Hi - This is a what should I do question and I apologize in advance if this is a little lengthy.
Background: I live in a residential area that backs up to open space; within the open space are different types of resident animals from skunks, cows, deer, racoons, opossums to feral or stray/homeless cats. My boyfriend and I were recently visited by stray (there are several in our neighborhood), who was white & orange (couldn't tell if it was a calico or torbie). Also couldn't tell if white/orange cat was female or male but its stomach was hanging kind of low and you could see some ribs. Do you think it has worms? We've left some "emergency food" for white/orange cat and it was eating like it hadn't had food in a while. DBF also made a makeshift cat bed in case it wanted to sleep. He wanted to let it in but I flat out said NO. We can't just let a stray cat in because our two kittens would freak out & we don't want to have a cat fight in our apartment. We also don't know if this white/orange cat has worms, FLV, parasites, fleas, etc. I'm guessing it's homeless since it was pretty skinny.
Would it be wise to to trap him/her and get it vetted and spayed or neutered if possible? Boyfriend's mom works at a vet hospital so I might be able to get a discount on the vaccinations & fixing as well as a trap, plus I think it's the right thing to do in order to help the stray pet population.
PS - There is one guy who feeds the feral cat colony and had some of the ferals fixed in the past. I don't think he fixes them anymore since the city and regional park district were in a stink about him feeding and taking care of the cat colony.
Background: I live in a residential area that backs up to open space; within the open space are different types of resident animals from skunks, cows, deer, racoons, opossums to feral or stray/homeless cats. My boyfriend and I were recently visited by stray (there are several in our neighborhood), who was white & orange (couldn't tell if it was a calico or torbie). Also couldn't tell if white/orange cat was female or male but its stomach was hanging kind of low and you could see some ribs. Do you think it has worms? We've left some "emergency food" for white/orange cat and it was eating like it hadn't had food in a while. DBF also made a makeshift cat bed in case it wanted to sleep. He wanted to let it in but I flat out said NO. We can't just let a stray cat in because our two kittens would freak out & we don't want to have a cat fight in our apartment. We also don't know if this white/orange cat has worms, FLV, parasites, fleas, etc. I'm guessing it's homeless since it was pretty skinny.
Would it be wise to to trap him/her and get it vetted and spayed or neutered if possible? Boyfriend's mom works at a vet hospital so I might be able to get a discount on the vaccinations & fixing as well as a trap, plus I think it's the right thing to do in order to help the stray pet population.
PS - There is one guy who feeds the feral cat colony and had some of the ferals fixed in the past. I don't think he fixes them anymore since the city and regional park district were in a stink about him feeding and taking care of the cat colony.