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calicoprincess

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Lately I have seen an orange cat hanging out around my front porch. At first I thought that he was the neighbors cat because I know they have atleast one and they let their cats outside (which I HATE because we live on a very busy road). They actually have a calico that from a distance looks a lot like Trinity and there have been a few times that I have seen her when I was walking up to the house and momentarily freaked, thinking that Trinity had somehow gotten outside. This orange guy though, I have been assuming he is someone's pet because he is not at all scared of me. Pretty much every day for the last few weeks, he has been waiting for me on my front porch when I leave for work in the morning. . . This morning I guess he must have jumped in my car when I went out to warm it up because when I went back out to leave, he was on my driver's seat waiting for me. He is a very sweet kitty but obviously is not very well taken care of. He is pretty skinny and his fur is kind of bad (I assume most of that is because he is outside, when I say bad, I just mean dirty really, it doesn't seem like he has anything really wrong with his fur that a good bath wouldn't fix. Well anyway, I had to put him out of the car this morning to go to work and it broke my heart to do so because he was sitting on my lap purring up a storm.

It is supposed to be really cold here this weekend (like single digits, below zero wind chill) so I am worried about him. I have never fed him yet he sticks around my house which makes me wonder if he really even does get fed. What can I do to help him? I would take him in, but I already have four and I don't think Matt would be amused with me bringing another home. I do have a shed that we don't use for much in the back yard. I was thinking about propping the door open enough that he could get in and making him a cozy bed in there. Do you guys think he would use it and if so, would it be enough to help him through this cold weather?
 

opilot

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Thanks for caring. He will use it if you show it to him! Make sure to feed some wet food there, in side or in front of shed, pet him, and if he lets you show him the shed proped open.

Make sure if winds are high the dooor is SECURE from banging or blowing shut/open. I would TIE and USE BRICKS both, so it cannot move much.

You can probably figure out how to do it. For a warm shelter, do the rubbermaid container, on its side stuffed with straw. If no straw, use lots and lots of newspapers or/foam board insulation if you have it. Then put some thing he can snuggle on like a dog or cat bed pillow. Not the best, straw better, but will do!

If you have the option to cut the sides of the container (my bf did for me) with a saw, then cut holes on each end of the container, and put the lid on it...

Scent it a bit with Feliway and/or catnip.

If you mean to care for this little guy, god bless you so much!!
You can feed dry chow in the cold - kitten chow has extra calories.

For non frozen water, bring low sodium chicken broth to boil, the put
a little water in and put out in a container. Just about the time
you feed him.

Also, this kitty MAY go into the sewers to escape the cold, so if you
do not see him, this may be where he is going...

God bless and take care of you both!

And, if you cannot keep him, please maybe see about getting him into a rescue group? Sounds like some one moved and left behind or he got lost and strayed from home. Someone may be has given up hope of finding him... who knows he might even be chipped??
 
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calicoprincess

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Thanks for all that information! On the straw thing. . . I have rabbits so I always have hay around, do you think that this would serve the same purpose?

I had already thought about the possiblilty of a microchip and I took him into my vet last week. He is not chipped but he is already fixed and my vet gave him his vaccinations for the year and said that other then being skinny, he looked good for being stuck outside (guess I should have mentioned that in the original post). If he wasn't fixed, I already had it set up for him to be that day but luckily it was already done which makes me think you are likely right about someone leaving him or him getting lost. I left a flyer with his picture at the vets just in case someone was still looking for him.

I will start looking for a rescue to take him. Since he is so sweet, and he already has been checked out, he should definately be adoptable. . . On that note, since I know he has a clean bill of health, I might actually let him in the house this weekend. I could set up the basement so that my cats couldn't get to him and he would have a nice cozy place of his own.
 

addiebee

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Oh, poor baby! Thank you for helping him! Looks like you got some good advice.
 

opilot

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Rabbit bedding works fine too, so long as it does not get wet. Straw retains heat when wet and rots slower so its preferred for insulating nesting boxes.

Make that rubber maid with holes on both ends and lid on top, and put it in there, spray a little Feliway and crack the door (but make sure the WINDS don't blow the door so it bangs!)

Put a little bowl of dry chow too. it will all help!
 

ldg

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You're so sweet to want to help this little fellow.
Hay will work really well - though straw is better. He may not use it - if there are other homes around, it is amazing, but cats find a way to keep warm.

Our little Tuxedo still lived outside during TWO WEEKS of BELOW ZERO weather. We don't know where he was holed up - but almost any time we opened the door, he came running over.....which was horrible, because we stopped going anywhere unless we absolutely had to just so the little guy would stay holed up and warm! We brought him warm chicken broth morning and night (we just boiled chicken in water so there weren't any additives). OH - we had lots of warm enclosures out for kitties, and other ferals used them. Just not Tuxie.

Is there a possibility he's lost? Can you take some pics of the kitty and put them up at the local supermarkets, local shelters, and maybe local vets? If anybody's looking, that's where they'd look. ?????? They loved him enough to have him neutered!

But kitties are smart - if he doesn't know how to get home, got left behind or ran away - he knows where to go!


Laurie
 
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calicoprincess

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I did post one flyer at my vets office but I haven't put any others up yet. I will do that this weekend. He has been hanging out around my house since atleast this summer though. I actually think I have figured out where he is being fed because I commonly see him go into the back yard of a woman who lives a few doors down. She has a bunch of "no trespassing" signs up all over though so I don't know how I would even find out. It could very well be that she is the one who got him fixed and stuff too. I just don't know how I would know if she is and that is part of the reason that I have previously been somewhat leary of taking him to a rescue or anything. I wouldn't want to be stealing anyone's cat. Then again, if she is the one taking care of him, then I appreciate that she is trying to help out but this cat seems suited to an indoor home because he loves attention and I don't feel like he is getting the care he deserves currently. I wish that she wasn't so unapproachable so that I would at least know if she has been taking care of him or not.
 
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