A New Friend At Our Back Door

royal7

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
12
Purraise
10
My wife and I recently started feeding a stray/feral cat (attached photo) that we believe is female. She comes to our back door daily and we feed her. Before we take any steps to catch her and take her to our local shelter we want to make sure she hasn't got a litter of kittens nearby she is caring for. My wife seems to think she may be a mom because she goes away after she is fed. Is there someway to tell from the appearance of her teets if she is a mom? This cat we are calling "Skinny" is just that, very thin and always anxious to eat. She has a ravenous appetite. A couple more questions. 1) How do you tell if this thin cat could be a mom? and 2) Should we attempt to get her to the shelter?

It's been some months since we last wrote but our first entry was about a stray cat we adopted from a local business complex. In the attached photo, Sgt. Pepper has settled in nicely and we are grateful he has taken to us well and gets along fairly well with his two brothers, Beckham and Bailey. We thought this situation may be a success story from the start and it has turned out to be just that. We appreciate there are organizations like yours that is there to provide support for us lovers of all animals but especially cats and dogs.

Best Regards to all at "The Cat Site"

Joe, Linda, Beckham, Bailey and Sgt. Pepper
 

blueyedgirl5946

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
14,593
Purraise
1,695
Can you watch where she goes after she eats.  She is most certainly a beautiful girl.  Thanks for caring.
 

revenwyn

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
275
Purraise
16
Please, PLEASE DO NOT take her to your local shelter! They will just put her down. :(  They are NOT willing to socialize feral cats and if there's any doubt about her health or temperament (or even just because she may be feral) they will just euthanize her. Check into a local rescue, if they cannot take her, her only chance for survival would be YOU.
 

feralvr

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
18,474
Purraise
689
Location
Northwest Indiana
Hi - yes, I remember you and Sgt. Pepper !!!!! So glad to hear that all is well. :bigthumb:

This girl looks to be very friendly - is she?? She does not look feral at all and I doubt that a shelter, humane society or other would euthanize such a beautiful cat, especially if she is friendly. Most times these calicos get adopted and rescued quickly. Can you pet her and check to see if her nipples are showing, pink and swollen? Or if she has milk? If not, I would go ahead and get in touch with either a local TNR organization (if you plan on caring for her in your backyard until you can find a suitable home) OR find a local rescue/foster group to take her in and find her a home. She is lovely and I hope you can her to a rescue so she can find a forever home :cross: :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,973
Purraise
10,596
Location
Sweden
Can you watch where she goes after she eats. 
your can even try to following, talking sweetly to her.  I know examples of people who succeed with just that.  the first time she was led astray, but the second time - voilá, almost two kilometers away (english mile) there was the nest....

I agree with the word of precaution, before you go with her to the local shelter, talk with them, sound them out.  If in doubt, better you try to find a private adopter on your own.

You will surely succeed, as Feralvr thinks.

Good luck!
 

ritz

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
4,656
Purraise
282
Location
Annapolis, MD
FYI:  looks like a Calico, in which case almost certain it is female (if male, sterile).

Agree, find out what the policy is at the humane society/animal control you call.  Listen for what they don't say, the subtext. 
 

bostoncat

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
1
Purraise
0
I'm at the end of my first week of caring for an abandoned cat who looks much like this one! She had been fed  mostly by my daughter for almost five years. Recently she started slipping into my daughter's house; two little kids and two cats don't go well with a  poor cat who had been outside twelve months a year for years. After someone called the pound I just drove the hundred miles and scooped her before the pound could get her. From what I was told the "owner" had been sent a legal notice (to his empty house) to claim or surrender her, but some things take precedence over the law. Had her to my vet yesterday and she is PERFECTLY healthy, no FIV, no leukemia, good blood tests, no heartworm, parasites, anything. Even had good teeth (Thank God!) My city has one of the oldest no-kill shelters in the country and they have agreed to take her in two weeks. No cages, cats inhabit a three-floor house where they are treated like five-star guests. Perhaps your city has one of those? I did discover that most shelters make no promises that they will not euthanize cats, especially now during kitten season.

Took me a week to find the right place for her, but she is such a lovable animal who holds no grudges against the humans who havemistreated her, and has wonderful conversations with me
My cat is, as Seinfeld would say, a "low purrer," but this one has no such problem!. I'd love to keep her, but I also have a miniature poodle who has gotten skittish in his old age, and my vet says she will likely rule the roost...in a classy calico way, of course!

I spent most of my life hating cats, so I am trying to built up cat-karma.

I'm so glad you're feeding her, and I'm sure with work (it will be work, they're not widely advertised) you can find a no-kill shelter for her. Your vet would be a good resource. That's how I found my shelter. Good luck.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,973
Purraise
10,596
Location
Sweden
BostonCat, welcome to our Forum and the TCS site!

You perhaps do want to start a new tread of your own?  Just copy and paste if you dont want to rewrite everything.   :)

Good luck!
 
Top