The Cat

[Glass]

I discovered a stray cat lurking around my work place. After watching a short time it was obvious the cat was living underneath the building next door. I don't mind cats. I've lived with quite a few but in most cases I was not the owner or I was part of the family.

I fed this one and over a couple weeks it got used to me and became friendly. Other people started noticing the cat which becomes a problem for the cat because that's when the Council Ranger gets a call. So I told everyone I was working up to bring it home.

It has a good temperament but it is very nervous. Living on the street will do that to you. I suspect it simply got left behind when someone moved. There is an apartment building behind by work place and it would go and lay about the car park area.

I worked up the courage to grab the cat and bring it home. Very stressful. I don't like to see animals in anxiety. Moving a cat is an anxious time. So the cat is very well behaved. It has clearly been house trained. When I let it out of the cage, it meowed and howled for half an hour then it disappeared. So after about an hour and a half I realised I hadn't seen it or heard it and I turned the house upside down but could not find it. I was freaking out it had got out somehow.

Then it surfaced again. I fed it some, then we chatted and patted. This is a chatty cat, although all my cats have been talkers. Then we went on a tour of the house. Checked out all the rooms. Checked out the litter tray, trying to convey the idea you can dig the stuff about. Turns out the cat knows about litter trays and had filled this one up already. I think it thought I was telling it to cover it up better.

The main thing that gets me is the purring and the meowing. It's purring full on, loud,. non stop. I thought this was a sign of good temperament even though in a new scarey situation but it seems cats purr when they are scared also. I thought it was maybe because the cat feels safe with me, even though the location is new. Anyway the anxiety is pretty high. I feel bad uprooting the cat but you can't live in an alley and hope to survive against a council bylaw.

Once it is settled in we will go to the vet and check if it has an RFID on it. I checked out for lost cats and found maybe 5 listings that could fit this cat but I think 4 were from a fair distance away. Not sure the cat could make it that far. If it has none I hope to keep it. I don't think it's been fixed up yet but if it's someone elses cat it might be. I figure it is between 1 and 2 years old.

At the moment I think the cat is a bit on edge and I think I am as well. Not sure I've done the right thing. If the cat is pre owned and we can reunite them that would be ok.

[BrewTech]

Nicely done sir. I've had cats all my life, and have always bonded well with them. My current cat family was born in the attic of my former residence, and we have raised them from newborn kittens. They are a big responsibility, but I couldn't imagine life without them.

[Glass]

Its been a couple tough nights. This is a prowling cat so we are having some adjustment issues. The cat seems to start the day off very wound up. I get the impression when it's looking outside for the first time it's hoping to see its old turf. Then it gets pretty uptight and disappears for a couple hours. When it comes out it in the afternoon it's more relaxed. When it gets dark outside it starts prowling and meowing

I don't know how long I should force it to stay inside before it gets settled. I guess we see how we go. I was thinking it was cool yesterday afternoon for a short walk in a high fenced area, but not confident it wouldn't bolt after this mornings stress.

[Tumbleweed]

Glass is your cat a male of female? Cats in my experience come and go and especially if they're male. The females tend to stick around in one area but the males wander. Cats will hunt at night and if one has been making it's own living in the evening it may be wanting to go hunting. I have cats that are not tame enough to pet. I put out a little cat food in the morning for them and that gives them the rest of the day and the night to hunt and keep my buildings free of mice. They show up in the mornings for food but wander and hunt the rest of the day.

I see the females bringing in mice to their kittens when they are small and even after the kittens are grown. The females are the best hunters. The males will wander for miles looking for females to breed. I eliminate the wandering males because they're a waste of expensive cat food and if they find some females they tend to stick around for awhile and fatten up on the free and easy food.

[Glass]

yes I might be in that boat. The cat is a male. We are looking for another night of wanting to go out after having slept all day. Someone said if I let it out and it sticks around then thats the choice if not so what they are survivors and thats true to a point. Looking at the lost cats lists it seems fixing them up might not keep them from wandering. A lot of cats go missing here. There are plenty of real wild ones out there in the bush but the domestic ones that go missing. They are well cared for, plump and usually bug/disease free. You can't help but think, someone want to cook em up and chow down?. I've seen vans with animal cages in them, just in case. I was torn about doing the best thing. Leave it to it's chances or give it a home. I have some time to be here with it all day for a few days to try and settle it in.

[Tumbleweed]

I'm pretty sure if you give that cat a chance to wander and he hasn't been castrated he'll go wandering again. Even if they are castrated they still go wandering. I've got one here now that's been castrated and he's wandering but I can't eliminate him because I know who's cat he is.

Hawks, eagles, owls and coyotes eat the mature cats here. Lots of other varmints eat the kittens. I don't spay the females. If I did I'd run out of cats to keep the mice down because of the animals preying on them. They disappear fairly often with no trace and never return.

[Glass]

looking at the lost cats web sites they are nearly all male. I've had a mix of cats and I think maybe half the males stuck around and all the females.

We have been outside yesterday and again this morning. Very high fence area so no getting out but its very clear we are intent on going up and over at the first chance.

So ok night last night but some frayed nerves this morning with the problem of it still being the wrong place each morning when the cat looks outside. Very hot day to day and it will be home alone.

Still not sure I've done the right thing but I'll post some Found Cat notices and see if anyone calls. Try and be vague because lost cats is cheap food.

[Tumbleweed]

Still not sure I've done the right thing but I'll post some Found Cat notices and see if anyone calls. Try and be vague because lost cats is cheap food.

Sounds like you've got a different kind of predator than I do. ;-)

[Glass]

yes #23 chilli chicken. We have a lot of poaching go on here as well. Lot of the wild river duck ends up in Peking.

Anyway we see. I don't mind the cat being out side, just need confidence he will be able to find way around and back to base. Need to get a door flap so it can do as it pleases.

its weird coming to work and just seeing the empty food bowls and no cat waiting.

[Tumbleweed]

I can't imagine cat tasting very good and I think they'd be tough. The tomcats I've had stay around always stayed better when there were females that stayed at home. A tomcat will stay his home but they end up fighting off the stray tomcats all the time so they seem to always have ripped up ears and scabs from their most recent fights.