How to tell if apartment kitten is a stray, or just a neighbors?

Hi all,

Last night as my boyfriend and I were leaving our apartment to go to the store, I heard a loud meowing from a couple of units down and a sure enough a kitten came running up towards me. My boyfriend later told me he heard meowing earlier in the evening while I was gone. She was very friendly, purring like crazy, seemed a little skittish, but didn't mind being picked up. She looked fed, and her fur didn't seem too messy (she has white paws that were still perfectly white), probably 3 or 4 months old. I was worried for her because my apartment is right next to a road, and the people around here don't seem all too friendly, but I played with her a bit throughout the night before going to bed. I didn't feed her in case she did belong to someone so she wouldn't hang around my apartment, although she did hang out for a while after I went inside.

This morning I walked a little further around the complex on the way to my car, and found the kitten again napping by a unit about 5 doors down from mine. I thought it was a little strange she wasn't hiding since it was daylight and there was a lot of noise going on. Is it more likely she belongs to someone in the apartment complex and got out/they let her outside? Are there any particular things I can look for to see if she's a stray or not?

If someone does own her, they're not doing a very good job of it

What about doing a door knock around the apartments?

Are you interested in adopting her?

If she's still around tonight I think I'll try a little harder to see if she goes to a particular unit on her own and ask around if anyone knows who she belongs to. I'm totally open to adopting her, I'd have to convince my boyfriend, but I would at least like to take her to a vet to get checked out if she is indeed a stray. I have a one year old neutered male already who seems to be a bit bored lately, so I'd love to have a kitty to keep him company when I can't.

Let us know how you get on

lokimonster said:

 I would at least like to take her to a vet to get checked out if she is indeed a stray.

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Vets cant really see it, unless she has a chip. Or they are visibly having mites, fleas or such. Owned cats usually dont have a lot of such.  Or if she is visibly gone meagre.

Observe, if she is freshly abandoned / gone astray, you are in a hurry to take her in. as the death rate is highest in the beginning, before they had learned most of the dangers out there.

It is not enough with just holding your eyes open.

So the trick in such cases, if you can and want to help, is to take her in, AND simultaneously seek after the owner.  Knack on the doors, set up messages "found"...

You presuming she is one of the neigbours.  - If nada, you can seek on, hoping she got astray. Found message at vets around, shelters aroud, SPCA etc...

Another trick is to set up on her a breakable collar on her, and a message capsule on this collar, where you ask the owner to phone you.  If she already has a collar, best to set another collar, so the owners notice something is done.

Tx for caring!

Good luck!

Great advice from StephanZ.

Stefan is right!  I am still amazed that the little stray we rescued last year had managed to survive in the wild for close to a year.  It is very hard for them to do so.  I have done the breakaway collar once and the cat did not return, which I think meant his owner got the message.