Advice needed I seem to have been adopted

Hi
Over the last few months I have been visited by what looks like an old, black, long coated cat. I keep the dry food out for my cats Sox and Jazzy all day in the kitchen and have the door open during the day. This black cat came in about 2 months ago, he was very hungry and finished the bowl. He has been back almost every day and when I am in the kitchen he rubs against my legs. I have let him come and go as he pleases but today he walked into the lounge jumped on the sofa and curled up and went to sleep. Hes very friendly, loves to be fussed and stroked. I have some toys lying about, mice and balls and he played with these earlier when he came in so hes very domesticated. He seems really happy napping on the sofa ( Sox and Jazz are not too happy they give him a wide birth and Sox has hissed a couple of times which does not seem to phase the visitor one bit).
So what do I do, how can I find out if or where he lives and if he or she has an owner??
Should I put him/her out tonight before I go to bed? seems harsh although the weather is fine at the moment I am worried about what will happen to it come winter.
If I lock him/her in for the night what if there is some frantic owner worrying about it because they didnt come home
Anyone any ideas?

My own personal opinion is that you can knock on doors on your street and the street behind you to see if anyone owns him. In the meantime though, I guess Iwould let him choose whether to stay the night or go. hopefully he owned no one before an he now owns you!

I think you are right. He has adopted you. If he came along 2 months ago, was very hungry and has been back every day. It sounds like he has no owners. He could have been abandoned. Looks like he decided it was a safe place to stay. Hope things go well for everyone.

I had Fred's brother for 7 years, and one day he took his favorite toy and moved in with an elderly gentleman down the street. His daughter promised to take him if anything happened to her dad, as he was in his mid-80s. He made the old fellow so happy, I just could not make him come back.

Well around 11pm he got up and walked to the back door I followed him and he asked to go out I left the door open for about half an hour but he/she didnt come back. I will no doubt see him tomorrow, one thing is apparent by the lumps on my legs after sitting where he was lying I think he/she has fleas. My two are treated monthy with front line but if "cat" is going to take regular naps on the sofa I think some treatment will be needed, not sure about this though as I said to my hubby I cant just go treating a cat if he belongs to someone else, what if he is allergic.
It certainly is a dilema I would be happy to take him and care for him if he doesnt have a home, the problem is I dont know he doesnt - my hubby reckons he could be a six dinner sid and a bit of a sly old fox lol

Originally Posted by optionken

My own personal opinion is that you can knock on doors on your street and the street behind you to see if anyone owns him

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Also, you can take him to the vet to be scanned for a microchip. If he's going to be around your cats he'll need a vet check anyway.

When I found Holly Golightly on the street, I thought she belonged to someone too. I asked neighbors and posted an ad on Craigslist. I didn't take her home for two weeks until I could determine whether she had an owner. I also checked the "lost cat" binders at the shelters to make sure nobody reported her lost. The neighbors didn't think she had a home and just saw her hanging out at KFC for about a year.

Anyway, I received a lot of calls about her but it was never a match. She's an orange female and everyone called looking for an orange male. I then took her home because she was obviously feral. She didn't have a microchip either.

If it's an older cat it's also possible that he got lost and doesn't remember where home is.

I'd do the usual things -- ask around and post some signs. Maybe put a lost and found posting on Craigslist. If that yields nothing, then you can go ahead if you'd like to keep him.

Immediate flea treatment is a dilemma. It's unlikely he'd be allergic. But on the other hand there's a (slim) chance that he has an owner and has been given a flea treatment fewer than 30 days ago... I say slim because if so he wouldn't have so many fleas.

Another problem with him being around your cats pre-vet-treatment is that if he has fleas, he likely has worms also.

Ring round local vets and rescues in case someone has reported him missing, and try to get him to the vets to be checked for a chip - although quite a lot of rescues in the UK have them now. Good luck

Heres the thing it went out last night and disappeared, we locked all the doors and went to bed, we got up this morning and hes fast a sleep on our coffee table in the lounge. I will do as you suggest post a found in the local paper and ask at the vets locally. Do you suppose hes litter tray trained? he hasnt used it yet. I bought someindorex spray so at least I can treat the sofa and carpets when hes had a nap. If he goes out later today I might try and follow him and see where he goes.

I do not believe that treating him for fleas is a dilemma. He has fleas, and he needs treatment, and if he is owned by someone else (doubtful but possible) then they have been negligent in treating him and so you are making up for their deficiencies by treating him, or compounding their deficiencies by not treating him.

Allergic reaction to the frontline is unlikely, but the risk from fleas is guaranteed since he has them.

Yes you can make reasonable efforts to find the owner (in addition to whats been mentioned above) you can also contact the local shelters to see if there are reports of a cat like him gone missing, and you can put up fliers in your area and at local stores and community bulletin boards. Try to withhold some detail of his description so you can "test" someone who claims to own him.

Signs of current ownership by someone else may vary by region and country, but where i live a friendly cat who is very hungry, has no ID and has fleas is no longer owned by anyone, although with exceptions this may not be true 100%. And i bet he's litter box trained as well.

I think you have a new cat!

ok Stepheng I have taken on board what you said I checked "cat" and hes crawling in fleas so I have treated him and the lounge I am going to get him a collar and put a tag on it asking owner if he has one to call me if I hear nothing I am going to take "cat" to the vet on Tuesday if he does have an owner they are seriously neglecting him both in feeding and care. The thing is though he doesnt look like a standard cross bred cat he looks like a breed he has beautiful long coat a pug nose he isnt in need of a comb its right confusing

Probably a mix of a purebred. My cat is an angora mix and I got him from the city shelter. And there was a Ragdoll Siamese who was abandoned in my neighborhood (who has thankfully been adopted since) and was living outdoors for a few years; she managed to keep her long coat looking nice.

Keep him isolated from your existing cats until you've taken him to the vet. You don't want all three to get worms.