For the last couple of weeks, we've had a stray cat showing up, hanging out between our fence and the neighbor's fence. He obviously didn't have anywhere to go, but he wasn't a feral kitty either. About 4 or 5 nights ago, he decided to come into our backyard.
Based on how he acted, he was obviously owned at some point - he'd come over and sit on the swing, let you pet him and he'd sit there purring the entire time. It was pretty clear he had nowhere to go though - if we went in, he'd start meowing and asking to come in, and eventually he started scratching at the door once in a while. If we were outside at any point during the day, he was always nearby - either between the fences or in the yard. He was definitely a little scrawny and very, very hungry so we started feeding him, and left him a little box to sleep in the back if he wanted.
We did some posting on Nextdoor and asked around, and nobody recognized him. We have a few neighborhood cats, but they're all well known and cared for - this cat wasn't one of them. After a couple days, we decided to scoop him up and take him to be checked for a chip. Nothing. I'm not surprised though - he's only a few months old and hasn't even been neutered, so he's probably never been to a vet. We weren't really set up to take in a cat, but we decided to do it anyway.
We brought him in yesterday, and while he was a bit nervous about being in the new environment, he's taken to it very well. We learned that he's actually litter box trained, so it's clear that he belonged to someone - but my attempts to find that 'someone' haven't turned up anything - no lost cat posters anywhere; no reports on the local lost kitty sites or the county animal shelter site. It's possible he's part of a larger litter that got kicked out when his owners couldn't care for him anymore, but we're not sure. Our county animal control services aren't taking in strays due to COVID, but I wouldn't want to send him to a shelter like that anyway.
For now, we've made an appointment to get him looked over, vaccinated and neutered (though my vet can't see him for a few weeks, sadly), but he seems to be pretty well settled in. He actually came in our room and slept at our feet last night, so I guess we have a cat now.
(We've decided to call him 'Sephy' - like Sephiroth, but shorter. We also tossed around the idea of calling him Toothless, just because his eyes are so yellow-green (the pictures don't do it justice), but figured that was too cliche. )
Based on how he acted, he was obviously owned at some point - he'd come over and sit on the swing, let you pet him and he'd sit there purring the entire time. It was pretty clear he had nowhere to go though - if we went in, he'd start meowing and asking to come in, and eventually he started scratching at the door once in a while. If we were outside at any point during the day, he was always nearby - either between the fences or in the yard. He was definitely a little scrawny and very, very hungry so we started feeding him, and left him a little box to sleep in the back if he wanted.
We did some posting on Nextdoor and asked around, and nobody recognized him. We have a few neighborhood cats, but they're all well known and cared for - this cat wasn't one of them. After a couple days, we decided to scoop him up and take him to be checked for a chip. Nothing. I'm not surprised though - he's only a few months old and hasn't even been neutered, so he's probably never been to a vet. We weren't really set up to take in a cat, but we decided to do it anyway.
We brought him in yesterday, and while he was a bit nervous about being in the new environment, he's taken to it very well. We learned that he's actually litter box trained, so it's clear that he belonged to someone - but my attempts to find that 'someone' haven't turned up anything - no lost cat posters anywhere; no reports on the local lost kitty sites or the county animal shelter site. It's possible he's part of a larger litter that got kicked out when his owners couldn't care for him anymore, but we're not sure. Our county animal control services aren't taking in strays due to COVID, but I wouldn't want to send him to a shelter like that anyway.
For now, we've made an appointment to get him looked over, vaccinated and neutered (though my vet can't see him for a few weeks, sadly), but he seems to be pretty well settled in. He actually came in our room and slept at our feet last night, so I guess we have a cat now.
(We've decided to call him 'Sephy' - like Sephiroth, but shorter. We also tossed around the idea of calling him Toothless, just because his eyes are so yellow-green (the pictures don't do it justice), but figured that was too cliche. )
