I found a cat... or it found me!

Stinicker

So tonight literally within the last hour I just came in home from driving and this cat darted around the corner and frightened the life out of me, causing me to say "f*ck you cat" lol! which it meowed to and I did my best cat call, "phish whish phish" and the cat came to me being incredibly tame for a stray cat. I went to pet it and the bones are nearly out through the poor fecker! I know very little about cats but I think this guy is a tabby breed?? I never had a cat but had a dog up until she died two years ago.

My mother told me tonight she saw it earlier in the evening but it wouldn't come near her. I went and got a saucer of milk and some bread for the cat and it nearly choked itself eating so famished was it. I went inside and brought her out the leftovers of the fryup earlier which was two sausages and a rasher she attacked them with glee.

So I now have a stray cat in the back yard, obviously some cruel knob dumped her off and I feel so sorry for the thing that I have to at least feed him.

mymo

Well the cat could be gone tomorrow....or you may just have been adopted:D
Ask a few neighbours if they know the cat, it may have an owner. If it doesn't and you're happy to keep feeding it, go ahead. Though I'd leave off the milk, it can give some cats an upset stomach so its safer leave it out.
If you do keep it, I'd recommend a trip to the vet to get it neutered as its probably female(most tabbies are) and kitten season has started, so you could be up to your eyes in kitties by the end of the year.
They're great pets and good pest control too, and if there's nothing on the telly you can get a torch or laser pointer and they'll chase the light all night:D

FloatingVoter

Same advice as above about the milk. Give the cat some water instead.

oh and remember the vet.

Lollymcd

I hate to see animals suffer like this. Would you take on the challenge of being it's permemant slave??? if not maybe Cats Aid or someone similar could find him a home. In cases like this I wonder the value of putting up "found" posters when the cat seems to be obviously neglected, though I always worry that cats like this are after wandering from a very good and loving family and can't find it's way home. Might be worth putting his pic on some websites?

morganafay

Most tabbies are female? You learn something new everyday . . .

It could belong to someone or could be stray, it's hard to know. But since it's friendly it could belong to someone. Is it definitely really really bony? Some cats are just skinny, especially if not neutered, cats should be thin really, but not excessively. But sometimes they look and feel skinny, but are fine, or just a little underweight, or that's just their build.

Let us know if the cat adopts you permanently

mymo

morganafay wrote: »

Most tabbies are female? You learn something new everyday . . .

Yep, and most ginger tabbies are male, and nearly all calico or tortoiseshell cats are female. Notice I don't say all, as there are always exceptions, but as a rule its true.
Also most times when I've found a friendly cat roaming around lost(or found one dumped in a box or something:() they are female.

morganafay

mymo wrote: »

morganafay wrote: »

Most tabbies are female? You learn something new everyday . . .

Yep, and most ginger tabbies are male, and nearly all calico or tortoiseshell cats are female. Notice I don't say all, as there are always exceptions, but as a rule its true.
Also most times when I've found a friendly cat roaming around lost(or found one dumped in a box or something:() they are female.

I knew about the gingers and tortoiseshells. I've had about an equal number of tabby males and females I think . . . that's really interesting though.

Every cat I've found abandoned was male!

morganafay

morganafay wrote: »

mymo wrote: »

I knew about the gingers and tortoiseshells. I've had about an equal number of tabby males and females I think . . . that's really interesting though.

Every cat I've found abandoned was male!

I have always had male tabbys. I have 3 atm. Only one female.
I did hear before that if a cat has more than four separate colours in its coat. It is female.
How true that is, I dont know.

3

oppenheimer1

Banned.

sex panther

That better be a joke oppenheimer1 :mad::mad::mad:

If my cats jot lost id hope someone would be nice to them and feed them, You should put up a found sign Stinicker just in case, if no1 claims her then you've got yourself a kitty cat:D

ghost_ie

Stinicker if you can entice the cat into a pet carrierer - chuck a couple of cooked sausages into the carrier, stand back and slam the door when she's in - you could take her to the vet and explain how you found her (or how she found you). She might be a stray rather than abandoned and if she's chipped the vet will be able to reunite her with her original slaves. If she's not chipped you have a choice between handing her over to a cat rescue society for rehoming or keeping her yourself. If you want to keep her I'd get her checked over, get her injections and get her spayed.

