TNRing a friendly stray?

I feed a small colony of stray cats. There are five regulars (all related as far as I can tell - one mama, three litters) that I feed daily and I plan on TNRing/rescuing (I want to keep the friendliest of the kittens) when I get the chance.

Now, I have another cat that will drop by on occasion to eat. He's a super-friendly cat, who had ultra-thick long hair. And all of a sudden, he comes by one day and he's been neutered and shaved! Do you think someone TNRed a clearly friendly cat? Or is someone just really stupid and let's their cat roam outside without any sort of collar or identification? I'm tempted to take him to the Humane Society if I see him again.

And no, the dark spots are not from fights. He had a seriously matted coat, which for the life of me, I could never remove whenever I had him still long enough to try and cut them out.

Before:


After:

Oh he's beautiful, As to if he has been TNR I really can't say.

When we TNR we clip their ear to show they are fixed. And we are mostly volunteers, so any matted cats that get a bit of a trim do NOT come out looking like that!
I would guess he is a friendly in-and-out cat. You could attach a collar with a message if you want to try to contact the owner.

I have to second what Beckiboo says...our clinic tips the left ear to show that the cat has been fixed. Plus, if the cat was friendly..we wouldn't accept it as our clinic is only for ferals.

Katie

Looks like this cat has at least a part-time caretaker or at least a benefactor.

I don't think anyone would carefully shave him like that but not make sure he is neuterd. I've read the instruction sheets from massive TNR projects and there is no mention of stopping to worry about matted fur. It is strictly move, move, move, faster, faster, faster.

If you want to get more involved with this cat, I'd "third" Beckiboo's suggestion of putting a note around his neck asking "who owns this cat?" and giving your phone number.

But he seems handled so unless you have a personal connection, I'd focus on your five regulars next.

The clinic Katie and I volunteer at will shave matted fur off if it's bad. We had one today that got a major crew cut - the fur on his back, belly, and sides was removed because it was just _one_big_mat_ It had to be terribly uncomfortable. Fortunately it is late spring, so he should be warm enough as his coat grows back in.

For this kitty, he's far better off shaved in this Texas heat. I'll not worry about him too much then. At least he always has access to a meal and someone to pet him.