How Do I Know if This Cat is a Stray?

We walk a lot in our neighborhood, and over the past week we have seen a young tuxedo kitty about five times. We just saw him/her again while we were out walking, and he came running up to us because he recognized us! He has covered about a six-block radius from our sightings. He's a very sweet cat.

He has no collar, and is pretty skinny, and he's young. I don't want to grab someone's cat and take him to the shelter, yet I want to help him if he needs it. I should mention that it is VERY common for people to have indoor/outdoor cats around here.

We can't adopt any more kitties right now; the balance we have with our three is very delicate. Also, Oberon is very old and his health is not good and a newcomer would be very stressful.

Should I grab the the kitty and take him/her to the SPCA?

I would put a found ad in the paper before taking the kitty to the SPCA. If you do take the kitty to the SPCA still place a found ad in the paper stating that is where the kitty went.

No tag... and skinny... that's not a good sign.

Have him checked for a microchip... watch the papers... put out a found ad... call the shelters. If you don't find somebody looking for their lost tuxy cat, then he's yours!

I found a stray named Peaches (long story). I finally decided to take her in but did not want to take her away if she had other owners. I went to the store, bought a break away collar and had a tag made to put on the collar. The tag read.."my owner call...with my phone number" after a few days with no calls, I took her in and now she lives with my step-sister's mother
Hope this helps.

I don't know... if you live in an area where it's going to start getting cold soon... I'd take him in.

Have you had him scanned for a microchip?