The slippery slope...

[MarySkater]

I have two cats. I don't want another one...

Part my garden is a wire cat enclosure. Neighbourhood cats used to roam through the rest of the garden, and I would chase them away, so my cats don't get disturbed. The others have mostly taken the hint and stay away now. A few months ago, I saw a small black cat talking to mine through the wire. I chased him away twice, and twice he was back within the hour. So I gave in and let him hang around. Not long after, he was back in my garden one evening when snow was forecast for overnight. I wasn't sure if he had a home to go to, and of course he was wary of me after the chasing, so I propped my shed door open a little, and left a bowl of dry food in the shed. The snow came as forecast, but next day both food and cat were gone.

He kept dropping in, maybe a couple of times a week, and now that I'd stopped chasing him, he quickly became friendly. When I got a good look at him, he seemed in good condition, so I assumed he had a home somewhere. He's an un-neutered tom, so it's not surprising if he roams. More recently, I thought he wasn't looking so good; he's rather thin, though not starving, and his coat was less shiny. A couple of times I've offered him some left-over food that my cats hadn't finished. Blackie wolfs it down - clearly he's less fussy than mine.

So now I'm starting to wonder... is he a stray? I wouldn't mind feeding him, but I don't want him totally dependent on me. If I go away, my cats go into a cattery. I don't want to have that responsibility for Blackie. I've thought about putting up some posters locally, asking if he has a home, and would the owners phone me. I don't want to entice him away from real owners. But if he is a stray, maybe I could get in touch with Cats Protection to see if they would neuter and vaccinate him. I'm willing to pay for his treatment, but I don't want to become his official owner. Maybe I should contact CP and ask for their advice.

I know some people on here have "inside" and "outside" cats. To what extent do your outside cats depend on you? What do you do about them if you're going to be away from home? Do you get them vaccinated, flea-treated etc?

What am I letting myself in for?!

[Lilith]

Errrrm .... another caaat?

Sorry to state the obvious ....

Hope you work out an arrangement with the guy, all the best

[booktigger]

I think you need to put posters in case he is someone's pet before thinking about anything else, or putting a paper collar on him

[MarySkater]

I think I'll start by keeping records for a while of how often he comes around. I'm going to be out all day tomorrow, so he won't get any attention or any food from me. But he might come to visit my cats - they seem happy to sniff noses with him through the wire. I just hope he keeps any fleas to himself...

[Lilith]

Ah yes, but fleas never keep themselves to themselves ...

A gregarious thing is the flea,
Lonely it just hates to be.
Sees a neighbouring cat,
Well I'm having that!
And there's the cat with a new flea ...
Or three ...

Or several. Or a score or more of the little suckers

Circumnavigated the swear filter he he

Oops just burst into verse ...

[MarySkater]

Someone once optimistically said:

Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite 'em.
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
And on, ad infinitum.

But that was wishful thinking. I don't believe they have any natural predators to keep them in check.

[Ruth B]

I think posters and a paper collar would be a good starting point, knocking on a few doors might also be worth while.

If nothing else he needs neutering, if you do find someone that claims him it might be worth contacting CP to see if they can help out with that. It might also be worth contacting them and having him advertised as a 'found' cat on there web pages, that way if an owner is found is already there, i see it often around here, a 'found, unneutered cat' listed and then a note saying that the owners have been located and vouchers for neutering offered. They could also possibly send someone out to scan for a chip.

I believe currently in the UK you have to show that you have made an effort to locate a cats owners before you can claim them for yourself.

I once said that two cats were my limit in this house, I'm now up to four, definitely heading towards the crazy cat lady stage, and as someone once asked is that crazy cats, or a crazy lady?

[Lilith]

Someone once optimistically said:

Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite 'em.
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
And on, ad infinitum.

But that was wishful thinking. I don't believe they have any natural predators to keep them in check.

Reminds me of -

The rain it raineth on the just
And also on the unjust fella.
But chiefly on the just because
The unjust pinched the just's umbrella!

Good luck with your black man - yes, you'll have to go down all the usual channels (and buy some flea stuff) but good on you and hope he appreciates it too!

ps I'd leave him some biscuits tomorrow?

[MarySkater]

I'll certainly take steps to find an owner before I do anything else. But he's been coming around for months, it just seems more frequent recently, and I've started wondering. There are several free-range cats in my street, mostly with collars, and I think most of them are owned.

I'm not going to leave food out for him. That would be tempting him to move in with me, even if he has a home. I may offer him some now and again, to see if he's really hungry, but I don't want him to depend on me.

If I'd been intending to keep him, I'd have called him something more interesting than Blackie!

[Ruth B]

Just remember this when in 6 months time you come on to say how settled Blackie is in front of the fire while there is snow on the ground outside.

Giving cats boring or silly names because you don't intend to keep them is why my family ended up with Fangs, Tom, Tufty and Stroppy registered at vets at various points.

[MarySkater]

Giving cats boring or silly names because you don't intend to keep them is why my family ended up with Fangs, Tom, Tufty and Stroppy registered at vets at various points.

I tend to give descriptive names to the cats I see in my street. There's a thick-coated tabby with a very thick tail that I call Wildcat (although some local kids call her bog-brush!). A tortie with a bell on her collar is Jingle. One of the tuxedo cats is White-tip because of his tail, the other just defaults to Tux. And then there's Tripod, for obvious reasons...

[Ruth B]

I can't say anything about that, most of the cats that dare to visit my garden get named sometimes i even find out their real names.

The lady over the back fence used to have a big tabby who was called Sam, I later found out that her neighbour also had two big tabbies with similar markings so i had been calling all three Sam regardless. We then had a tabby and white start to come round, he pinched food several times and once I came home to find him asleep on my bed with my two resident cats, I think he was young enough that neither were bothered by him. At that point I went knocking on doors, only to find out he lived about 4 doors down from me with a family with several young children and his owner did take a bit of an offence when I mentioned I was concerned as he did look on the thin side (he was at the age when he had a growth spurt and needed to fill out, but I didn't realise this at the time). He was also called Sam, and ended up moving in with the neighbour over the fence so she had Sam and little Sam. I have a feeling that Little Sam wasn't keen on all the kids back home.

Then there was one time when i was balancing precariously on one foot on the side of an upturned ladder that was lain down next to the pear tree, while reaching out with a pair of secateurs to try and reach a branch I wanted to prune. I realised I was being watched, turn my head to see a black and white cat sat on next doors shed watching me intently, so I told him 'if you are HSE them I'm in trouble', it stuck he was always reffered to as HSE after that.

I also have a fish pond in the garden and in dry weather I have noticed that it becomes neutral ground for the neighbourhood cats. A few years ago I noticed a small tuxie cat watching the water fascinated. They kept coming back, and i kept an eye on them, but they seemed well cared for so I wasn't worried. As I had just got Saturn and Freyja, I decided that seeing as it was so interested in the water it must be Neptune. That was until I hadn't seen it for a few weeks, noticed it back so went to check how they were, and saw the obvious patch of regrowing fur on her flank, Neptune, became Neptuna.