Hey folks,
In the past few days I've occasionally seen a large black cat in my neighborhood that I haven't noticed before. My boyfriend has also seen her and doesn't recognize her. Today, she came up to us for pets, and we realized that she is either massively pregnant or very fat.
Our instinct is that she's a stray (probably dumped not too long ago, since she's in good condition and friendly), and that we should get her inside, feed her, and find a foster through the rescue group we volunteer for.
The problem is, just about every house in our neighborhood has outdoor cats, many without collars! (We live in downtown Toronto, and people who are familiar with the neighborhood will know what we're talking about).
So what do we do? We don't want to risk her giving birth outside by herself, but we also don't want to "steal" someone's pet. Any advice? I'd read something about giving the cat a collar with a note attached telling the owner to call us, but don't really know how I would do that without her ripping it off.
So any ideas would be greatly appreciated. How do we tell if she's a stray or just the pet of a somewhat irresponsible owner?
In the past few days I've occasionally seen a large black cat in my neighborhood that I haven't noticed before. My boyfriend has also seen her and doesn't recognize her. Today, she came up to us for pets, and we realized that she is either massively pregnant or very fat.
Our instinct is that she's a stray (probably dumped not too long ago, since she's in good condition and friendly), and that we should get her inside, feed her, and find a foster through the rescue group we volunteer for.
The problem is, just about every house in our neighborhood has outdoor cats, many without collars! (We live in downtown Toronto, and people who are familiar with the neighborhood will know what we're talking about).
So what do we do? We don't want to risk her giving birth outside by herself, but we also don't want to "steal" someone's pet. Any advice? I'd read something about giving the cat a collar with a note attached telling the owner to call us, but don't really know how I would do that without her ripping it off.
So any ideas would be greatly appreciated. How do we tell if she's a stray or just the pet of a somewhat irresponsible owner?