A cat found me. Need advice please.

Hi. I'm new here. I'm hoping someone can help me.

Two weeks ago, I found a cat lounging on my doorstep, seeming calm and content. No collar or tags. She's adorable. I don't know where she came from or why she picked my front porch for a relaxing moment.

A side note: I've lived in my current house for 9 years now and this is the first cat to visit me. I don't have experience with cats - strays or ferals. Nor do I know how to identify one.

I started feeding her the next day, when I noticed she was always staying near my house. At first, she watched me cautiously, while hiding in my bushes. But she made eye contact and gave me a quiet meow. When she saw the food on the front porch, she came out and gobbled it up. Then she went back to her hiding spot and watched me. I spoke softly to her and admired her from afar.

Fast forward to today. She comes to me for 3 meals a day, she naps on my front porch with me, she greets me every morning with the sweetest meows, her tail high in the air. She rubs herself on my porch chair. I sit beside her on the ground while she eats and I talk to her. I haven't attempted to touch her and she hasn't touched me yet either. I want her to trust me and I want to help, if she needs my help. But could she be someone's pet? No other cats are coming around, just her.

I call her a "she" because she looks female with a small head and small paws, and I've seen nipples on her belly when she is lying down. I also think she may be pregnant. Her belly is round and low.

Please take a look at my photos and tell me if you agree. I could be totally wrong.

I'm so out of my element, I don't know what to do. Should I make a shelter for her? (I'm in Canada, so the cold weather will eventually come). I don't want to scare or stress her.

Thanks for your advice.

Aw!! She's gorgeous!!! Poor thing. So glad she found a safe haven in you!! Sounds like she and you both found a friend!!

I'm not a cat ob/gyn expert so I can't help with that. I do say kitty looks well fed. Was she thin when she found you?

Cats can get round tummies from worms, but I suppose the only way to be sure is to bring her in for a vet visit. This cat sure doesn't seem typical feral to me, so she may have been in a carrier at some point, or used to being touched. So you can try holding you hand out, to see if she will sniff, anyway.

Now as for ownership--if you have neighbors you can ask. You can post a "found" on a street pole. You can look in the papers lost and found, or post a found describing her. (Leave out some details so you know it's the owner if someone calls, or ask for proof.) You might call local vets. One, to ask if they have humane traps you can rent or borrow, and two, to ask if any of their customers report their cat as being missing. Or describe the cat and see if it rings a bell!

My guess is the cat is lost, or dumped, possibly yes from being pregnant. After two weeks, you think someone would have come looking for her. I think a vet visit is needed, if no one claims her. That's my opinion. If she's pregnant, she must have sensed you were a kind person, so she wanted her kittens to be safe. If not pregnant, she still knew you are a good person!!!

If you bring kitty indoors, you need to know if she's pregnant in case you want to apply flea meds. This is high season for fleas, not to take away from the cat, but you need to be careful too.

Sure, put a box on your porch for now. If this is a stray, can you bring him/her inside permanently? That's a hard life, esp for loner cats.

Thank you for caring so much!!

I would definitely try to get her into a cat carrier and get her to the vet.  You will want to know if she is pregnant and also they can check to see if she is possibly microchipped and has an owner looking for her.  You also will want to get her spayed at some point. To get her into a carrier, you can start by feeding her in the carrier.  She will need a safe place to give birth and that would best be inside if you can manage it.  She would also need a litter box. 

Yet do your best to feed her and try your best to get her to a vet.

Thank you for caring for you.  You will be her angel. 

I agree, a vet visit is in order to determine pregnancy. If she's pregnant, you'll want to bring her inside before she has her babies. She clearly was someone's pet, and it appears she's looking for a home. I would try to get her to a vet as soon as possible so you'll know if she's chipped and/or pregnant.

If she is pregnant, you'll want to come over to the Pregnant Cats & Kittens forum for help. Either way, she sounds like she'd make a nice pet if no owner steps forward.

Thanks for the advice. I will use the ideas given for finding a possible owner.

She didn't look thin when I first saw her. She had bright eyes and a nice, clean coat. She was just acting hesitant, skittish and she was hungry.


I will first try testing her comfort level with touch and extend my hand. Hopefully this will go well. In the meantime, I will find a cat carrier so I can take her to a vet.


I could try bringing her inside to a quiet room after her vet visit. I'm quite smitten with her and very much want to continue building a bond with her.

