Someone's food/attention, happy pet or just a stray?

Hello! I'm new to this forum but definitely not to cat ownership! Anyways, I have a question pertaining to a recent 'stray' that has appeared at my house the last 2-3 days. I can not tell if it is male or female but i'm assuming it is a neutered male as there is a very dark yet baldish looking circle of fur right under his bottom that looks somewhat like a scar (I've only raised females and none were strays!). I've named him/her 'Freddy' for the time being. Anyways, Freddy does not appear to be under fed nor in any ill condition, although his long fur makes it hard to judge accurately! Freddy's very friendly in the sense that it took very little coaxing to convince him to come to me and even less for him to follow me everywhere, so feeling his body to try and judge his weight wasn't too hard. He felt a little thin towards the back but again, i'm not 100% sure if that actually means anything in the sense of if he's starving or not. At any rate, I gave him food and water which he gobbled up quickly and happily! In fact, I was almost scared he would choke as it seemed he wasn't even chewing at first but just swallowing the kibbles whole. He's very vocal and likes to 'talk' to me whenever I am outside and if I don't respond back immediately, he gets grumpy and will rub my legs rapidly/stand in front of me to prevent moving until I say something. He's so very sweet and I would love to take him in but I'm not sure if he is someone's food happy pet or a stray? I would like to catch him and bring him to the vet's for a check-up but I don't want to 'cat-nap' someone's baby. If he does not belong to someone then I would like to keep him but again, I can not tell if he's just bumming me for food or in legitimate need of help? Either way, I will continue to feed him and love him until I can figure it out for sure. Thank you for any advice, tips, etc. in advance!

Sincerely,

#1 Cat Mum

Have you checked with your neighbors or put out fliers?  I would take a picture of him and go door to door and hand out the fliers.  You really do not want to be feeding someone's pet.  Talk to your neighbors to see if they know if he/she belongs to someone.  If you get no responses, I would take him to the vet to check for a microchip.  Then proceed as you see fit.  The first step should be to check to see if he is spayed/neutered.  When a male is neutered you don't see a bald spot as the balls are not removed.  There should not a scar or anything.  Depending on the age of the cat when it was neutered will determine what you see.  My indoor boy was neutered at 10 weeks.  You cannot see anything there.  My outside feral cats were neutered at all different ages, the balls still remain, but will shrink somewhat. 

Is this cat around all of the time or just from time to time?  If he is a stray without an owner, he might just decide to take up residence.  Stray cats that have recently been left behind are often disshelved looking.  They may have matted fur or appear dirty.  He is so friendly that he must have been owned by someone and if he is spayed/neutered then someone cared enough to do the right thing.  Also you might want to check online facebook or petfbi.com sites to see if someone is missing a pet by his description.  You can also post there.

He comes and goes at random, usually he'll disappear under my car or just wander off if I go inside. His fur is not matted but it is VERY oily to the touch and a bit dirty. He has very long hair that resembles a maine coon's but he is not a maine coon as far as I can tell. I have never seen this cat around the neighborhood before but I suppose he could have snuck out, I'll definitely be putting photos on FB and taking a few to the vet's in case they might know. It's not uncommon for people in my area to abandon their pets as they see fit which I honestly hope was not the case. Thank you for your time! I'm just worried about him/her is all, with spring time rolling around, more and more strays will start appearing/having kittens and I don't want any cat fights!

NumberOneCatMum,

ShadfowsRescue gives great advice.

Has anyone moved into the neighborhood recently? Can you ask the neighbors if they know of the cat, if they have seen the cat before and if so, for how long?

It sounds like he either belonged to someone at one time or that he belongs to someone now. You mention you see him randomly, how often do you see him? Is he sleeping in your yard?

Does he have his ear tipped or notched? Do they typically microchip in your area?

I take care of a feral colony and a neighbor's cat comes over often to eat with the ferals. He is very well taken care of at his home and is pretty friendly with me but he was a feral for his first 8 years until she took him in so he still seems to like the feral lifestyle. My point is if I didn't know who he belonged to I would think he was a stray. But he is my neighbor's cat.

Cats can move a fair distance and roam so his home could be a ways away. Or he could be a stray. Asking around, posting pictures etc would be a good way to go to begin with as ShadowsRescue suggests. You could always at some point trap him and take him in to a vet and get him scanned (I would not take him to a humane society or animal control to do this).

I hope this helps a little. It is a tough call and it seems you have affection for him so thank you for doing the right thing and caring about him.