Oppenheimer1...if that's a joke it's not very funny

The Sweeper

It's not true that most tabbies are female. The tabby patterns are a sort of reversion pattern - there are four genetically distinct kinds, classic, mackerel, spotted and ticked. It's tortoiseshells who are predominantly female (tortoiseshells with white are called calico). Tabby-type markings can occur in both male and female cats of any breed - it's the distinctive M on the forehead and the spectacles around the eyes, plus often striped legs and tail.

Don't feed the cat bread or milk again, those aren't best for it. If you can, take it in and feed it up - it'll need a vet visit for a once over, and you can get instructions on feeding and general care from the vet. Generally, it'll need to have its sex identified, then be neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and wormed. After that, it's up to you whether your keep it indoors, outdoors, or whatever else - there's an eye-wateringly thorough discussion of indoor and outdoor cats in the Animal Welfare section of this forum at the moment, you'll get a lot of info on that thread.

Ongoing cat care with a tabby like that will be feeding twice a day, a constant supply of fresh water, a worm tablet every three months and a vaccination booster (some say annually, some say every three years) if it's a cat that goes outdoors.

Tabbies can have marvellous temperaments - social, interested, friendly but also adventurous.

Even if you can't take the cat on yourself, would you consider trying to feed it up, see if it has a local owner, see if you can rehome it?

morganafay

Moonbaby wrote: »

morganafay wrote: »

I have always had male tabbys. I have 3 atm. Only one female.
I did hear before that if a cat has more than four separate colours in its coat. It is female.
How true that is, I dont know.

3

Yeah, well a cat that has ginger (or cream) and black/tabby (or blue) (can also have white) will be female XX, or XXY, which is like a hermaphrodite. There is apparently one tortoiseshell male cat that was actually male and fathered kittens but who knows if that's true. Because black/tabby and ginger are both on the X chromosome I think, so they need two X chromosomes to have both.

You can have all ginger females, but they're more likely to be males, because the females are more likely to have some tabby or black too.

I've had loads of tabby males and I don't really know why more of them would be female, but interested to know why?

Orla K

Are you sure it was dumped?

The pictures look good to me, it has a healthy clean looking coat. As for it being skinny, no one can say my cat isn't well looked after but I can't get any bit of fat on him, around his spine near his tail is quite thin(he only eats the bare minimum of food a day, even if I give him treats which he eats like he was never fed, he won't eat all his food then)

Get it to the vet and see is it chipped. Someone may be wondering where their cat has wandered off too.

Stinicker

Update: I saw no sign on him this morning but this evening it was like he was waiting for me and greeted me again and was duly rewarded with a lamb and water dinner (no milk this time although he is not as keen on the ol' water).

I am happy to have him around and will keep feeding him as long as hes around. I really doubt if he belongs to any neighbours but will ask around at the same time. It looks like he maybe a keeper!

rachel

I would agree with Orla K, I think you should bring the cat to a vet or shelter (anywhere that has access to check for a microchip) just in case someone is missing their cat. You could also check local shops with noticeboards or rescue sites (e.g. http://www.catsaid.org/) to see if anyone has reported a cat missing.

edit: actually just had a quick look on the Cats Aid website and there are quite a few tabby cats missing in the Dublin area

ghost_ie

Stinicker wrote: »

Update: I saw no sign on him this morning but this evening it was like he was waiting for me and greeted me again and was duly rewarded with a lamb and water dinner (no milk this time although he is not as keen on the ol' water).

I am happy to have him around and will keep feeding him as long as hes around. I really doubt if he belongs to any neighbours but will ask around at the same time. It looks like he maybe a keeper!

Sounds like he belongs to someone in the neighbourhood (not necessarily immediate neighbours) if he was missing this morning. More than likely he went to whichever home he uses as a B&B. I've rarely known a cat that didn't have several homes.

