Need help with skinny stray cat

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post this so if it is not please let me know and I will post about this in the proper place.

I have just found a cat I believe to either be lost or stray/abandoned in my backyard. The only reason I suspected this was because she is about a foot and a half to two feet long and she’s so skinny that I can literally grab her with one hand and almost touch my fingers to my thumb. She is also matted pretty extremely for a longhaired orange tabby. I’ve been searching online for people who may have lost her but my question is mainly this; how long would she have to be outside with little to no food to get as skinny as she is? She’s currently thinner than most glasses in circumference. Is there a sickness she could have that could make her so skinny in a week or less? I found and contacted one person who has a cat that ‘looks’ like it could be her but they say they lost their cat 6 days ago and the picture they have is a rather fat cat, especially compared to the one I found.

I’m taking her to the vet as soon as I can, but I have work tomorrow so that’s not going to happen. I know the SPCA doesn’t charge for looking for chips but I’m not sure about the vets. I had to give her a few pieces of dry kibbles to tempt her to come near me so I could catch her. I’ll be switching her to small amounts of wet food tomorrow morning and she’ll be getting fed twice a day to try to fatten her up. She also drank more than half a bowl of water once I brought her inside.

My own cat, Atari, is not happy about this new comer. She’s not hissing like she did with the last cat we housed, but she’s hiding and refusing to come see me when I call her like she usually would.

EDIT: Also she is super affectionate and not afraid of humans now that she's indoors. Also she is locked in the bathroom to keep her away from Atari in case she's sick, and because I have read the guide on introducing cats from this site. If I can not find her actual owner I am contemplating keeping her. Atari has been rather lonely lately and my family has a policy on pets; the ones meant for you will always find you on their own.

I had to give her a few pieces of dry kibbles to tempt her to come near me so I could catch her. I’ll be switching her to small amounts of wet food tomorrow morning and she’ll be getting fed twice a day to try to fatten her up.

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The recipe for now is tiiny amounts, but often. So when you switch to wet food, make it more often then twice a day.   6-10 times, the first days...

If you can get goat milk, it is nourishing yet mild. Use as it as a starter.

If salomonella in eggs in not a problem at your place, have raw egg yolk in the goat milk or in the wet food. VERRY healthy and nourishing. But not the first two three days, let her build up a little first.  Or just tiny amounts.

Otherwise, you plans sounds good.  Big stamp: "Approved".  

I THINK most vets check for microchip for free too, but better phone before.  Especielly as you do want a vet check up too, and you dont want it to see like made a sneaky consultation for free.

I think getting totally damaged by starvation takes more than 6 days. Three weeks at very least.

Unless combined with heavy diarrhea and sever fever, that can take down anybody in 6 days.

Good luck!

  Welcome to our Forums!

Thanks! I'll definitely be taking that advise, I've never dealt with such a skinny cat before. She kept me up all night meowing but I figure that is to be expected. Atari is handling this young female much better than she did with the male cat we took care of before his owner was found. So far she has not peed or pooped, in the liter we gave her or anywhere else. I think she didn’t have enough of anything in her for that. She did demolish more than half of the wet food I just gave her so she is very hungry. I have not noticed any fever or other sickness signs and she does not have ear mites or ticks as far as I can see.

I've just recieved contact from the SPCA and I'm able to talk to the person via e-mail. Seems I may have to surrender the new cat for three business days to them and pay an adoption fee. I'm not certain I can afford the fee, either. Will keep updating as things happen.

No news about the SPCA yet but Atari is actually surprisingly curious about the newcomer in the bathroom. She wandered up to the door and seemed very curious before she got angry, as usual, and hissed at the door before running away because the new cat meowed.

Unlike what happened with the other cat she will still come and cuddle or talk to me and let me pet her though. Some of her usual mannerisms.

Okay so we're taking her to the SPCA today, I managed to convince someone to drive me (The bus doesn’t allow animals, even in crates). She has pooped and peed and it looks normal. She’s been panting heavily on and off though and it’s worrying me, I think she may have an upper respiratory infection. So far we have not been able to identify her owners if she has any. The SPCA has a three business day holding period for her owners to claim her, after that she will be adopted by me if no one claims her. They also spay, vaccinate, and microchip her in the time she’s being held there. Their vets will be able to tell me if she has a health problem and likely how to treat it if they don’t treat it themselves.

