What to do when you find a stray?

My mom and I were heading out to go shopping this afternoon, and a couple blocks from home we spotted a cat hanging out in an empty parking lot. We turned around and pulled over - there are currently "lost cat" flyers all over our neighborhood so I wanted to make sure this wasn't the same cat. Otherwise we wouldn't have stopped, honestly I have driven past many cats and I just assume they are outdoor cats with homes.

After a little hesitation I got him to come over to me and we were immediately BFFs. Really, friendliest cat I have ever met. Giving kisses, rolling around purring, jumping in my lap and rubbing his face against mine. Sooo affectionate. He is not the same cat that is lost in my neighborhood.... so my mom told me to just leave him... but he kept following me. And I couldn't do it. We took him to the vet, no microchip. He doesn't match any of the reported missing cats. I checked Craigslist and the MN Lost Cats Facebook page. Nothing. He is pretty thin too so I think he's been out a while.

We brought him home and fed him, which he eagerly snarfed up. But after that we didn't know what to do so we brought him to animal control. =/ We can't keep him or even bring him inside so options were limited. But I just feel like what if we sentenced him to death by doing that? Of course, if he's just living outside I don't think he was going to live very long anyway but I don't know. Are there any other options? It's like, as soon as I got out of the car and got him to come to me.... there was no way I could NOT do something. And I couldn't just bring him back to that spot and dump him. Ugghhh. Animal control was super vague about what would happen with him or how much time he has, but it sounds like it's really to his advantage that he's friendly.

He's super cute




The good news is my sister miiiiight be interested in adopting him, but her husband is not sure and she is a little concerned since they already have a cat. I just want a happy ending for him.

Post an ad on CL and whatever with the picture of the cat, saying you dropped it off at Animal Control, so if there's an owner looking for it, they can contact them to pick it up.

I'd probably have just left him, myself. It's hard to say without having been there. I guess if he was thin enough that I was concerned for his survival vs somewhat boney I guess I'd have called to see if anyone was looking for a cat? Or taken him in? It's a tough call.

There's outdoor cats all over this city so i would've just left it unless it was sickly or injured.

I've never seen a stray dog that's been close enough to even think about catching so it's a nil point.

When it comes to cats, I don't really pick up strays. There are a lot of feral cats in Northern VA, and a lot of people let their cats outside, so unless the cat was obviously in distress, I would leave it alone. Little kittens, I pick them up. They are too small and vulnerable to be out in the world.

Seeing a stray dog is unusual though, so I would pick it up, check for ID and if ID is found, drive it home. If there was no ID, I would take it to the shelter because right now I have nowhere to put a stray dog if I brought it to the townhouse.

He was following me back to the car though I don't know how I could have just left him. He wanted attention sooo bad.

He wasn't like, emaciated or to the point where I thought he was going to die of hunger. Were his ribs and spine easily felt, yes. And he pretty readily inhaled a bowl of raw pork and a bowl of Sojos which makes me think he was on the hungry side.

Like I said I never would have stopped if there wasn't a neighborhood cat that was lost. After that point it was hard to leave him there because he wasn't timid or trying to get away... he was more like PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME. Saaadddd.

Considering there's like 100 stray/outdoor cats in my neighborhood (not ferals, though) and either strays or ferals in pretty much every parking lot, dumpster, sump, abandoned building, etc. around there, I don't pick up stray cats.

I did once, pick up a kitten. It and it's siblings were playing in the MIDDLE of the street, and when I approached, the other 4 bolted and this one came to me. She was about 5 or 6 months old, covered in ticks and fleas, ear mites, respiratory infection, the works. I kept her in my bathroom for a few days...gave her a flea bath, got her some meds for the mites and an antibiotic, and then when she was a little better took her to a friend's barn to grow up as a barn kitten. Lucky for her, a friend of the barn's owner was planning on heading to the shelter to adopt a kitten, and took her in. Now her name is Carley and she lives with a parrot.

I don't pick up adult cats unless they look like they are in serious need of vet attention. I will pick up kittens if there is no mom cat seen nearby. We have a lot of feral cats around here as Sweet mentioned.

