Stray or Someone's Outside Cat?

Background: for the past couple of months, I've been leaving a bowl of food outside on our back porch. My indoor cat has been so picky lately, and I hate throwing out perfectly good food. I figured since there are strays/outdoor kitties in our neighborhood, it wouldn't go to waste if I left it out. Sure enough, the food always disappeared, usually within a few hours. The past couple of weeks, there's been one cat in particular that shows up morning and dusk for food. At first he (I think it's a male - more on that later) was very wary of us and wouldn't allow us to approach within 6 feet. He would wait for us to put the food down and walk away to a safe distance before approaching the bowl. He would eat with one eye on us and startle if we moved at all. He would polish off anything we put in the bowl, raw or canned. He eats like he's starving, but he's not underweight at all. He's very muscular, healthy looking, with a dense, short-haired coat. He's pretty clean although there are a few brown spots in his ears, so he may have mites or possibly they just need some cleaning. He's about 12 pounds I think, with big paws and very long sharp claws. I can't tell his age although he doesn't seem very young or very old. He doesn't meow much at all. I've heard him meow softly only once.

So here's where it gets weird. His behavior has completely changed in the last couple of weeks. He's become really affectionate and even walked into the house once, bold as you please. He loves being petted! He head butts my hand to get me to pet him. He will roll around on the ground at our feet and scent mark our feet and shoes. He's even climbed onto my lap a couple of times. He reaches out with both paws and grabs my hand to get pets. He also does that to my leg when I head inside as if he's saying don't go. He's very gentle when he does this and hasn't scratched me at all. He's taken to hanging around our back porch more and more. It's hard to believe that he's a stray and not someone's pet. He's clearly socialized. He's also heard our indoor kitty meowing inside the house but doesn't react at all which I thought was odd. He clearly hears her because he perks his ears but there's no other reaction.

To get to the point, my dilemma is about what to do next. I think I can see testicles which means he needs to be neutered. I have no problem with paying to have it done although at this point, I'm not sure how I will get him to the vet. I haven't tried picking him up yet, so I may need a trap. However, I would feel weird doing this if he is someone's pet already. If he isn't someone's pet, we would adopt him as our outdoor kitty at a minimum and consider bringing him in at some point. Oddly enough, he looks like my indoor kitty's big brother, another blue mackerel tabby.

So what do you think I should do? 1. Assume he's a stray and work on getting him to the vet to be checked for a microchip and get neutered ASAP? 2. Assume he's someone's pet and try to track down the owner? I'm not sure how I would even do that. I guess I could get a collar for him and attach a note somehow and ask them to contact me? Suggestions? I really have no experience with this.

Here's a picture of his privates. Male?

He may be someones cat allowed to go outside, quite a few are shy. So for example, most of my neigbours cats are more or less shy.

But he can also be an successful homeless.  These can look quite well, even almost a little fatty.

He is hardly a real semiferal.  There ARE some friendly semiferales, but he is too much so.

Looking on his privates, my guess he is neutered.  An adult tom would have bigger, noticeable sacks.

Of course, a friendly tom has perhaps not so protruding as a dominant, territoriale tom, but still...

So, my guess is he is spayed, was owned once, perhaps still is.

The alternative to neutered tom it is a she. Sometimes it is not easy to see. More then one tom  did suddenly delivered a couple of small, sweet kittens.  And Im talking about home boys. Sometimes even checked up by a vet, for example, while they got their  vaccinations.

You can search for the owner

1. set up  Whose cat is it, at all message boards around, including local supermarket.

His photo, but ideally have some detail not visible on the photo, so the owner can identify himself this way.  Have a prepaid cell mobile phone as the number, if you dont want to risk funny people phoning.

2. Like you said. Set a breakable collar on him, with a message tube.  With a suitable message;

Please phone me, etc....

The risk with nr 2, is, he is now mostly at your place.  it may be so he has abandoned now totally his OK, but so so home.   If so, the owner will never see this new collar.  