I think bringing her in after the vet visit rather than putting her back outside is a terrific idea!

She looks really young. I'm actually concerned that you get her inside as soon as possible. If she's pregnant she is getting close to her due date. Can you get a picture of her nipples? Do you think if you opened the door she would come inside to eat?

It's the last picture where she looks like a kitten herself - and very heavily pregnant.

Yep, that looks like a low-hanging pregnant belly!

I live in a crappy neighborhood and there is an abundance of stray cats outside.  Some are totally feral, some are friendly but obviously hungry and not being cared for, so I don't know if they were abandoned or if they are actual outside pet cats that their owners are neglecting.   All of our cats in the house have been street cats that I brought in for a better life.

And the very first cat I ever brought in was an orange female.  I'd seen her outside a few times when taking out the trash and petted her.   One day she just zoomed into the house when I opened the front door for a pizza delivery   and we've had her ever since.  I didn't know it at the time she came in, but of course  she was pregnant.   And she was still obviously a young cat herself.   She ended up having only 2 kittens, so it was probably her very first litter.   Hopefully that will be the case with your cat here - if she is young and it's her first litter, its not uncommon for them to only have 1 or 2 kittens.   

It's so nice of you to want to help this girl and give her a home - I do feel bad for the feral cats, but I feel even worse for the abandoned strays, because they at one point had a home and are aware that a better life with human companionship exists, and they are looking for it!  The ferals really dont know what they're missing     Thank you for being so kind to this kitty!

Thank you for sharing your interesting stories and thoughts.

This morning when I greeted her outside, she was close to me so I decided to extend my hand for her to sniff. Well, she got scared and ran out onto the road. Luckily, no cars were around. She ran to my neighbour's yard across the street. She wandered back to my home an hour later. Thank goodness.

So lesson learned, she's not ready for touch yet. I wish I knew her life story. I think it's a sad one. I can see it in her eyes and feel it in my heart.

She may very well be a kitten or at least a very young cat. In this photo, she looks fragile and her "voice" is the sweetest, smallest of mews.

I will take a photo of her nipples next time she is grooming or stretched out. I can say for certain that they are salmon pink in color and protruding. I don't know what is considered normal or what being pregnant looks like.

It is very important for me to save her and give her a better life. I'm not giving up.

She's pregnant. Feed her inside a pet carrier and close the door behind her. She needs to be brought inside or she'll be having kittens outside soon. You can put her in a room by herself while she acclimates, with her food, water, and litter in there with her. I'm guessing she would adjust very quickly.

You need to act quickly or she will have the kittens outside and it will be awhile before you see them.  She needs your care now.  If you can't get her into a carrier, please get a trap.  I doubt she would be too difficult to trap.  If you wait it will be too late.

She's definitely pregnant from how you describe her nipples, plus with the pics and how big her belly looks.  My cat's nipples were pink and protruding a week or two before the birth, so this cat is likely ready to pop within the next few days!  Maybe search online for some cat rescue groups in your area and see if they will let you borrow a trap.  If she's that skittish about being touched, I doubt very much that she will go fully inside a carrier, even if you try to lure her in with food (not saying don't try, just that's been my experience).   I'm sure if you could get a trap and put some food in it, she would willingly go inside it.   You'll just put some food in the back of the trap, and when she walks in and puts weight on that metal piece on the bottom, the trap door will snap shut.   I would set the trap for her wherever you usually feed her, then go inside and wait.  She'll be even less cautious about the trap if you are not present and standing right there.   That's what I would do.   I was lucky and borrowed a trap from a neighbor in order to catch an injured stray, so you could ask around your neighbors and see if anyone has one - a lot folks do for raccoons and possums & such.  

I'm in tears right now. I can't find her and it has been 6 hours since she was last outside my house. She didn't come to the front porch for dinner, which she always does. Now after reading the most recent posts, people are saying she definitely is very pregnant and about to have the kittens.  I should have acted faster. I feel like the worst cat caregiver. I feel like I didn't give her the help she needed. Ugh. I'm so worried now. I so badly want to see her and do something. Is there anything I can do? Should I look around the neighbourhood? Should I wait for her to come to me?

She is probably having her kittens, in which case you may not see her for 24 hours, unless something else has happened to her, which I doubt.

She will come back starving for a meal and you will need to feed her.

When she returns let us know and we'll tell you what to do next.

You have no cat experience so you are doing your best. We are here to help!

