Found very skinny young cat in the rain!

Hi all,
Last night was over at a friend's house and outside having a cigarette when I spotted a skinny little bean of a cat in the bushes..It was pouring rain and he was cold and wet trying to keep warm under a bush...

I tried to go over to him but he skitted backwards..
I sat out there for a good half hour and finally got him up to the point where he would come over for pets and then run away..until finally he was sitting quietly for longer periods and so on..

I picked him up and could feel his bony spine and ribs poking through..He felt like he weighed nothing at all..

I went to the grocery store and picked up some canned food..and came back and he darted over and attempted to snarf the whole thing down vehemently.

My friend didn't know the cat or where it came from..She said it looked familiar but she couldn't be sure..She is no cat lover and wouldn't let me bring him inside

Everytime I looked out the window in the door, the cat was sitting there on her front step mewing pathetically. I went out every so often and cuddled him and he just sighed and melted in my arms like he had known me all his short life.

Anyway, I said to myself that if he is still out there when I leave, I will take him home...

He was.
And I did.

He is quarantined in the next room and Lovey is standing guard at the door and they are mewing back and forth. Lovey is not hissing or growling at all!!
I am shocked!

Now, I don't know enough about cat genitals to insure he is a boy but it sure looks like it if you know what I mean..
He is so skinny its hard to tell how old he is but he seems young
(about 4-6 months I would guess but not sure until I get him into the vet)
He also honestly looks like he has put on a pound overnight!
He also doesn't look fixed but I don't know if you can tell that either..
Do they still have their "things" intact? He doesn't look like Lovey down there but then Lovey has long hair and I never really checked it out fully
(lovey is neutered)

He is a funny loving little thing and just acts like a confident little boy...Hopping right up for pets and kisses.

He has humongous paws and thick fur with cream, grey and white tabby markings (a huge bushy tail that dwarfs his frame!)..

My questions other than the neutered/boy-girl thing above is I don't know if I am right in keeping him .....Maybe someone is looking for him? It didn't seem like he belonged to anyone and it was pouring rain and he is a stick of a thing, looking undernourished.

Should I go back to the area today and knock on doors? But then I don't want to take him back to a house that may be not feeding him, letting him out in the rain, and allowing a possibly unneutered male to run around...

Any suggestions are appreciated.

The only problem with him so far is he talks ALOT...meowing at me every second..But I am guessing this is due to his unsure surroundings..

Thanks for any input!!

He sounds sweet, and not feral. What you could do is ask around at vets etc to see if anyone has reported him missing - maybe he ran away from someone who is looking for him, and if he is only 4-6 months old it could be that his owner simply hasn't been able to get him fixed yet. Meanwhile you are right to look after him and get him neutered if you can.

Maybe you can take a picture of him, post them at several vets and SPCA?

Take him to the vet. Vet can scan him for a micro chip, although I doubt he has one, since he apparently isn't neutered. I personally would not be looking for his owners, as he was out in the rain and not fed, I doubt he has any, of he does, they are no good. Just take him to the vet and have him tested for Felv, Fiv, and whatever else vet can test him for. And if he is healthy, then you could introduce him to your cat eventually.

Thanks for the replies.
I am taking him to the vet on Monday.
I would prefer to take him in Friday when I get paid, but with Lovey around, I think its a good idea to do it sooner.

Can Lovey contract anything through a door?

I am also not feeling good about the idea of finding his owners..
What if I do and I cringe leaving him there??
It would break my heart.

What are your ultimate goals for this cat? Are you hoping to adopt him and keep him yourself? Are you looking to bring him back to health and then place him in a good home?

While a good pet owner would not leave their animals unfed and unvetted, he might have escaped from a quality home. Look at this lady:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46154

And since his age is unknown, he might be a 3-5 month old kitten whose owner was waiting six months for the neutering. While the previous owner (and I assume he had one since this cat sounds extremely tame) might not win any "Cat Owner of the Year" awards, it might possibly all be a big misunderstanding. You might be able to re-unite them through a newspaper ad or a door-to-door search through your friend's neighborhood. Good luck!

Its becoming selfish, Nano.
I have the idea that I will keep him, get him vetted and neutered...
But I have a nagging feeling that if he is pre-owned and is simply a lost cat, I should be doing what I can to find his owners.

I just might not like what I find but is that really up to me?
They may or may not be great owners...
Not to be horribly stereotypical and this is bad to say, but its true.
The part of the city that the cat was found in is basically the projects.
All low to no income.
I am not rich by any means but this is an area where ferals are abound as people have even less income than I do to care for a pet...
Many people are even known to drop their cats off by the river as they think they will be cared for by the colonies there..umm. yah.

This cat is no feral, by any means..He is a loveslut once you can get near him That is why I think..hey, his previous owners may have been great..
But then some cats just love everybody.

Originally Posted by Loveysmummy

Thanks for the replies.
I am taking him to the vet on Monday.
I would prefer to take him in Friday when I get paid, but with Lovey around, I think its a good idea to do it sooner.

Can Lovey contract anything through a door?

I am also not feeling good about the idea of finding his owners..
What if I do and I cringe leaving him there??
It would break my heart.

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They didn't take good care of him even if he had any.
It's possible he run off, but I find that unlikely, because cats know where their home is and would return to it. That's how some people are able to let their cats out-because the cats come back. We used to let out cats out and they have always come back, and since this cat was hanging outside in the rain, I doubt he has a home to go to.

