The Case of a Curious Cat

[tibilicus]

So, I'm a student who currently lives in a student village. The part I live in is quite out the way and more secluded than the rest of the village which I think has attracted this little visitor.

So anyway, after collecting my laundry the other night, I go over to stroke a cat I see sitting around. The cat itself seems very friends and I enjoy our exchange of pleasantries. Anyway, I finish stroking the cat and come inside, thinking thats the end, how wrong I was.

After hanging up my laundry, I go outside to make a phone call at which point the cat sneaks in the opened door. it seems very friendly towards strangers and the cat soon attracted the attention of other people from within the block. Despite my insistence however, some people started to feed the cat.

Anyway,I now find myself in the current situation in which the cat hangs around here all day. I'm almost certain its not a stray as it seems like its been wearing a collar and its fur is well kept. I'm not sure what to do though. Other people from other blocks keep feeding it now so it wont go away but then again if it is a stray, I feel like I should be doing more.

So, for your feline experts, is there anyway to tell of a cats a stray or not? personally it seems to well groomed and well mannered towards humans t o be a stray. If its not then is it possible its lost? I thought cats generally had a good sense of direction? There are some houses behind where I live and it could come from there but the fact it was here at both 1:30 and then at 10 this morning suggests its been here most, if not all the night.

The main point is determining whether its a stray. If it is, I can give it a good home. if not, how do I make it go back to its rightful owners?

[Tellos Athenaios]

Cats occasionally do that sort of thing, mainly when they're young/still learning their environment. So it is quite possible your visitor is simply enjoying this new holiday resort for a bit and will eventually want to go back home.

[caravel]

It's probably not a stray...

This situation is all too familiar as something similar happened at my workplace about two years ago. The cat was being friendly, people started putting food out, the next thing the cat is a permanent fixture, waiting outside every morning... it turns out that it has an owner... the owner requests that people stop feeding it, but that doesn't seem to deter those putting food out...

Then came the fleas... followed quickly by the "STOP FEEDING THE CAT!" memo and after a week it vanished, never to be seen again.

The collar may have an ID with a phone number? If it doesn't then securely tie/tape a message around the cat's collar for the owner telling them what the cat is up to and see what comes of it...

Cats are quite wily creatures, not at all loyal like dogs - they will go to whoever feeds them and will often not think twice about abandoning their owner if someone else has a warmer fire and better/more food laid on...

[Tellos Athenaios]

Cats are quite wily creatures, not at all loyal like dogs - they will go to whoever feeds them and will often not think twice about abandoning their owner if someone else has a warmer fire and better/more food laid on...

Cats will generally “think twice” since they are creatures of habit and territorial as well. They are attached to their home and daily routine even if they might not be attached to their owner.

[Ironside]

Cats are quite wily creatures, not at all loyal like dogs - they will go to whoever feeds them and will often not think twice about abandoning their owner if someone else has a warmer fire and better/more food laid on...

Depends a lot on the cat. They can vary from greeting random person on the street to consider all humans (including the owners) outside home, as beings to avoid. Of course, good luck actually seeing the later type.

For cats staying out all night, it also depends. Our cat heavily prefered it.

[A Nerd]

You might want to hope too that the cat if fixed. Otherwise, the male will spray his 'scent' all over everything that he thinks is his territory/property, and a female might bring little bundles of joy to your neighborhood!

[caravel]

If a cast is persistently fed, petted and acclimatised to it's new surroundings it may come to forget it's old home and owners... there are too many variables to say...

[tibilicus]

I went round to the bins to empty some rubbish before and the cat was just lurking round the back of a block there. The cat keeps going inside various blocks and some people even take it up to their room. Its fur is looking in a slightly worse statea nd its clear this is no proper home for such a fine cat. If only it could understand that.

[Tuuvi]

I don't think it's a stray but it might not be getting the best of care at home. I had some neighbors that had a cat that had kittens, the neighbors were getting a divorce and the wife who was the one who liked cats moved out so the kittens weren't getting fed. One of the kittens came up to me so I fed it and it wouldn't leave me alone after that so we decided to keep it.

The only problem was we already had two cats which didn't like the new one so they fought all the time. We let our cats come and go as they please and the new one would be gone for longer and longer amounts of time until it got to the point where it would only come around once every few weeks and even then we couldn't get it to come inside. It turned out someone else had taken him in and he said that we could have him back but then we moved up the street and the cat left and never came back.

It's true that cats aren't loyal in the same way that dogs are but I think they can get attached to their owners, I'm guessing the cat in question isn't getting treated very well at home or maybe its owners don't give it enough attention or something.

[Togakure]

cats are quite wily creatures, not at all loyal like dogs - they will go to whoever feeds them and will often not think twice about abandoning their owner if someone else has a warmer fire and better/more food laid on...
While I will agree that cats are nothing like dogs (thank goodness), and some (usually those that have spent time on the streets) can be rather focused on food (like almost every dog I've ever encountered), I strongly disagree with the generalization that cats are not loyal. This opinion is based on decades of owning various cats or living in households with them. I prefer feline company over most humans, and find them to be very loyal, provided they are treated well.

Cats, like most creatures, enjoy being loved. This one seems to be cashing in on its good fortune.

[Tuuvi]

While I will agree that cats are nothing like dogs (thank goodness), and some (usually those that have spent time on the streets) can be rather focused on food (like almost every dog I've ever encountered), I strongly disagree with the generalization that cats are not loyal. This opinion is based on decades of owning various cats or living in households with them. I prefer feline company over most humans, and find them to be very loyal, provided they are treated well.

Cats, like most creatures, enjoy being loved. This one seems to be cashing in on its good fortune.

:yes:

I think the reason cats don't seem as loyal as dogs is because they are more independent, they take care of themselves and they even hunt their own food if you let them outside. If you abuse them or don't take good care of them they will seek a better situation. Dogs on the other hand are more dependent and will stay with the owner even if the owner beats the living crap out of them.

[Jaguara]

Agree with Togakure & Chuchip regarding cats behaviours.

They are not disloyal...but if you treat them badly, and they find a better deal...don't expect loyalty.

It is very possible that this cat was abandoned, otherwise it is just in at least a semi-neglectful home.

We have a block of apartment buildings out back and every year there is a batch of cats that are left behind by owners who move. Sometimes these cats even have collars. You can watch as their condition deteriorates.

Anyway, first thing to check is if there is a collar & tags. Not having them is no guarantee, though. My cat regularly loses (deliberately?) her collar in our hedges. After losing 3 in a week, we stopped bothering. You could try putting a collar on, with an attached note as someone else suggested, to try and find if it does have an owner. If it is not used to a collar though don't count on it staying on for long.

[Banquo's Ghost]

tibilicus, since you appear to be in England, you should check the cat for a microchip. Usually, if you feel (gently) around the scruff of the neck, you may find a nodule around five millimetres long. If it has one, it's a simple matter to take it to the local vet who will scan it and tell you the owner. Or of course, notify the RSPCA - from your description, it may have been abandoned recently (its condition getting worse) as sadly, more people are losing their jobs and thus think it is a solution to throw a cat out to rely on its own devices.