Cat Chat Feline Forum

When I was younger, my mother used to yell at me for feeding strays on the porch. Eventually, she started doing it too! So I am wondering, how many of you feed your local strays? If I see a cat looking for food or digging through trash, I make a point to give them food. If they run, I leave it where they were. I can't walk away from a starving cat.

I would, but we don't seem to have any strays around here. I live in a very rural area, and as far as I know we are 'the only cats in the village'!

I wish I could say the same for here but we have had a succession of them through the years we have lived here. They don't always come round every day at the same time but we usually put out our own cats leavings for them and if we actually see them (and they don't run away) we put out more food if they want it.
And over the years we have managed to make them more than strays - there was Boris who was the first stray that moved in with us - we eventually re homed him as he was unnerving our resident cats a bit.
Then there was Socks who stayed in the house for 4 days a few years ago during bad snowfall....
Dobby who moved in - but again we had to rehome him too as he became very territorial and started driving our resident cats out of their own house and garden.
There was another one last year that we managed to catch and when we took him to the local vet they found a chip to a local owner.
Just recently the stray of the moment is Boomer - so called because if we open the door when he walks past he will run down the garden, however if we've opened the door to put more food out he always comes back. He's been around for a few months now.
We also have a coal bunker although it has coal in it, it is in bags around the outside and is left open so that if any cat wants to they can go in.

Do I care for strays? I have 5 of them living with me!

The only real stray we have at the moment is Felix (black and white like the character). He turned up today for food. Must have been hungry - he came in the house. I've made up a bed in our shed. A few years back I made some repairs to the shed (really need a new one) and left a kitty-sized hole near the door. He has used it before. He seems to like his lifestyle but I do worry about him. He can be a bit wheezy in bad weather. I need to keep an eye on him.

We used to but the two we used to feed have now been neutered and live with us!

Yes I'm another one Smudge used to live next door but spent nearly as much time with us as he did at home - he even slept on my head some nights! He then stopped coming in for several months but one day appeared and sat at my feet while I washed up - he was dreadfully thin and i gave him some food - he died the next day so I believe he came to say goodbye. The we had Harry who turned up one night with my husband and stayed for 15 years breaking my heart when he finally passed on. Alfie arrived 2 years before Harry died and again just made himself right at home and is still here 6 years later. We also had a Harry double who was so aggressive but got fed anyway and a little totally black kitten who was ferociously hungry all the time and hyper active - both disappeared and I think probably got rehomed or worse! Mr B is our latest stray and I've been feeding him for at least 2 years - he comes and goes as he pleases but is now in the house most mornings, has a kennel outside and a cat flap in the summerhouse - since Max passed away a couple of weeks ago I think he's taken up the vacancy. Just a worry when he needs medical treatment as I don't know who he belongs to (me as far as the RSPCA are concerned!). Typical mad cat women on the hill