I'm looking for some opinions...and thought who better to get them from
(Plus, my mom's not answering her phone )
Okay. I have seen this adorable, all black cat around here for the past 4 weeks. I don't remember ever seeing him before. I noticed back then that he looked a little thin (not starving thin, but he is indeed very, very trim). He has no collar and I was keeping my eye out for him to make sure he always looked okay.
Now, in the past few days, I had been seeing him early in the morning or very late at night in the parking lot. Sometimes when we come home in the middle of the day, he's curled up outside the building under a bush. He never let me approach him though.
Yesterday morning, when I went to open the porch blinds, I saw something move. The cat had been sleeping in a teeny tiny spot on our porch between some potted plants. We're on the second floor....not sure why he decided to sleep there. So, he got scared and jumped down (using the air conditioner for the unit below us). I felt bad and thought he looked like he could use some food, so I ran out with a scoop of crunchies and put them under our porch. I was able to coax him out to eat them - at which point he hoarfed down almost the entire large scoop. I let him be and went to school.
Last night, I had a feeling. At 1:30am when I was going to bed, I said "Let me look on the porch and see if he's there." Sure enough, he was. I put my cats away in the bedroom and opened up the deck door. The cat was very skittish but didn't run. I got out some more crunchies and water and gave him a bowl of each. He appeared to be very, very hungry. So, I ran into the kitchen and got him some turkey, which he ate. At this point, I had the deck doors open and he was about 2 ft away. I went to put the turkey bag away and when I was doing that - he ran in the house! He sniffed around a bit (wouldnt' let me anywhere near him) and sat down. He rubbed himself up against the couch. Meanwhile, I was wondering if I should take him in for the night and put him in his own room, and start trying to find his possible owner. After a minute or so, he ran back out and I shut the screen, leaving him on the porch with his food.
I realize that by feeding him, I'll attract him. But I figure it like this. If he has an owner, they ignore him. He's thinner than I think he should be. And he's been hanging out here anyway, night and day. If he's a stray, he needs food and by feeding him, I can keep him around long enough outside to figure out what to do.
If I didn't have my own cats, I'd let him in more readily and watch him, but I don't know what possible diseases he might have (or his temperment, etc) and I don't want to risk the health of my cats.
So, should I:
1) Wait and see what happens in the coming days/week...
2) Put up Found Posters with his picture and take him in/give him a section of the house
3) Put up Found Posters and not take him in, but keep him lured by food so that if he is someone's I can probably catch him when he comes to the door
4) Take him to a shelter (no kill - a woman that we got our cats from adopts cats out) and put up Found Posters.
5) Something else.
I just feel bad because it's getting colder at night (37-43ish) and I worry about him. (If he didn't get claimed and got a clean bill of health, I might be tempted to try keeping him myself).
This was way longer than I meant to write.....sorry to make you read all of that!
(Plus, my mom's not answering her phone )Okay. I have seen this adorable, all black cat around here for the past 4 weeks. I don't remember ever seeing him before. I noticed back then that he looked a little thin (not starving thin, but he is indeed very, very trim). He has no collar and I was keeping my eye out for him to make sure he always looked okay.
Now, in the past few days, I had been seeing him early in the morning or very late at night in the parking lot. Sometimes when we come home in the middle of the day, he's curled up outside the building under a bush. He never let me approach him though.
Yesterday morning, when I went to open the porch blinds, I saw something move. The cat had been sleeping in a teeny tiny spot on our porch between some potted plants. We're on the second floor....not sure why he decided to sleep there. So, he got scared and jumped down (using the air conditioner for the unit below us). I felt bad and thought he looked like he could use some food, so I ran out with a scoop of crunchies and put them under our porch. I was able to coax him out to eat them - at which point he hoarfed down almost the entire large scoop. I let him be and went to school.
Last night, I had a feeling. At 1:30am when I was going to bed, I said "Let me look on the porch and see if he's there." Sure enough, he was. I put my cats away in the bedroom and opened up the deck door. The cat was very skittish but didn't run. I got out some more crunchies and water and gave him a bowl of each. He appeared to be very, very hungry. So, I ran into the kitchen and got him some turkey, which he ate. At this point, I had the deck doors open and he was about 2 ft away. I went to put the turkey bag away and when I was doing that - he ran in the house! He sniffed around a bit (wouldnt' let me anywhere near him) and sat down. He rubbed himself up against the couch. Meanwhile, I was wondering if I should take him in for the night and put him in his own room, and start trying to find his possible owner. After a minute or so, he ran back out and I shut the screen, leaving him on the porch with his food.
I realize that by feeding him, I'll attract him. But I figure it like this. If he has an owner, they ignore him. He's thinner than I think he should be. And he's been hanging out here anyway, night and day. If he's a stray, he needs food and by feeding him, I can keep him around long enough outside to figure out what to do.
If I didn't have my own cats, I'd let him in more readily and watch him, but I don't know what possible diseases he might have (or his temperment, etc) and I don't want to risk the health of my cats.
So, should I:
1) Wait and see what happens in the coming days/week...
2) Put up Found Posters with his picture and take him in/give him a section of the house
3) Put up Found Posters and not take him in, but keep him lured by food so that if he is someone's I can probably catch him when he comes to the door
4) Take him to a shelter (no kill - a woman that we got our cats from adopts cats out) and put up Found Posters.
5) Something else.
I just feel bad because it's getting colder at night (37-43ish) and I worry about him. (If he didn't get claimed and got a clean bill of health, I might be tempted to try keeping him myself).
This was way longer than I meant to write.....sorry to make you read all of that!
