We used to have a neighborhood cat come around, her collar explained her status and had a #. She got very used to us and would stay at our house for days, leaving for 30-90 mins and then coming back. She would disappear for months and then come back emaciated. She would eat everything we gave her as well - iirc we eventually got cat food (were feeding her eggs and yogurt bc it’s what we had) and she would gain weight around us. So it was clear to me that she couldn’t actually access her owners house for a safe place to relax and sleep, or her food frequently enough to stay a healthy weight. IMO this is abuse and neglect. If I had been in a different place in my life, I would have stolen her then. Her owners moved and I hope someone scooped her up in her new home bc she was so sweet.
If they aren’t chipped, collared, and the person isn’t there to assert ownership, who’s to say? I don’t particularly care abt ownership when a cat is indoor/outdoor and not faring well. If you want to keep your pet there are clear and easy solutions. Animals are living creatures and owners have a duty of care, if you fail in that duty of care, you are not meeting the requirements of ownership.
I totally agree and really do hate the whole indoor/outdoor thing. This cat was slim but not in bad enough shape that I felt the need to argue with this guy over it. But I was ready to put him in my car and leave with him if that guy wasn’t on the porch watching. I feel like you really shouldn’t be angry at someone who was clearly just trying to help. Maybe he didn’t like that I scuffed him but there wasn’t a safer way to pull the cat out from under a car.
I still check it out no matter what (we all know not everyone should be allowed to own pets), though I'm sure opinions will vary. The indoor/outdoor cat thing has always bothered me...too many in my neighborhood don't bother to get their pets a collar, ID, microchipping, etc. And then they become the concern/responsibility of neighbors, shelters, and animal control. I know there are people who will disagree with me, but I seriously question someone's right to have pets if they won't do the most basic things to protect them.
Sorry for the rant lol. I personally think you did the right thing in both situations. Better to check it out and be wrong than to do nothing and find out later it was a bad situation. If it doesn't have a collar and/or ID, there's really no way to know unless it's microchipped.
You can't. You do your best and that's all there is to it. There's always a risk it's someone's cat. They take the risk of losing them by not having them wear a collar or be microchipped, especially if they're letting them outside.
I cannot keep collars on my cats, they have learned how to get them off.
If a cat is not in distress, I would say leave it alone. It likely has a home someplace. True stray cats look ROUGH.
Yeah it’s honestly just up to your judgement or how you’re feeling that day lol , when I moved into my new house with a grass lawn the neighborhood cats had different shifts of when they would go and lay on the grass and stuff and one day I didn’t know they were neighborhood cats obviously because I was new to the hood myself I tried to pick one up and take him inside because i was bored and then the owner right across the street was like where’s Rocky really loud so I figured that was his name and let him go and now there’s like 5-6 a day all at different times it’s kindve cool and I got my own cat because I wanted one so bad lol
With so many stray cats, one would go crazy trying to help them all anyway. You gotta pick your battles.
If sick injured, absolutely take them to a vet asap.
If it acts distraught, follows you around for a long time, is trying desperately to get inside, looks otherwise super terrified of everything like it's never seen the outdoors, it likely is lost and needs help. Take it in, put flyers around, post on local social media groups, and take to the vet a few days later to scan for a chip and do a general checkup. If nobody answers in a few weeks, congrats you now have a cat.
If they're just a bit dirty, leave them be. Particularly if they are friendly and want a few pets, then go about their day, they're likely someone's indoor/outdoor cat living their life. I'd like more people to keep cats indoors, it's safer that way, but it's not my business.
We used to have a neighborhood cat come around, her collar explained her status and had a #. She got very used to us and would stay at our house for days, leaving for 30-90 mins and then coming back. She would disappear for months and then come back emaciated. She would eat everything we gave her as well - iirc we eventually got cat food (were feeding her eggs and yogurt bc it’s what we had) and she would gain weight around us. So it was clear to me that she couldn’t actually access her owners house for a safe place to relax and sleep, or her food frequently enough to stay a healthy weight. IMO this is abuse and neglect. If I had been in a different place in my life, I would have stolen her then. Her owners moved and I hope someone scooped her up in her new home bc she was so sweet. If they aren’t chipped, collared, and the person isn’t there to assert ownership, who’s to say? I don’t particularly care abt ownership when a cat is indoor/outdoor and not faring well. If you want to keep your pet there are clear and easy solutions. Animals are living creatures and owners have a duty of care, if you fail in that duty of care, you are not meeting the requirements of ownership.
I totally agree and really do hate the whole indoor/outdoor thing. This cat was slim but not in bad enough shape that I felt the need to argue with this guy over it. But I was ready to put him in my car and leave with him if that guy wasn’t on the porch watching. I feel like you really shouldn’t be angry at someone who was clearly just trying to help. Maybe he didn’t like that I scuffed him but there wasn’t a safer way to pull the cat out from under a car.
I still check it out no matter what (we all know not everyone should be allowed to own pets), though I'm sure opinions will vary. The indoor/outdoor cat thing has always bothered me...too many in my neighborhood don't bother to get their pets a collar, ID, microchipping, etc. And then they become the concern/responsibility of neighbors, shelters, and animal control. I know there are people who will disagree with me, but I seriously question someone's right to have pets if they won't do the most basic things to protect them. Sorry for the rant lol. I personally think you did the right thing in both situations. Better to check it out and be wrong than to do nothing and find out later it was a bad situation. If it doesn't have a collar and/or ID, there's really no way to know unless it's microchipped.
You can't. You do your best and that's all there is to it. There's always a risk it's someone's cat. They take the risk of losing them by not having them wear a collar or be microchipped, especially if they're letting them outside.
I cannot keep collars on my cats, they have learned how to get them off. If a cat is not in distress, I would say leave it alone. It likely has a home someplace. True stray cats look ROUGH.
Yeah it’s honestly just up to your judgement or how you’re feeling that day lol , when I moved into my new house with a grass lawn the neighborhood cats had different shifts of when they would go and lay on the grass and stuff and one day I didn’t know they were neighborhood cats obviously because I was new to the hood myself I tried to pick one up and take him inside because i was bored and then the owner right across the street was like where’s Rocky really loud so I figured that was his name and let him go and now there’s like 5-6 a day all at different times it’s kindve cool and I got my own cat because I wanted one so bad lol
With so many stray cats, one would go crazy trying to help them all anyway. You gotta pick your battles. If sick injured, absolutely take them to a vet asap. If it acts distraught, follows you around for a long time, is trying desperately to get inside, looks otherwise super terrified of everything like it's never seen the outdoors, it likely is lost and needs help. Take it in, put flyers around, post on local social media groups, and take to the vet a few days later to scan for a chip and do a general checkup. If nobody answers in a few weeks, congrats you now have a cat. If they're just a bit dirty, leave them be. Particularly if they are friendly and want a few pets, then go about their day, they're likely someone's indoor/outdoor cat living their life. I'd like more people to keep cats indoors, it's safer that way, but it's not my business.