I’ve asked about how the SPCA handles skinny cats and their owners. Her owner will be required to provide proof of ownership in vet papers and pictures if she’s not micro chipped. They may also be launching an animal cruelty investigation if her owners try to claim her because she’s so ridiculously skinny. We’ll see what happens. 

Thank you so much for taking care of this little one; you probably saved her life.

She may be too malnourished to be spayed right away.  I would also hold off on any vaccinations until she is deemed healthy enough, though I would get her dewormed.  If not sick now, she might develop a URI, if for no other reason than stress.  You might want to give her some L-lysine once she is returned to you.  And definitely get her tested for FIV/FELK before introducing her to your resident cat.

By all means, go by what your vet says, but I do suggest caution.   Learned a lesson the hard way.  (Malnourished but otherwise kitten got her first set of vaccinations, and it precipitated a URI which turned fatal.) 

I’ll definitely keep that in mind, though her medical care is currently out of my hands. The Ottawa Humane Society will have to judge for themselves if she’s healthy enough to be vaccinated and what not. The good news is that they have three vets on staff almost every day so if something goes wrong she’s in good hands. They will be checking her out for worms and URI and fleas/ticks, feline leukemia, and all that stuff for us though, which I think is great.

We gave her over to them about two hours ago. They verified her age and let me fill out an adoption form right there and then which is attached to her file. I will be considered before anyone else if she is deemed healthy enough for adoption and no one steps forward to claim her before Thursday. They say that judging by her teeth she's not much older than one year and aside from how skinny she is she seems perfectly healthy. When she was here she was eating like a ravenous lion, which is a good thing I hear. I just hope she stays in good shape. She’s such a sweetheart and she’s the only stray we’ve picked up off the street that my cat Atari seems curious about. With any luck we may have finally found Atari a friend to play with.

Always a chance she got locked in a garage/stuck in tree or some place with no food but had water.  Great that she did eat. 
 

Cats chose people; no reason cats can't chose cats to learn from one another.

catsallaround: This is a possibility but she did not seem to have water where ever she was either. As soon as I put a bowl down in front of her she acted like she'd never had it before and drank the entire bowl and then some more when I refilled it.

Ritz: This is very true. My first cat is just a bit of a snob it seems. I love her snobyness though, she's a real diva. xD

The cat went up on the Ottawa Humane Society's 'Found Stray' Page today. If no one claims her by Thursday we have the chance of adopting her. 

If she's number A158144, then she is skinny, poor dear.   She's a pretty little thing.

I am sending vibes that she's not claimed and that you are her new parents!

Nope, she's the orange one above that, although that one does look a lit like her when she's not so upset. She is number A158115 on the Lost and Found Page. 

Oh, I saw her.  Poor dear.  Are her paws as big as they look in that picture?  She may be a big cat, once she gets some good nutrition.  What are you calling her?  (I hate just "cat")

My fieance was the one who had the 'love at first sight' reaction to her and she next to never instantly takes to any animals (Which is why we want her to come home with us) and has taken to calling her Fawkes. Because she looks like a fox and runs as fast as a flying hawk. When we had her playing? She was like greased lightning.

And yes her paws are rather big, even compaired to my 4 year old.

I love that name.  And look how swiftly (and foxily) she made her way into your hearts! 

This is too true. I'm just hoping partly that she does have a owner and partly that she dose not have an owner. It's conflicting.

It would take some time for this kitty to become a true 'tube cat' (my name for homeless tube skinny cats )

I adore that you are going to give her the loving care and home she so deserves, and likely had at one time since she is friendly. Oftentimes people want cute little kittens, and when they grow up they seem disposable.

Or left behind to fend for themselves-"she's cat! She can catch mice, she will be fine!" NOT!!

Your chances of someone claiming this cat are next to none, unless on the rare chance that the kitty wandered off and lost it's way, or the family moved and someone let the cat get out a day later and the cat got lost, but chances are this cat was abandoned.

A tube cat she definitely was. She’s still there right now. It’s the final waiting game until 7 pm tonight. Then we see if she passes quarantine and if she’s fit to be vaccinated, spayed, micro chipped and adopted. We’re taking all the necessary steps to make sure she does not get lost or end up in a similar situation again. She will be an indoor only cat because the people in my neighborhood are not trustworthy with cats. My personal belief is that people wouldn’t let their dogs outside without a leash so why would they let their cats out without one? I have a harness and a 60 foot leash so she can explore as far as the leash lets her. I will try to gently coax and train her to walk with me on it in time if we get her.

That’s the plan thus far anyways. Oh, and getting another litter box.

Vibes she comes home!