be thoughtful. =)

[Celista]

Yeah my neighbors are good people and I’m not trying to snitch him out for not having a collar just hope he doesn’t freeze to death.

I think it would be OK to let him in if you're really worried about it. Just don't KEEP him in...but if he's not around your place at nighttime then he probably has someplace to sleep. If you're not seeing him on the weekends then that's a good sign that he has an owner.

If you're ever concerned about feral cats, you can build shelters for them for cheap.

https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how...winter-shelter
http://alleycatadvocates.org/communi...nter-shelters/

[WurstKaeseSzenario]

My cat likes to visit neighbors. Reasons: Other cats there, (better?) food, higher room temperature. Also my cat rarely hangs out in my garden. When I come home from work, she usually appears from somewhere, greets me, and then walks away in a random direction.

[Doctor Amadeus]

I think it would be OK to let him in if you're really worried about it. Just don't KEEP him in...but if he's not around your place at nighttime then he probably has someplace to sleep. If you're not seeing him on the weekends then that's a good sign that he has an owner.

If you're ever concerned about feral cats, you can build shelters for them for cheap.

https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how...winter-shelter
http://alleycatadvocates.org/communi...nter-shelters/

Oh good links thanks yeah letting him in would be the last resort if it drops too cold for him to survive. But I like the links. If he’s feral it could be a good idea.

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My cat likes to visit neighbors. Reasons: Other cats there, (better?) food, higher room temperature.

Yeah not seeing him before then suddenly more than a week. Hope he’s just as you said that’s cool. He ain’t real vocal just relaxed as hell though.

[Taurous]

Yeah I’ve not fed him because I didn’t want to encourage it. But it’s been more than a week. Not having a collar I don’t want to snitch him out and get him put down on accident. I have not picked him up or anything. I do know my neighbors but feels strange no cat in hand to ask right away.

My biggest concern is when it gets below zero. Would it die Winter is only a few weeks away.

I’ll admit if he’s a stray this is the chilliest cat I know. When I come home he’s just chilling on the porch not at all afraid of me.

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I’m hoping so never seen him before the last couple of weeks afraid to get too friendly.

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Yeah my neighbors are good people and I’m not trying to snitch him out for not having a collar just hope he doesn’t freeze to death.

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Lol yeah feeding could get him killed. I also don’t want to kidnap someone’s cat lol.

I'm confused. You're afraid of snitching on a cat?

[Pantalaimon]

Just a stray cat. Nothing new.

You can take it in if you want or call animal control. They won't kill it straight away. First it will be taken to a shelter where people adopt them. If no one adopts it after a while it will get put down*

*that's what I've been told to happen

To add to this, depending on the individual shelter if the cat is found to be sick in any way it will be placed in a separate area with the cats that have various ailments to either have its health improve, or to die. If it is healthy then yes it gets placed in the area more likely to get adopted.

I once took a class of school-aged children to a scheduled field trip to an animal shelter, and I can say from personal experience that at least that specific shelter's area for sick cats was depressing as hell to see. Many of the cats/kittens did not look to be fairing well, which made me wonder if most of them were actually being given antibiotics to help them fight of infections and disease at all. I remember one of the areas that had two kittens from the same litter, one was dead in the corner facing the back of the unit, while the other one had such bad infection its eyes were almost more pus than open eyes.

[Doctor Amadeus]

I'm confused. You're afraid of snitching on a cat?

Yes if he’s a stray or someone’s cat I don’t want to get him killed by calling animal control.

[Celista]

Just a stray cat. Nothing new.

You can take it in if you want or call animal control. They won't kill it straight away. First it will be taken to a shelter where people adopt them. If no one adopts it after a while it will get put down*

*that's what I've been told to happen

75% of cats that end up in shelters are euthanized due to lack of adoption.

If a cat is a stray/feral and isn't bothering anyone, take it in for a spay/neuter (here in Portland we'll do that for free for strays/feral) and either try to rehome it yourself, find a no-kill shelter for cats, or let it be.

Most shelters are a death sentence for cats.