selfish??

I started feeding a stray cat about a week and a half ago. She warmed up pretty quickly and now has no interest in going back outside. I haven't taken her to the vet yet because I didn't want to violate her trust by shoving her into a cat carrier before she was ready. She has a tattoo on her lower belly/leg area so i know she's been owned previously and also been spayed. I am planning to take her to the vet tomorrow morning, but I don't know how to react if she has a chip. I am obviously attached to the lady by now. I posted ads on craigslist with pictures of her stating that I found her and if anyone was missing her.. i also registered her on some big website for lost and found animals and haven't heard anything. I've also checked the papers classifieds to see if anyone put out an ad about her. I'm worried that when i take her to the vet, they will scan her and find a chip. I think she should be returned to her rightful owner if they truly lost her, but how do I know that she isn't being returned to a bad owner? She was left out to fend for herself for a reason... either they didn't want her anymore or she wasn't happy where she was. She seems to be quite comfortable here. Is it selfish of me to just want to keep her here with the family that SHE adopted?

I'm sure you've seen the messages on here of people who have lost their cats, and I think you'd want them to have them back if you could help. That may be the case with the one you have, but it could just as easily be that she doesn't have a chip, or, if she does, it was never registered, a problem we run into frequently.

Ah, I feel for both you and the cat! However, as the wise mrblanche said, you very well could be returning her to a loving owner! My husband's family lost a cat years ago - they were absolutely distraught. She got out of the house somehow and they searched and searched. Finally, they got the call - their cat had slipped into someone's open trunk while they were packing after their vacation visiting family. Little Chloe ended up in Wales (my husband grew up in the the midlands of England). The family kindly brought her back. Moral of the story? Sometimes cats just get lost and their family is dying for them to be returned.

At the same time, it sounds like you have done a lot to try and find her rightful family. But, we must remember that not all people are internet savvy like us. If my parents lost their dog, they wouldn't know to search on craigslist or any of the big websites. The most responsible thing you can do is have the vet check. You never know- I had another friend in a similar circumstance to you and she fell hard for the cat. In the end, the family could not be found, and she kept the cat.

Keep us updated on what happens. I am a worrier by nature, so I understand your dilemma. However, my husband always tells me to try and not worry until I know I have something to worry about!

I sympathize with your feelings. There was a cat in my old neighborhood that I wanted. His owners were not as responsible as they should have been and let him out in cold weather. He just came to my house to warm up. But I knew he was someones so I never kept him. But he was a joy to have around.
If the cat has a chip that doesn't mean it will be claimed. The odds are in your favor that the cat is a stray or a dump. If not then you will have made someone very happy and relieved. A chip could just mean the cat was at a shelter at one time, at the shelters here they come home with a chip so there are several possibilities.
Good luck.

IF the previous owners dont care very much as you suspect, they will probably be relieved and happy someone will take care of her, not bothering them. Problem solved and clean conscience for both families!

You must of course play it cosy by ear, hinting you will be happy to keep her if they dont mind too much. No accusations of any sort - this will only trigger their defences.

But people who did cost on her both spaying and tattoo arent probably no dumpers. So the chances are she get unluckily lost astray and they are mourning her.

I was in the same situation you are with my cat Frisky. He had been hanging around my house for a few weeks and finally decided he wanted to be friends and come in. About 3 days after I brought him in I was looking at him and he just didn't look right this was about 11pm. At 11:30pm it was clear something was really wrong so I loaded him in the car and took him 40 mins to our nearest 24 hour emergency center.

Come to find out he was having a asthma attack. When we brought him in we told them he was a stray and they scanned him and found a chip. He was chipped from a animal rescue group an hour away from my house. They were able to tell me he was 2 1/2 years old and that he hadn't been scanned in 2 years.Someone must have adopted him and never registered him with the chipping company. The emergency vet wouldn't treat him unless someone vouched they would pay so I did. 4 days in a oxygen cage and $2000.00 later they gave me the number of the company he was registered with and the rescue group and told me to explain to them that I had just paid all of this money to save him and that the new owners never registered him.

So that is what I did and the rescue group told me to enjoy my new boy and the called the company and even covered the cost to change all of his chip info into my name.

I know what it is like to be afraid of losing a kitty after becoming attached. I was afraid I was going to lose my kitty but also alot of money. But everything worked out in the end and I was able to learn things about him that I would have never known, like his age and atleast some of where he had came from.

There was love in that tattoo... that's an extra expense that is just meant to make sure she doesn't have to go through spaying twice. If you find a microchip, chances are she is a loved pet that someone has lost, not an abandoned orphan. And, in any event, surely you would be able to get visitation rights--maybe even a friendship between you and her original owners; after all, you would all be cat lovers.

... My grandparents adopted a cat from a shelter (in Florida too!), and it was the shelters policy that all of their animals got tattoos, so a tattoo doesn't always mean that they haven't been dumped.

By you posting it shows that this is on your consoius that you know that the right thing to do is to get her checked for a chip, chances are if she has a tattoo, she probably doesn't have a chip (that's a little redundant). If it is in Gods will for you t have her, you will. Just have a little faith!

Here are some sites that you can call in the tattoo # and find the owner... or at least who owned her at one point...

http://www.kaleidoscopekennel.com/tattoo.html

http://www.nationaldogregistry.com/faq.html

http://bcegov2.broward.org/petslicense/petform.htm

Actually on one of these sites it says that the tattooed area must be shaved/clipped regularly for it to be seen.... so if you saw it, she must have a really loving and devoted owner to do all of that...

So I took Eva to the vet and reluctantly had her scanned.. NO CHIP! hooray! I continue to check the craigslist and tallahassee democrat lost and found- no missing lookalikes. Also, I called around to all the shelters and the only place in town that tattoos cats is the spay and neuter clinic. This is the cheapest place in town. They are out there to help people who cannot afford to take their pets to the vet. You can get your cat fixed there for free and they tattoo them afterwards. So no one paid extra for her tat, they paid less for it. Whatever, she's a weirdo, but she's my weirdo and I love her very much. I couldn't imagine a better time for her to have come into my life. She's improved my life as much (if not more) than I've improved hers. She's a spoiled brat and I wouldn't have it any other way....

Here's a picture of her welcoming me into the family by bringing me a live lizard (we're in Florida) ...

She is beauty. I love her markings. And the lizard.

I am glad you decided to keep her. My Mary improved my life so much I kept adding and adding and adding. Now I have a 6 pack of cats.

It seems the two of you get to stay together. I'm happy for you, and for her!

She is certainly a gorgeous beauty.

I long for the day when cats are no longer considered "disposable pets." I don't foresee that happening anytime soon.

I'm glad you're able to keep her and give her a good life!! at the lizard!

I love how her front legs are different colours!