IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A STRAY CAT?

The answer is, of course, yes; but I suspect that they are fewer than most people think. 

Case in point. Yesterday I got a call from a couple who live in Seaham. He had found a young cat which at first seemed dead but had perked up a little when he touched it. As it seemed in poor condition, he took it home and called Animal Krackers (me). Young cat, poor condition: I'd go see it but no promises.

When I arrived it was in their living room tucking into cat food and without getting close I could tell it wasn't a young cat and that it wasn't in good condition. When I picked it up and looked closer I found it hardly had any teeth and those it did have were in a bad state. I gave it about a year. I also thought that it had probably just been sleeping near to it own home. I suggested that they take it back to where it was found (only three streets away) and keep an open for it. They were happy to feed the cat and give it access to a shed at night but they had two Norwegian forest (or something like that) cats which didn't like intruders.

It's too easy to think that a cat which turns up on your doorstep asking for food, or is wandering around and not in the best of condition, has been either abandoned or is a stray. If they are just ignored they often find their own way home.

And I'll have to take break here as I've just received a call from a lady who has been feeding a cat -less than a year old- for the last three days but can't keep it because she has dogs.So I'm off to check it out. It's only a few streets away.

BREAK

And I'm back.

With a young un-neutered male tabby cat maybe around 8 months old. 

The first thing I did was put him in the living room with litter, food and water. He seems friendly, though he growls if disturbed when eating. I'll do a poster and put it in the shop window. I think there's a very good chance that he's a local cat and he's in good condition so I'm hopefully his owner will claim him.

 

And here's a couple of other photos.

 

 

The ginger kitten has a home waiting, the other two haven't.