Adopting a stray cat
By Nero11
@Nero11 (316)
May 16, 2012 5:24am CST
... and on the subject of having a stray cat in and out of our house... I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how you go about adopting a stray cat in the UK? For the last few months he treats our place as his home. He eats our cats food and I've even found him sleeping on the sofa. The problem is that he's terrified of people and only once has willingly let me near him... and that was only because he was starving and wanted food. Our worry is that he might be carrying disease and may give it to our cat so want any advice on where we might be able to go to get him checked out and neutered for free. We're happy to adopt him... I think cats choose their owners rather than vice versa anyway... so we're pretty much stuck with him whether we like it or not... but are keen to make sure he's 'clean'. We're in London so any advice based on our location would be most welcome, or any similar experiences others may have had. Thank you.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@euridicy1984 (70)
• Philippines
13 Nov 12
Thank you for posting this kind of discussion. I'm currently residing here in the Philippines, though I'm miles away from you I'd like to share my piece regarding my 3 cats. My first baby was Denzel, a domestic shorthair was rescued inside a freeport near in our area. he was still a kitten then suffering from severe rhinotrachaetis. We immediately rushed him to the vet clinic the next day and was treated.Sadly he passed away four-years ago due to kidney failure. My current, the one with me on the photo was pepper, also a stray cat. We adopted her and rescued on the street near in our house fighting with bigger cats. She's been with us since then and grew up a sweet kitty.
There are pro and cons of adopting a stray cat. If you adopted a stray, you don't know its medical history so a complete check-up is a must. If the feline you're adopting is an adult, it'll be harder to train them the house rules especially if you decide to confine her indoors and accidents might occur. Vaccinations is also a must to ensure that she'll be free from possible diseases like parvovirus, rabies, heartworm, etc. And you must also train them how to use the litter box.
Seems that your cat is a nervous one, maybe you could offer her some toy to encourage her to play. Just be patient on her. Once you successfully win her trust, she might turn out to be the sweetest cat you'll ever had.
Goodluck. :-)
If you want more tips just send me a PM.
@musicluv4life (1867)
• United States
17 May 12
I would just take him to a vet make sure hes healthy and if not they can give him what he needs to make him healthy make sure he doesnt have fleas or ticks and i think you found yourself a cute little pet.
@lakantar (1573)
• Greece
17 May 12
Well our first dog was stray and we didn't do anything to keep him, we feed him for some weeks and he started staying outside our house so we decided to keep him. I think you should more consider how to earn his trust so you can take him to the vet so he can be checked properly.
@innocents_lost (1026)
• Canada
16 May 12
I know we're I live in Canada if you feed a cat for 3 days legally it is yours then if you can't cetch him best thing is to live trap him and take to the vet I don't think there isany where u can get him neutered for free as the vet's need to make money to live as well and there will other vet expensies in the future as well owning an animal u have to be ready for that
