Homesless Cat bugs me.

There is this homeless cat that came to our house to eat other previous dog's food. At the time we didn't ever seen this cat before until my dog died last year.. I saw this cat right in front of our backyard door waiting food because I guess she knows that we feed our dog and since the dog is not there she's not afraid to approach closer. So then we felt bad and gave her food that was left over so it wasn't a everyday thing. Now that I have Toki and try to potty train him outside Toki wants to play with the cat. The only problem I have with this cat is that she's so dirty and probably infested with lots of fleas. This cat has long hair and i've seen her trying to shed and it was pretty nasty. The sides of her hair came out but now completely and it made her look like she had wings. I don't let the cat and TOki to play because I noticed after they've been in contact, Toki has been scratching himself alot. What should I do? Should I call animal control or should I take the cat somewhere and drop her in another neighborhood?

Since Toki likes the cat and wants to play and the poor thing is so friendly and obviously wants to be there, if it were me, I'd take the cat to the vet, get it cleaned up and welcome it to the family.

Certainly don't just drop it off somewhere else!

I suppose the animal control is the other answer unless there's a cat rescue in your area.

Please don't drop her in another neighborhood. I would hate to think what could happen to her out there on her own. Renee's idea of a cat rescue would be the answer if available.

When I have a stray dog or cat around my house, I always think 'what if it were my pet..and the poor thing just got lost'. So, I absolutely feed it and then try to ask around or post a free ad on the local store bulletin board to try to find it's owners. There just may be someone close by to you that is missing that cat so much. I'd even bet the cat isn't homeless, but have owners that let it out. We have a zillion cats around here. The owner may be a mile down the road or so...but they all do have homes that they wander back to eventually. Not safe for the kitty, but common around here.....so please don't take it elsewhere, which is NEVER the right thing to do.

I agree with all of you. I'm not a big cat fan, but I still wouldn't just drop it off in some other neighborhood. I would have to keep it and get it cleaned up at least until someone claimed it. I know how it feels to lose your pet. You walk around the neighborhood for days looking for it. Then when you find out that someone had her in their home taking care of them, it makes you feel so much better,

Yeah I would probably get it cleaned up and take it in even though I don't need another animal. But if one wanders up to you like that, maybe God sent her for a reason...

I agree....I adore cats!!! I also think the cat should be taken to the vet, and cleaned up. My dogs and my cats love eachother and really enjoy playing with together. Maybe the cat was sent to you for a reason.

If you're not able to keep the cat, there any many cat rescues that would be able to take the cat, care for it, and then find a home for it!

Good luck!!

When you've got a small dog, a cat is often the ideal playmate. And they're so much easier to housetrain than another puppy!

And they purrrrrrr . . . .

I'd just like to add to all the above good points that if you don't plan on taking it in, which is what it sounds like, then you should try and find a rescue with a no-kill policy that will help the cat.

I know that sounds obvious but the only shelter in my small town is not a no-kill shelter and they don't do any vet care. If it isn't healthy enough to be adopted than it is put to sleep. Sad. I know.

Just something to keep in mind.

Saje

The cat had a name tag and when I called it turned out to be some kind of company so im guessing that they changed number. But the funniest thing is that the address that was on the cat's tag was from like 30 minutes away from my house and how did she end up in my house? Another thing is I tried animal control but they told me that they might put her to sleep so i decided to not have them come. This cat is so filthy that im guessing she might have thing because when i saw her shedding it was totally nasty. I don't mind feeding this cat but i just don't like the cat near my Toki and spreading things to him.

There are very few diseases that are passed from cats to dogs.

The cat may have been lost out of a car when the company was moving. Have you tried calling information for a new number for the company? Or checking for the previous address of the company? There might be people near the previous location that know who the poor thing belongs to, or at least someone who was with the company who might be able to tell you.

Have you considered capturing the poor thing and taking it to your vet to have it cleaned up and checked over? Since Toki likes it, it's a shame to keep him from having a playmate. Cats can make the best playmates for small dogs. One of ours even taught my Grandmother's Chihuahua to catch mice! That little dog was so proud of herself every time she got one! It completely changed her disposition from a snappy, self-centered, self-indulgent little dog into a happy, friendly, outgoing little critter. Dogs are just happier when they have playmates.

I wish I could say the same for Dixie. She doesn't like cats anymore. I don't know why. We used to have one a few years ago. But, this past weekend, when Dixie stayed at my friends house, a cat came up to the door wanting out of the snow, and my friends brought her in, but Dixie was trying to attack it, so the cat slept in the sink to get away from her. I don't understand it. She used to be best friends with a cat...

It wasn't Dixie's cat! Plus, Dixie probably had her nose out of joint anyway, since she had to stay behind and Beulah went with you. You're going to have some serious making up to do with little Dixie!

Oh, Dixie had a wonderful time. She had a four year old little boy to run around with all weekend. (I didn't tell her that Beulah went with me) Ha Ha....

I did think about taking her to the vet but iam having financial problems and right now is not a good time for me. The least thing I can do is to buy some flea medication and put it on her and feed her.

There are diseases that can be passed from cats to people.
If you do want to take care of him and clean him up you could deworm him, vaccinate him and get rid of fleas yourself. The vaccinating can be tough especially if you've never done it before. http://www.runway.net/b/moonmaid/in-or-out.html

We can by vaccinations for cats and dogs at our drugstore in BC and in Alberta they are easier to get. A lot of pet supply stores sell them. Sometimes your vet will give them to you too. Same goes for deworming and fleas.

That's a tough decision if you didn't want a cat and don't have the finances for a stray. Can you quarantine it somewhere?

Saje

I have vaccinated puppy doggies but not adult cats and that's gonna be hard. To vaccinate is cheap if you do it yourself but i have fear of cats that they will scratch so Im afraid to stick a needle on her. She's a friendly cat and very sweet but she can get very annoying at times. She will MEOW all day to give her food so I sometimes give her Toki's dry food that he won't eat anymore. And we can never have our backyard door open because we don't have a screen door and she ran inside our house a couple of times. I don 't know anyone who wants this cat and she's fast. Last time we try to get her to stay still so that we can see her tag it took us forever because she runs aways from us. She won't let us pick her up she will jump away and run off but then comes back.

LOL Sounds like you have a cat.

Where do you live? I'm just curious about the nearest shelters or rescues and/or people here who could help.

I'd definitely keep the cat. She sounds like she wants to stay with you folks, because she always comes back (of course, food and a playmate... doesn't sound bad at all). If she had a number then she _had_ an owner. I don't think anyone who wanted to lose a cat would let her keep the number. Maybe you can try harder, locating her previous owners if you don't want to keep her, but I definitely would!

Believe me, Dixie knows. They always know. Every single time, no matter how careful you are.