Oh I just saw your update - please don't be upset!  You've already done more for her than most people would have even considered doing.......

Yes she is likely giving birth but she will be back since she is accustomed to getting a meal from you    Even if you went looking for her, you probably wouldn't find her as she has likely hidden herself very well somewhere so as not to be seen or disturbed.

I've never trapped a mom plus kittens - but there is a mama cat plus her 4 tiny kittens that I feed outside, so I'll be watching the replies you get here for some ideas myself!

Be ready for her return with some kitten food - it is good for mama cat to eat food made for kittens, as she will need all the extra nourishment she can get while she is nursing - it takes a lot out of her.  

But please don't worry - she will return and it will be okay!  Yes, it would have been ideal for the kittens to be born indoors, but they are born outside literally every day and it all turns out ok!  It's not too late to help this cat and her babies, so don't give up hope!  Just keep an eye out for her - I promise you will see her again!

Thank you! Yes, you were right. She came back at 6 pm tonight. Hooray! I'm so relieved that she is okay.

She did have her kittens. Her belly is gone now and she looks much more slender. I have not seen or heard the kittens. I checked my entire property. I will have to follow her tomorrow and see where she goes. I really want to find those kittens, if they survived.

When she greeted me today, I could tell she was super hungry. She was pacing and meowing and really wanted her food quick. She ate a bowl of dry kitten food and 2 cans of wet kitten food. Wow!

I'm certain now that she is a stray and I am her only food source. She would not come back to me if she was being cared for inside an owner's home. So now a lot of my questions are answered.

She wasn't skittish with me today. She was acting calmer and dare I say, happy to be with me. She stayed close to me after eating and she even touched me for the first time, sniffing my leg. Yay!

There is a large dog crate on my covered front porch now, which has soft towels and blankets inside. I will start feeding her in there. Maybe she will bring her kittens there?...I don't know if that's likely. I want to use the crate to bring everyone safely inside.

Aw that's great, I'm so glad she returned and got a food bonanza    You're absolutely right - if your house was the first place she travelled to after the birth, I'm sure you're the only one caring for her.  

When my girlie was nursing, she ate a LOT.   It's ok to give her as much food as she wants, as she will need a lot more nutrients and energy than usual.   

I think it's a good idea to start feeding her in the crate - it will be like a safe little cat-cave for her.   I would maybe throw a towel or blanket over the crate to cover it up to make it even more cave-like and secluded.  

I'm glad too that she is acting a lot more friendly  -  she might have just been feeling out of sorts when she ran away from you the other day, and now she is feeling more normal after dropping those kittens off     I can't imagine how hard these girls have it out there - finding a safe spot to have their babies, then protecting them from all the dangers outside.....they have it rough!   Thank you for being a friend to her during this challenging time!  And you'll be doing a good thing for your community as well by rounding them up and eventually getting the mom spayed later on, so that there isn't a cat population explosion!  All it takes is a couple un-fixed cats roaming around outside and the cats increase exponentially.....you're doing SUCH a good thing, this girl is very lucky to have found you!

So glad she is safe and had her kittens.  Give her lots of food and water.  Hopefully you can get her spayed in the next few months and help out with the kittens too.

Keep us updated.

I knew she would return .

Do you know where the kittens are yet?

The crate on the front porch is a good idea, but I doubt she'll move her kittens into it right now.

I spent most of my day looking for the kittens and watching the movements of my Momma cat. I'm certain her kittens are in the yard of the house directly across from me. The house over there is the biggest one on the street and is completely fenced all around - ugh. I can barely see in but Momma cat can slip under the fence. So I need the homeowners there to help me. I tried knocking on their door several times today but no answer (people keep to themselves around here). So I wrote a letter telling them everything and asking them to search their property.

I hope they contact me soon. Momma cat has to cross the road to travel between me and the kittens. Not safe at all.

The good news is Momma cat ate her food inside the crate today. Now I have hope of bringing her inside...just need to locate those kitties!

Nice job!

The sooner you can get the kittens the better. Let's hope for tomorrow.

Do you know when these neighbors are home? Do you have a phone number for them?

I hate that she's crossing the road, but I think the fenced yard provides some measure of safety.

Once you pick up her kittens she will follow you. You will probably not even need the carrier. She will be very anxious to go with her kittens.

Let us know how you make out with the neighbors tomorrow. If they are gone during the day, are you comfortable going into their yard?

Also, how many times did kitty come to eat today?