Not that cats are alone in this. I remember spending a summer with my grandparents and every morning bang on 11am a West Highland Terrier would wander up to the kitchen door and was fed. Once fed he'd wander off. As the weeks went on he became noticably more rotund. One day he appeared at the kitchen door with a note attached to his collar which read "To all Busco's friends - please do not feed. The vet says he's obese". Turned out the dog was visiting - and getting fed at - 12 houses in the area daily.

morganafay

I'd guess he might belong to someone too and is getting fed at several houses! No harm in that though as long as he doesn't get fat. One of my cats gets fed in two other houses that we know of! Probably more. None of my other cats do, but I've asked the neighbours and one said she used to feed a ginger cat and a white and tabby cat, which were both mine too She's an elderly lady and I think my cat keeps her company, she was saying how friendly he is and she really loves cats but doesn't have any herself.

goat2

mymo wrote: »

Well the cat could be gone tomorrow....or you may just have been adopted:D
Ask a few neighbours if they know the cat, it may have an owner. If it doesn't and you're happy to keep feeding it, go ahead. Though I'd leave off the milk, it can give some cats an upset stomach so its safer leave it out.
If you do keep it, I'd recommend a trip to the vet to get it neutered as its probably female(most tabbies are) and kitten season has started, so you could be up to your eyes in kitties by the end of the year.
They're great pets and good pest control too, and if there's nothing on the telly you can get a torch or laser pointer and they'll chase the light all night:D

get a worm tablet and put it in food
then get the spot on that you put on back of neck, it kills fleas and ticks for 6 weeks, she will sleep like a beauty,
ask animal shelter if she has been spayed and you would get done cheap because you rescued
but i would worm, and treat for fleas and ticks first
flea and tick medic will cost 5 euro
worm tablet should cost 2 - 3 euro
i have 3 strays that found me, they are fine and happy now
they arrived all skin and bone
i did what i said above, as they wouold be very uncomfortable and not put on weight with these problems

yellowlabrador

I had a ginger 'tom' who presented me with 6 kittens. I've had cats all my life and I was sure it was a tom,and there were 'bits' at the back. 'She' was 9 months old when she had the kittens. Even the vet thought she was a he. I always spay a female cat at 6 months but I leave a tom until they are over a year old. While she was pregnant her sides swelled and I was convinced she was sick, I thought liver or spleen but she wasn't jaundiced or anemic.

morganafay

yellowlabrador wrote: »

I had a ginger 'tom' who presented me with 6 kittens. I've had cats all my life and I was sure it was a tom,and there were 'bits' at the back. 'She' was 9 months old when she had the kittens. Even the vet thought she was a he. I always spay a female cat at 6 months but I leave a tom until they are over a year old. While she was pregnant her sides swelled and I was convinced she was sick, I thought liver or spleen but she wasn't jaundiced or anemic.

Do you think the vet made a mistake or what? I love surprise baby animals . . .

The Sweeper

goat2 wrote: »

get a worm tablet and put it in food
then get the spot on that you put on back of neck, it kills fleas and ticks for 6 weeks, she will sleep like a beauty,

Read the packets before you do this; a lot of spot-on medications treat worms as well as fleas. There's no need to over-medicate the cat by giving both a tablet and a spot-on that kills worms, and it could even be dangerous to the cat.

Ask the vet for something to do both.

paulacork

Stinicker wrote: »

Update: I saw no sign on him this morning but this evening it was like he was waiting for me and greeted me again and was duly rewarded with a lamb and water dinner (no milk this time although he is not as keen on the ol' water).

I am happy to have him around and will keep feeding him as long as hes around. I really doubt if he belongs to any neighbours but will ask around at the same time. It looks like he maybe a keeper!

Hi Stinicker and welcome to the official "i've been adopted by a stray cat club"! We moved into our new house last year and adopted brother and sister ginger kittens (yep - a ginger female!) and had a tom and female cat outside the house since we moved in. The female still to this day won't let us touch her, but she hangs around the house all day long and we feed her as we feed our own. The Tom (who we christened "Tom" - how original) wouldn't come within 30 feet of us for months and then one Saturday morning, he just decided that he was coming over and then he decided that he was coming in and that was that. We brought him the to vet and had him neutered and then we discovered that he had cancer in his ear tips, so these have since been removed, but since then, no health issues, thank god. So I would just make you aware that should you decide to keep the cat, there may be some underlying issues that you might not be aware of, so a trip to the vets is a must. Definitely agree with laying off the milk - it does upset their tummies and I'd say rashers and sausages might be too salty for him. Try tuna or raw chicken fillets and I feed all my animals Natures Menu. www.foodforpets.ie
They're worth it though - I think people who say they hate cats have never actually spent any time with a cat, so enjoy him and best of luck - looks like he might be a keeper alright!