Found a stray cat! Advice needed!

[Kaseface]

Advice needed please!

The other day in my back garden I noticed a tom cat perched on top of some shelves in our garage. He looked quite thin and was meowing a lot at me.

I tried to approach him and he seemed quite cautious but was not aggressive, so I brought him some water and ham. He guzzled the entire thing and has not moved from the spot since.

I asked around the neighborhood to see if he belonged to anyone, and nobody recognized him. I rang all the cattery's, vets and papers in my area to see if he was anyone's beloved pet. Nobody recognized him and it's all dead ends.

I want to help him but I can't let him in the house due to my hyperactive puppy and my territorial girl cat...

The garage is not very waterproof so I want to make a shelter for him, and I can't afford a trip to the vet to get him neutered or see if he is healthy, either.

Could anyone give me any advice on how to build the shelter for him and what I should do in terms of health care?

I am only 18 and not very experienced with wild/stray cats so I apologize if asking all of this makes me seem somewhat stupid

Many thanks!

[meriad]

First off, well done for caring for this cat. Where do you live; do you have a number for your local Cats Protection?

Given you already have a cat I'd suspect you've got a carrier. Could you get the stray cat into a carrier and to your vet to be checked for a microchip? That would be the first call.

Then explain the situation to your vet that he is a stray and you don't know what to do. They hopefully will be able to do a quick once over / basic health check for free and may even have contacts with a rescue who could take him in for you.

Otherwise speak to your local Cat Protection and ask them for a free neutering voucher so you don't have to pay but at least the cat will be neutered.

But definitely first step is to get the cat to the vet to be checked for a chip - that is done for free