The past few nights have been a flurry of "outside cat" activity in my front yard.
About 3 or 4 days ago, I noticed Emma sitting in the front window twitching her tail wildly. I looked out to see a large orange cat sitting in front of our front gate on the sidewalk, staring up at her. As soon as he saw me, he bolted across the street and ducked into the alley in between a house and a townhouse "cluster" that's across the street. No tags or collar, but he didn't appear malnourished or particularly "desperate" looking--though I know many feral cats do not.
I shrugged it off as a neighbor's cat outside on the prowl, maybe an unneutered male looking for some "action".
Then, yesterday, a different cat, this time inside our front gate on our front lawn. Again, Emma alerted me to this cats presence. Another large cat, but a long-haired grey and white. This cat and Emma seemed to have a mental "conversation", and the cat didn't run away when I appeared in the window. After about five minutes of all of us staring at each other, the cat got bored and sauntered away, across the street into the same alley.
Tonight, two cats, one appeared to be an adolsecent "kitten", and the other one the same large grey cat. The "kitten" was grey and orange spotted--perhaps the child of the other two larger cats. Again, the same interchange of all of us staring at each other, but this time I walked away to get the kettle which was boiling, then came back and the two of them were still standing there. Then, my neighbors dog, a 180 lb mastiff mix, came out into his yard to make his presence known and they, smart little things, were off--across the street again into the same alley
I'm just worried, it's getting colder here by the day and if these cats are truly homeless, they'll be cat-sicles in no time. Should I ask around to my neighbors to see if they're their cats? I'm thinking they might belong to someone in the house across the street, or someone in the duplex-townhouses. Problem is, I'm not really well acquainted with any of these people and don't know that I feel comfortable lecturing them about keeping their cats indoors when its 20 degrees outside or, at least, putting tags on them.
Next time, which I'm sure there will be one, should I try going out into the yard and approaching them? Offering them food? Basically, I want to to determine if these are someone's pets or a part of a feral colony and, either way, make sure they are safe and well cared for.
How do you think I should proceed?
Also, amusingly, Oliver seems totally oblivious to their presence! He's usually not far from mine and Emma's side but he either doesn't notice them when we do or he doesn't care, big dumbbunny!
Any advice would be appreciated.
About 3 or 4 days ago, I noticed Emma sitting in the front window twitching her tail wildly. I looked out to see a large orange cat sitting in front of our front gate on the sidewalk, staring up at her. As soon as he saw me, he bolted across the street and ducked into the alley in between a house and a townhouse "cluster" that's across the street. No tags or collar, but he didn't appear malnourished or particularly "desperate" looking--though I know many feral cats do not.
I shrugged it off as a neighbor's cat outside on the prowl, maybe an unneutered male looking for some "action".
Then, yesterday, a different cat, this time inside our front gate on our front lawn. Again, Emma alerted me to this cats presence. Another large cat, but a long-haired grey and white. This cat and Emma seemed to have a mental "conversation", and the cat didn't run away when I appeared in the window. After about five minutes of all of us staring at each other, the cat got bored and sauntered away, across the street into the same alley.
Tonight, two cats, one appeared to be an adolsecent "kitten", and the other one the same large grey cat. The "kitten" was grey and orange spotted--perhaps the child of the other two larger cats. Again, the same interchange of all of us staring at each other, but this time I walked away to get the kettle which was boiling, then came back and the two of them were still standing there. Then, my neighbors dog, a 180 lb mastiff mix, came out into his yard to make his presence known and they, smart little things, were off--across the street again into the same alley
I'm just worried, it's getting colder here by the day and if these cats are truly homeless, they'll be cat-sicles in no time. Should I ask around to my neighbors to see if they're their cats? I'm thinking they might belong to someone in the house across the street, or someone in the duplex-townhouses. Problem is, I'm not really well acquainted with any of these people and don't know that I feel comfortable lecturing them about keeping their cats indoors when its 20 degrees outside or, at least, putting tags on them.
Next time, which I'm sure there will be one, should I try going out into the yard and approaching them? Offering them food? Basically, I want to to determine if these are someone's pets or a part of a feral colony and, either way, make sure they are safe and well cared for.
How do you think I should proceed?
Also, amusingly, Oliver seems totally oblivious to their presence! He's usually not far from mine and Emma's side but he either doesn't notice them when we do or he doesn't care, big dumbbunny!
Any advice would be appreciated.
