How do you feel about strays?

So, last a pregnant female shows up at my house. She's seems to be a real sweetheart, and has a collar. No tag, but a collar. I think it's semi-old, but still fits and is in pretty good shape.

I let her in to see if she wanted some food, and she ate like 2 cups of cat food. She was hungry, but not too thursty. I checked her over, and no fleas, or external parasites. She seems in pretty good shape, just maybe a little skinny.

Of course, she seems to want to kill my male kitten. Sorry, had to go back outside. Simba is my baby, and he owns this house. Lol.

Well, she took off and is back. I gave her some more food, but she seems to want to stick around now. I have an animal lover problem, and I want to keep her. I just can't stomach her having her kittens on the street. My cat is up-to-date on all his shots, and she seems healthy so i'm not worried about that. She doesn't want to fight with him, but if he goes up to her she gives a warning growl.

My bf says, no, she's fine outside.

What would you do? Keep her? Or, Let her go, and of course stop feeding her or she'll never leave?

Don't keep her, it is not fair to your current cat to whom you have an obligation.

Keep her or turn her in to a no-kill shelter or a rescue. You could also put up signs asking who in the area has that cat, or lost it?
Leaving her outside to have kittens and then breed more kittens is just not responsible, although I realize it's not "your" cat.
Personally I would at least get the shots into it, and get it fixed. I wouldn't just stop feeding it though, I'm too much of a softie for that too.
Just the suggestions I can come up with right now.

If it were ME...I'd take her in. But I'm a softy for homeless animals, and the pregnant thing would just reck me. ME personally, I wouldn't bring her to a shelter because I work at one and see all the cats that are there for months and months, some over a year and I just couldn't contribute to that. I'm not telling YOU what to do but if it were ME, I'd take her in, let her have her kitties, vet check mama and babies, find them all homes...possibly keep mama and a kitten. Thats me.

What are the odds that she has a home, and just comes over here at night to eat my cats food?

And, if I end up having her for a few weeks, what are the odds they will eventually get along? Momma cat vs young male?

Simba is my baby, and by all means he makes the decision. It's either outside, or in my basement until I can figure out what to do with her.

Your kitten and she would get along eventually. I've never had cats I couldn't intergrate.
You could try attaching a note to her collar and see if that helps? If she belongs to someone, they might get the note and respond in some way.
I had a cat once that started frequenting some other house. I suspected it for a few weeks, and finally he came back covered in flea powder. LOL. I put a note on the collar and he never came back.
Note: this was about 30 years ago, when everyone's cats ran loose. I prefer not to let cats roam now... but I was just a kid, and the family views were different.

I had this very same thing happen to me. Except the cat didn't have a collar. I didn't know the cat was pregnant. She was skinny as all get. We gave her milk but since we rented a condo where the owner made us sign a no-pet lease, I couldn't take her in. She left, came back the next day, same thing, I gave her milk. A few days later I open the patio door and she comes running inside the house! She never tried that before. She runs up the stairs and into my closet hops up to the laundry basket and gave birth to 2 kitties... both dead.

That was a tough time for me. We went ahead and took her to a girl I know that rescues cats. She died a few days later.

I felt that if I would have just taken her straight to the rescue, she would probably have been saved, and maybe even her babies too.

On a side note, my lease said no-pets, but for some reason, my bird and fish didn't count as pets. Crazy world we live in.

Every animal I own is an unwanted, dropped off, or fostered. So I know where you are coming from. Stop, this mama cat could be bringing in more than just kitties. There are some contagious diseases that could kill your baby. It's not just the fleas and ticks you have to worry about or whether your baby has all it's shots. The best would be to have her taken to a shelter so she can have her kittens be spayed and the kittens fixed so there aren't anymore unwanted starving kitties. Taking her to a shelter is not being mean, she will be fed and bathed and given all she needs and the kitties will come into the world in better shape. :banana:

Just a couple weeks ago I found a kitten outside when it ran right up to me while I was walking my dog. Scary situation as my dog likes to eat cats and I thought my dog killed the poor thing. I ran my dog back to the house and ran back to where it happened. Nothing. Then a couple of the neighborhood kids walk up holding the little ball of fluff saying he just walked right up to them. My roommate had finally caught up to me since when I'd run our dog back to the house I just got the chance to yell, "I think Kaiya killed a kitten!!!" before running back out.