Originally Posted by Loveysmummy

Its becoming selfish, Nano.
I have the idea that I will keep him, get him vetted and neutered...
But I have a nagging feeling that if he is pre-owned and is simply a lost cat, I should be doing what I can to find his owners.

I just might not like what I find but is that really up to me?
They may or may not be great owners...
Not to be horribly stereotypical and this is bad to say, but its true.
The part of the city that the cat was found in is basically the projects.
All low to no income.
I am not rich by any means but this is an area where ferals are abound as people have even less income than I do to care for a pet...
Many people are even known to drop their cats off by the river as they think they will be cared for by the colonies there..umm. yah.

This cat is no feral, by any means..He is a loveslut

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Right now it is up to you. You have the cat-and what, possesion is 9/10th of the law? Even if you find the owners, and give the cat back, and they let him out, eventually the cat is going to turn up dead or somebody else takes him. If it was me, I wouldn't look for the owners-if they exist, they dont' deserve the cat anyway, for not taking care of him.

Originally Posted by Nano

What are your ultimate goals for this cat? Are you hoping to adopt him and keep him yourself? Are you looking to bring him back to health and then place him in a good home?

While a good pet owner would not leave their animals unfed and unvetted, he might have escaped from a quality home. Look at this lady:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46154

And since his age is unknown, he might be a 3-5 month old kitten whose owner was waiting six months for the neutering. While the previous owner (and I assume he had one since this cat sounds extremely tame) might not win any "Cat Owner of the Year" awards, it might possibly all be a big misunderstanding. You might be able to re-unite them through a newspaper ad or a door-to-door search through your friend's neighborhood. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Yes, I looked at the lady in your link. She let the cat out and the cat didn't come back. If you let your cats out, then you should be ready for them to not come back. If you threw money or valuables out on the street, would you expect that people brought it back to you?

If he was in that poor of condition, I would not worry about finding posible owners.

Oh, Eliz..you are making it too easy for me...
Thanks for the kind words. I am still thinking about it but I do know that I could give him a good forever indoor home..

This, however, does not solve my problem of wanting to get a baby kitten soon.
Maybe I will have to do both

Originally Posted by Loveysmummy

Oh, Eliz..you are making it too easy for me...
Thanks for the kind words. I am still thinking about it but I do know that I could give him a good forever indoor home..

This, however, does not solve my problem of wanting to get a baby kitten soon.
Maybe I will have to do both

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He is still young-even if you got a baby, in a couple of month the baby would be a teenager anyway. I hope his vet visit goes well and he gets a clean bill of health. I got my one cat as a baby and the other one at 6 month. And what do you know, right now they both young cats-there is no difference. The baby stage goes up really fast,you blink and you missed it.

Originally Posted by krazy kat2

If he was in that poor of condition, I would not worry about finding posible owners.

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This is my main worry..I think for a kitten/young cat to be that skinny, they couldn't have eaten or eaten very little for days...
There were no signs anywhere that I saw..This is a cat whom I would think would be easy to find if you were looking for him...It didn't take much for him to come to me..

And if I was his owner, I think calling out his name would have done it...

At this point though, he is a no-name and I am already tired of calling him
"baby", "kitty" or "sweetheart"


His tail is so bushy and long haired compared to the rest of his body, and its ringed..He resembles a raccoon.

(no, he is not a raccoon..I checked )

This is what you do, you get him vetted and scanned for a micro-chip. Then you take some decent pictures of him, and make up fliers and put them up around where you found him, or you show the photos to the kids on the street around the area and ask them if they know who owns him? You don't say you are looking for a home, I always say that the cat is ill and I need to speak to the owners about him. Because sometimes you have kids that see the picture of the kitty and they want it, regardless if it is theirs. And there is a health issue so that isn't a lie, because if the owner is found, I want half or all of what the vet bill costs.

Some people release the cat/kitten back on the streets with a collar and a note. This is a really bad idea in my mind. Collars on outside and inside cats are dangerous unless they are a breakaway collar and if they are breakaway than what is the point of having a collar?

THanks Lacey!
I will post pics as soon as I can..I don't have a digital
He has tufty ears and has a nice bib and white huge socks for feet that don't fit his skinny lil body.

He has nice tabby markings on his face and the aforementioned raccoon tail.

Yes, it was sad..He was shivery and like a wet little rat.
He is dry and warm now sleeping under the bed.

Bit of an update: BF just came back from errands and such and without my knowledge went to the neighbours around our friend's..!!!! I am mad but happy..
One of the neighbours said that she saw him recently (a few days ago) but that she didn't know him and had put out a bit of dry food for him when he came by..She said he scarfed it up and that she was going to take him in if he came back...

This is likely why he was hanging around the area?

Originally Posted by hissy

This is what you do, you get him vetted and scanned for a micro-chip. Then you take some decent pictures of him, and make up fliers and put them up around where you found him, or you show the photos to the kids on the street around the area and ask them if they know who owns him? You don't say you are looking for a home, I always say that the cat is ill and I need to speak to the owners about him. Because sometimes you have kids that see the picture of the kitty and they want it, regardless if it is theirs. And there is a health issue so that isn't a lie, because if the owner is found, I want half or all of what the vet bill costs.

Some people release the cat/kitten back on the streets with a collar and a note. This is a really bad idea in my mind. Collars on outside and inside cats are dangerous unless they are a breakaway collar and if they are breakaway than what is the point of having a collar?

Click to expand...

Personally, I would not be looking for the owner at all in that situation. But why only half of a vet bill? It's their cat, and if you took their cat to the vet and they want the cat back, then they should pay the full vet bill.