Cat hanging around parent's house..

corkstudent

I've been down at my parents' since before Christmas and for the last 5 days there's been a small cat/large kitten wandering about. We're not sure how it got here. It sits on the window sill and stares in.

One morning we found it meowing from inside the car, it had gotten inside the engine. We tried to get it to stay inside the garage instead, but it came back inside again. Eventualy it seemed to find a warm space inside the garage.

My Dad won't let it come in and the one time it did rush in through a window I just opened, it started knocking things down. I've been feeding it and playing with it but I'm not sure what to do with it. My Dad has been kind of lazy in ringing about, he's going on holidays for a week soon and seems to think he can just leave the kitten to fend for itself.

I'm not sure what breed it is. It looks like a Pixie bob but with shorter hair and a flatter, cuter face, a desert lynx or some other crossbreed maybe. It has the same markings on it's head as both those breeds. I think it's a female. It's a very friendly cat, it follows me everywhere when I go outside. Though it doesn't always follow immediately, sometime it sits staring from a distance then does a big run.

It likes to be pet, it's constantly purring and rubs itself up against my legs, though doesn't like to be picked up. It has a tendancy to bite/chew on my finger when I put it near it so I guess it's not been fully trained. It seems to like me apart from that. It definitely seems like it's used to being in a house, around people.




It's more silver than it looks in this pic, with some orangey splecks.

It could have come from anywhere really, by hopping in the car. It doesn't seem to be leaving of it's own accord anyway, even before we started feeding it.

chrisdr

Sounds like the animal was abandoned. It would be in the animals best interest if you do not intend to take care of to have someone from Animal Control come out and get the cat. With the cold temperatures it will surely die especially with it being so young. IMO it is very sad and not a cool thing to simply not help them..

Good luck you sound like a very compassionate person..

hallstatt

I use to have a similar situation. Couple of years back a cat started turning up on my doorstep.Then everytime i opened the door it would be there looking up at me.Then it got to the stage where when I would open the door it would run inside the house and try to make himself at home
I then got use to it and started feeding it now and again. Then it got to the stage in the summer, several hot nights I would leave my bedroom window open only to wake up in the middle of the night to find this cat lying in bed beside me !!!
Id sometimes let t sleep or sometimes put him out depending on the weather. Then he dissappeared and iv'e never seen him since

corkstudent

chrisdr wrote: »

Sounds like the animal was abandoned. It would be in the animals best interest if you do not intend to take care of to have someone from Animal Control come out and get the cat. With the cold temperatures it will surely die especially with it being so young. IMO it is very sad and not a cool thing to simply not help them..

Good luck you sound like a very compassionate person..

It goes into the garage though, might it be okay there? There are things for it to go under and I gave it a blanket... it seems to go in there at night instead of the car's engine now, so maybe it found a warm place? There's no heating in the garage though...

corkstudent

chrisdr wrote: »

Sounds like the animal was abandoned. It would be in the animals best interest if you do not intend to take care of to have someone from Animal Control come out and get the cat. With the cold temperatures it will surely die especially with it being so young. IMO it is very sad and not a cool thing to simply not help them..

Good luck you sound like a very compassionate person..

It goes into the garage though, might it be okay there? There are things for it to go under and I gave it a blanket... it seems to go in there at night instead of the car's engine now, so maybe it found a warm place? There's no heating in the garage though...

animalcrazy

I have no advice but wow that's a very beautiful cat, lovely colour and markings.

MsFifers

It sounds like you are very taken with this cat - would you consider keeping it? You could get an automatic pet feeder or get one of your neighbours to feed the cat while your Dad is away, and keep a warm bed for it in your shed.

I'd say it would be fine in your garage if your parent's won't let it in. Though I would say that if it got used to being inside, it would calm down and wouldn't knock things over. I have 4 cats inside and they don't knock anything over (except once when chasing a wasp when they broke a vase on me!). The only annoying thing is their hairs everywhere, but I have some old bits of sheets and blankets which they now lie on instead of the chairs.

It sounds like its v. affectionate and might like an indoor home so if you aren't able to keep it, you should definitely try to make contact with a local animal rescue and bring it there.

corkstudent

My parents say it'll smell and pee everywhere though.

chrisdr

corkstudent wrote: »

It goes into the garage though, might it be okay there? There are things for it to go under and I gave it a blanket... it seems to go in there at night instead of the car's engine now, so maybe it found a warm place? There's no heating in the garage though...

An animal can only take so much cold. Although I do commend you for giving it a blanket it needs to come in doors..

chrisdr

corkstudent wrote: »

My parents say it'll smell and pee everywhere though.