Ah, last. You dont need to use no trap. You just wrap him up in a towel.  After it, set him in a carrier or dog cage, and away to the vet.

Good luck!

Goo

Thanks Stefan. Hmm, so if he's neutered, then I guess the chances are good that he's someone's pet. I wonder why he eats like he's starving though. He will eat a good 7-8 oz of wet food at a time. Once I kept feeding him more because he seemed so hungry, and he finally stpped eating after about 12 oz!

He does disappear during the day. Do you think I should try to follow him? Boy, I really will look like the crazy cat lady!

He may be recently neutered.  One of our males had a "sack" for almost year after neutering.

But if possible, you can still take him to the vet.  That way, you know for sure and he's gotten his check up.

I know there are people who have indoor outdoor cats but I'm not comfortable with that.  There are simply too many things that can happen to them outside on their own.

Thank you for caring about him.

I didn't know that. My cat is female, so I have no experience with males. I have read here that neutered males can be the biggest cuddlers, and that would certainly be true in this case!

One other question, how concerned should I be about transferring anything from him to my indoor kitty? I always wash my hands after petting him, but he does like to rub himself all over me, so I'm wondering if I should change clothes and shower before touching my indoor kitty. Or is that overkill?

Yes, thank you for taking care of him.

Or, "he" may be pregnant and that is why she acts like she is starving 

If a stray/abandoned cat, he may be of the mind set:  I'll eat everything when I can cause I never know when my next meal is coming from.

I think you should take him to the vets to get him/her checked out; they'll scan him for free.  And tested for FIV/FELK.  Based on his behavior, I think you can just pick him up and put him in a cat carrier. 

If no microchip but spayed/neutered, I'd put up posters and/or do a break away collar.  He may be an indoor/outdoor cat.  (Two of the friendliest cats in my colony were friendly to begin with, even more so after being neutered.  One was adopted out for a Furever Home, one remains in my colony.)

Whenever I have fosters, I wear paper booties into their room until I've had them checked, so I don't think changing clothes is overkill. 

Just be careful, wash your hands and if you notice his hair on you, change your clothes.  You can also take a sticky roller and give yourself a once over before coming inside.

@Ritz - I am positive now that he's male. I felt the "sack." LOL.

@Ondine - thanks, I will be careful.

So I had another thought, could he be a young male, not fully sexually mature yet?

Could be.  If you got close enough to feel his naughty bits, he's no feral.  Is there a possibility you can make him another inside cat?  He'll need to be quarantined and have his vet check and be neutered before introductions to your current cat.  You are correct too -neutered males are the best cuddle bugs.

It's possible. Is there any way to tell if he's been recently neutered like Stefan said or if he's still developing (other than just waiting of course)? I haven't seen him yet today, but I'm going to try to brush him and do a more thorough examination of his naughty bits.

This sounds a lot like Ghost the stray we took in last month, he was a bit cautious at first but warmed up to us fast. At first he'd come around in the evening then he started staying around the yard so we made him a shelter and kept feeding him. He was obviously a stray though, he was missing fur, his neck was covered in scabs and he was really thin and rough looking. We weren't sure about bringing him in as we have a few cats already but when I took him to the vet to look him over she suggested we bring him in after she found no chip on him.

He like your outside visitor didn't react to our cats at all and now that he's in he still doesn't give them much though. As far as him giving our cats something we let him use the outdoor shelter until his vet visit which was only a few days later, we had him tested for some stuff and got him his vaccines, he was already fixed so that didn't need done. When we got him home from the vet we brought him up to our bedroom and kept him in there for two weeks while he adjusted, we got really lucky as he is an amazing old boy.

You could try and make a small shelter for him on you porch or by your door out of a storage container and see if he sleeps in it if you can't bring him in right away or if you are unsure. Good luck with him! He could be the best pet ever, sometimes they find us

So of course I haven't seen him since I wrote about him last. I had a plan to check his privates in more detail, so now I think he's avoiding me. LOL Someone's still eating the food though.