Not sure if you guys remember Goober, but I found him and another kitten in a bag in a dumpster. The other kitten was already dead when I found them and Goober was barely hanging on. He surprisingly made it and ended up being one of my favorite cats ever.

There was a gray kitten I picked up a few years ago that some of you may remember as well. A mom and three kittens ran out in front of my car and I couldn't stop in time. Ended up hitting the mom and one of the kittens. I got out of my car and was able to catch one of the kittens, but the third kitten ran off and I couldn't get him. The kitten I caught ended up finding a home through FOHA rescue.

Whiskey was found out on a biking trail near my old apartment. I probably would have left him since there are a ton of feral cats in that area and he more than likely was feral, but he was sooo young that I couldn't leave him. The vet pegged him at around 4 weeks old and considering how much he ate his first bottle feeding the vet thinks he had been away from mom most of the day probably. Our guess is mom cat may have been moving her litter and somehow this little guy ended up left behind. I'm a sucker for abandoned kittens.

Now dogs... I do try to catch dogs that appear friendly. I keep slip leads in my car just in case.

I think stray animals tend to always find me though and over the years I've picked up quite a few. Don't think I've ever ended up keeping any stray dogs I've found. We kept one that my dad found when I was really little, but usually if no owner can be found the dogs go to rescue or I would hold onto one temporarily and find a home for the dog.

My dad just found a stray kitten a few weeks ago outside of his office. He had been meowing for a few days and they found him in an 8 ft tall tree. So my dad took him down, he's so super friendly. He brought him home for the weekend and we took him to the vet, got shots, de-wormed, flea stuff, etc, and he's ours! lol. 8-10 weeks approx. He's probably going to be an office cat, we just will bring him home on the weekends while he's young so he doesn't have to stay there by himself.

I'd left it out, personally. One of our cats looked boney too when he got older, even though he was still mostly healthy. And I know a lot of outdoor cats that are very friendly...

But definitely put flyers in that neighborhood and post an ad on CL at least (no picture though.. don't want a creep to pretend it's their cat)... it might be someone's outdoor cat. And keep checking CL for a few days.. people with outdoor cats don't always realize they are missing for a few days.

Well I found his owner. He's been missing since the beginning of September. So I say THUMBS UP for picking up stray cats.

Aww that's great! How did you find them?

Yeah I feel bad because it was a mistake on my part. I checked the pets section on Craigslist.... I did not think to check, or even know it existed, the lost & found section. But I posted my found ad on Craigslist and thankfully caring people out there saw my post, used their awesome Craigslist searching skills, and found the "lost cat" ad and notified the owner. This cat is definitely the same cat, she sounded so thrilled in her email to me to know that he was found... and I am soooo glad he has a family to go back to.

I was starting to feel bad for picking him up so thankfully it ended up being the right decision.

That's so awesome!!! I bet they were overjoyed!

That's an awesome ending!

None of the animals (dogs or cats) around my house are ever willing to come near enough to me to grab.

I was super surprised he came up to me because I know my cat would never be that trusting! But he was a complete sweetheart, thankfully he just has that kind of personality otherwise he probably never would have been reunited with them.

We called the owner to make sure she got the cat and she said they went and got him as soon as AC opened, the cat was sooo glad to see them and they are just still completely stunned that he was found and they have him back. It's a warm & fuzzy kind of day!

as soon as dinner time hits, I swear everybody along the main road to my house puts their cats outside.

The other day, my mom and I were walking and this cat just ran right up to us like "I own this street, bitch" and demanded pets. My mom kept saying to it "please don't follow us home. We have too many pets as it is, but if you follow me home, I won't be able to leave you out in the cold..."

What!? Where are the pictures!?

That's great he got reunited with his family. Kudos to you for caring about the kitty. I wouldn't have been able to leave him either if he was that friendly.

I second this. My former neighbor had a cat that went up to *everyone* and if he didn't have a collar on I'm sure someone would have "adopted" him. My own cat used to eat as several houses besides my own, too, according to the neighbors.