Very cheeky cat or stray?

[Diana]

Every evening between 6.30-9pm a cat visits. Female and definitely spayed cause she been visiting every night for about 10wks and has showed no signs of being in heat or carrying kittens. Of course I started feeding her. I set up a small shelter for her under our roof in my garden with a blanket. For first few weeks i couldnt get near her, she would run when I would be try to approach her but over time I gained her trust. I began stroking her whilst she ate. She looks good, coat looks OK nothing bad to report. Felt her spine but I can feel my Timo's spine so not unusual. I never see her during day only early evening. She will pass by to eat but never stays and not once have I seen her use the shelter I pur up. Once all food goes if I give her more she will eat it. After she finishes she may stick around for 5mins then trotts away.

Now....I never used to put food out for passing cats or strays but then I started volunteering at a cat shelter so I then thought to feed any passing cats or strays. Before putting the food out I never saw this cat, not once. Then when I started putting food out I didn't catch the cat eating it at first but after about a week I spotted her. Now most days I see her. I'm trying to figure our if she is just cheeky neighbourhood cat or a stray. Like I said she never stays, never see her during day and she doesn't use the shelter I put out. The shelter I volunteer at has a space for her but I'm in two minds cause I'm not sure if she is a stray. To me..its 50/50. What do you guys think?

[meriad]

If she's friendly enough to stroke then put a paper collar on her with a message along the lines of:

Do I have a home - if yes please call xxxx as a someone is worried about me

Hopefully that will give you an answer. Also ask around the neighbourhood if anyone has a cat matching that description. Chances are it could be a cat belonging to someone that works during the day and the cat is only let out for a few hours when they are home.

If you don't get an answer to your paper collar (and you may need to put it on a few times as they do come off quite easily) nor to asking around the neighbourhood, catch the cat and take it to a vet for a microchip check.

By the sounds of it, she probably has an owner but just quite likes eating your food vs hers


PS: to make a paper collar, get a sheet of A4 paper and cut a 2cm strip off the long end and write your message on there; then using a short piece of sellotape put the collar on the cat. Whatever you do, DO NOT use a long piece of sticky tape as the collar has to tear if the cat catches on something.

[Diana]

Will give the neighbours a shot...see if you they know. She started trusting me much more but I don't think she trust me enough yet to try and get a collar on.

About the collar...a 2cm...is that long enough. Never tried paper collar. And tape the paper to the cat??

[Baggypants]

There is a link to a paper collar template here:
http://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfar ... /straycats" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;