[doganjo]

Your cats have adopted him. Your opinion has become irrelevant     

 

Funny from the cats' point of view - but perhaps less so from the p-o-v of the other humans who think he is their cat!  Still, if they don't put a collar and name/address tag on him, what can you do?

Sorry but that isn't a good criteria either.  I have a  roaming cat - he doesn't spray and he is neutered, but he just adores people, other cats, and horses.  He has gone through 10 - yes 10    collars in 5 years, and the last one was under his armpit when he came home, a previous one had got twisted and he came home choking - I had to cut that one off to save him.  So just because a cat has no collar doesn't mean he isn't a much loved pet, and it certainly doesn't mean he is a stray - no cat is a stray.  They are opportunists and will go where they find the best bed/food/company.  At the  moment Rio is sporting a lovely light blue suede collar with my mobile and post code plastered over it in black pen.  A strange thing happened a couple of weeks go too.  His sister disappeared one night three years ago - always came in every night without fail, then one night didn't.  I scoured the roadsides and a Network Rail maintenance team checked the line as well.  I assumed she was dead.  However, as I was driving slowly down the Cattle Market a cat strolled - yes strolled across in front of my car and turned to look at me.  It was Candy!! I'd k,now her anywhere, she was also a ginger, but paler than Rio, and her face had a peachy pink glow with one eyebrow higher than the other - it was definitely her. She has a new home!

[Dans]

I second the microchip catflap.

My mum had had the magnetic ones before and the cats always managed to push their way through, no problem at all with microchip, in fact even we can't push our way through it (though could probably kick it in if determined). Best investment we ever made for the cats. The one we have is the one that is powered from the mains.

I agree that a cat without a collar doesn't mean it isn't owned, some cats just won't wear a collar no matter how much an owner tries. But the owner can microchip the cat, so if you do catch him get the vet to scan him. In addition it is true that cats independence is part of the attraction, and if they decide they want to live elsewhere they will up sticks and go. If mine made that decision I'd rather someone took them in and loved them than turned they away in case they already had an owner. Luckily I get to feel blessed each evening mine return through the flap knowing that my home is where they call home, for now.

Dans

[sabrina]

Well Barnaby is not a tom cat and he now sleeps in the stables as he was spraying in the house. Drove me nuts. We had another stray cat a couple of years ago that turned up and started fighting with Jacs. She is a quite easy going girl but this stray laid into her big time. We got the stray in a trap and took it to the vets thinking it was a tom. turn out he had already been done and was just a nasty lad. Cats protection took him. Over the years strays pay us a visit but we have no girls who come into season so they move on.

[Rosemary]

Until there's a cat flap that can detect whether or not Bertie has something in his mouth, he'll just have to yowl on the windowsill to get in 

[Fleecewife]

I second the microchip catflap.

The one we have is the one that is powered from the mains.


Dans

That will give him a surprise     

[plumseverywhere]

Your cats have adopted him. Your opinion has become irrelevant     

 

Funny from the cats' point of view - but perhaps less so from the p-o-v of the other humans who think he is their cat!  Still, if they don't put a collar and name/address tag on him, what can you do?

I've given up putting a collar and nametag on Snowball because the mad cat lady down the road just takes them off. Have had a quiet word and so far my cat is my own again but come autumn, she will be coming back smelling of log burner and cheap perfume again