I took the kitten in as he followed me and my roommate back home after we took out the trash [I was also taking the trash to the dumpster while walking my dog]. So we took him in and gave him tuna and water. He didn't have a collar and was very skinny. It was also 102* that day so I told myself I'd release him that night when it was cooler out. I tried but he followed me back home and just walked around me playing with various things when I stood outside to see if he'd just walk away. So I kept him and took him to a free vet the next day for a check up and to see if he had a microchip. They said he was perfectly healthy and didn't have a chip. So we asked our friends if any of them could take him since our dog would have a field day on him if she got in our room [we kept him in my room with the door closed]. A couple said they would if we couldn't find anyone else because they didn't want him to go to a shelter. And currently, one of my friends is taking care of him to see how he is at my friend's house and what-not.

Since the guy you found has a collar, definitely put up some found signs and maybe call some local vets to see if they know anyone that lost a cat or maybe have the cat on record.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Your kitten and she would get along eventually. I've never had cats I couldn't intergrate.
You could try attaching a note to her collar and see if that helps? If she belongs to someone, they might get the note and respond in some way.
I had a cat once that started frequenting some other house. I suspected it for a few weeks, and finally he came back covered in flea powder. LOL. I put a note on the collar and he never came back.
Note: this was about 30 years ago, when everyone's cats ran loose. I prefer not to let cats roam now... but I was just a kid, and the family views were different.

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I had the same thing happen with my cat, she came home one day with a note attached to her collar lol, traitor that she was :rolleyes:

I feed the strays around my house, but I also trap them for a local TNR program. The cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and given a general health exam. Cats that are adoptable, meaning they don't try and rip your hand off through the trap and kept for adoption. Thus far, only two cats have been unadoptable, one I kept and worked with and privately found him a home. The other, Jamie, stayed on the streets because he was too wild. Unfortunately he met his end during the winter when he was struck by a car.

The humane society only euthanizes them if they are FELV or FIV positive, or if they have a debilitating illness and treatment won't help that. One cat had to be put down because he was FELV+. A cat I trapped earlier this week had cancer, but he had been kept for adoption at least, so even though he had to be euthanized, he was kind enough to be a pet if he hadn't been ill. I should have known since he as thin despite regular feeding.

But, I try to focus on the ones that have found homes through the humane society!

Anyway, TNR is a good way to help keep strays and ferals from reproducing. I'd suggest finding a TNR program around to sterilize her, and if it is a program like mine, she would likely be kept for adoption.

Update! I have named the stray momma Mia. She is such a loving girl she has made a good home with us, and even puts up with my 6 month old male. She just had her kittens this morning! I guess she wasn't as far along as I thought.

She had 4 gorgeous silver colored babies. One is gray and black tiger stripped, 2 are a light silver with dark heads and feet, and the other is a dark silver with a black head. They are so adorable! I will try and get pics up tomorrow, but she really doesn't like the camera getting close to her babies.

I love her, and this is going to be her last litter ever. She seems so tired, and just wants to be petted 24/7. Poor girl :( She's eating really good though, and is a healthy weight even after the kittens. They all have fat plump little bellies. Very healthy babies. Noisy though. Simba, my little male, can't seem to figure out why they keep crying. He keeps his distance though. I make sure of that. But the look on his face is priceless!

You'll be surprised at how well Simba will take to the kittens when they're older! I was in the same situation as you...I had a pregnant momma (just walked into the apartment one night!) just about to give birth when another stray male kitten showed up injured (I must have a sign on my door)! Momma was not very fond of Boots at first, but after the kittens were born and several weeks old, Boots took on the role of "big brother." He groomed the babies and cleaned up after their messes when they were going through litter box training.

What was even sweeter (though tragic at the same time) was when I lost Momma when the kittens were 2 months old (she turned up positive for FeLV even though she initially tested negative when I first took her in for a check-up before the kittens were born...PLEASE be sure to test your mama cat!)...Boots seemed to know that she wouldn't be coming home so he took on the role of "Mama"...he even let the babies "nurse" on his tummy! Cats are certainly amazing little creatures! :)