In answer to your reply. I am sorry BUT your parents do not have a clue what that animal will do or will not do. It evidently was someone's pet and they abandoned it and if given a warm place to stay and a litter box it will use it. But it seems your parents will not budge. The longer it is outside it will suffer...

animalcrazy

Well if it is an un-neuteured male it is possible it will spray things inside the house and that does stink. Also, no one can say for sure if the cat was ever an indoor cat, just because it's friendly doesn't mean it was someones beloved indoor pet. If the cat is used to living outdoors all it's live then it is not suffering.

boomerang

Well if it's small like the OP says, then it's most likely a young cat or kitten. The photos aren't the best but it only looks about six months old to me. No kitten younger than that should be outdoors. They are too vulnerable and not street-wise, not to mind the cold and I just heard on the weather forecast that the temperatures will dip as low as -7 tonight! :eek: Plus if it's miaowing at the windows, then it's clearly been inside a house before.

OP Have you contacted the Animal Care Society about the situation? I am sure they would be anxious to help. If this young cat is going to be left outdoors and won't be neutered or vaccinated, then it would be better off not staying where it is.

I am in Limerick but if you have no joy with the ACS and you need help, please PM me. I am willing to neuter, vaccinate and rehome this cat.

chrisdr

animalcrazy wrote: »

Well if it is an un-neuteured male it is possible it will spray things inside the house and that does stink. Also, no one can say for sure if the cat was ever an indoor cat, just because it's friendly doesn't mean it was someones beloved indoor pet. If the cat is used to living outdoors all it's live then it is not suffering.

Sorry but I believe otherwise. No animal is ever going to approach a human being unless it was someone's pet. The animal might be use to living outdoors but once again for cats that live outside in the weather, shelter is the most important thing you can provide them. They cannot take the cold period. If they are outside and in sub-zero weather they are suffering...

CR, DVM

animalcrazy

chrisdr wrote: »

Sorry but I believe otherwise. No animal is ever going to approach a human being unless it was someone's pet. The animal might be use to living outdoors but once again for cats that live outside in the weather, shelter is the most important thing you can provide them. They cannot take the cold period. If they are outside and in sub-zero weather they are suffering...

CR, DVM

I never said it was not someones pet, I just said no one knows for sure if it was a beloved indoor pet, I have three cats that live outdoors, they don't like being inside and will sit and miaow at the door to get out, they also miaow at the window, Boomerang, for food and for attention, but will not come into the house unless forced. I think it is unfair for you, chrisdr, to say to the OP that the cat is suffering and she is also providing shelter for the animal in her garage and is doing the best she can for the cat and that's all we can expect from the OP.

boomerang

I agree that the OP is doing her best but the situation as it stands is not adequate and I don't think her parents can be persuaded to do more than maybe let the kitten shelter in their (unheated) garage. She has no other kitten to snuggle up to for warmth, no other kitten for company and fairly limited contact with people - and she does seem to enjoy human company. She may be full of fleas and/or worms, she is most likely un-neutered and at her age will surely come into season shortly. Plus if she is unvaccinated and outdoors, she is a sitting duck for a host of serious infectious diseases from other stray cats.

My hope is for the kitten to be wormed, vaccinated, neutered... and given an indoor home. As I've already mentioned, if the OP's parents are unwilling to do any of this and the ACS cannot help this kitten, then I am prepared to step in.

animalcrazy

Ya I agree with you on the above, Boomerang, and it's great that you are willing to step in, not many people would do that.

Tinsel Cat

Hi Cork Student, I'm new to this forum but just wondering what part of Cork this cat is because there is a cat of similar colour missing from the Rathpeacon Area. The missing cat is more grey but from the photo he looks like ginger. Hopefully this is him.

garrincha62

What got me about the title of your thread was that you were reporting a spate of feline hangings around your parents house rather than a loitering moggy....
Down with cats, up with dogs I say.

Ticktactoe

garrincha62 wrote: »

What got me about the title of your thread was that you were reporting a spate of feline hangings around your parents house rather than a loitering moggy....
Down with cats, up with dogs I say.

Ouch! Not nice for cat lovers!
OP, with my experience with cats i would do the following (if you wish to keep her). Set up a little basket/bed in the garage and at night time before you go to bed give her a hot water bottle wrapped up in a blanket for the next couple of weeks. When she gets a little older get her neutured and vacinated. After that she will be no problem once you make sure she has food etc.

Cats are not difficult to look after and are quite resiliant to the weather.
If you are nervous at all about minding her then it would be a good move to get in touch with your local animal shelter and they can look after her from there.

She seems to be attached to you from your previous posts and you to her! I think you might have found yourself a pet there ( and if at all possible, sneak her into the house lol!).