There are many reasons why there are so many stray cats in this world. The key factor is that many pet owners are lethargic to take their pets for spaying or neuterization, this implies they have a free will to mate. If a stray female has a litter, those kittens then become strays. They become adults, produce more strays and the cycle repeats itself. Pretty soon, there are many stray cats with no homes. This results in euthanization of many cats after they are captured by local animal shelter and not claimed. Stray cats do need homes, however, and if you want one, there are many to be had. There are some rules you should follow, however, if you come in contact with a stray cat. If you don’t want a stray cat to become your pet then, for God’s sake, don’t feed it. It will never go away.

Claiming A Stray Cat

If you see a stray and you think you would be able to give it a good home, then, by all means, feed it. Before welcoming your pet into your house, you should ensure by all means that it is not pre-owned by anyone. You will never be sure that no one is desperately waiting for his or her pet which you mistook as stray.

If you, after a search, come to the conclusion that this cat is indeed a stray cat, then you should take it immediately to the vet. Have the vet give the stray cat a complete physical. Because strays feed off of whatever they can get their hands on and they drink water that could come from anywhere, they are very susceptible to various diseases and illnesses. Ensure that your veterinarian has determine the true states of your stray cat’s health, if it is healthy, have your veterinarian given it necessary vaccine and other shots. Then, make sure its free of fleas. Fleas can cause many problems, the least of which is infesting your house.

After the visit to the vet, you can take your stray home and it will no longer be a stray, it will be your cat. Get a collar and an ID badge so that if the cat wanders away, nobody will think it’s a stray cat, they will know it’s yours and they’ll be able to contact you with whatever contact information you put on the badge.

The challenges, stray cats required a great deal of love and affection, however there is over abundance out there. If you see a stray cat, be careful, make sure it doesn’t already have a family and, if not, take it to the vet to make sure that the cat you chose will be healthy and will hopefully be with you for many years.

New! We've just starting a message board and discussion forum over on the Toxic Byte Pets Forum. It's a bit lonely over there at the moment, but feel free to join in and participate!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 11:06 pm and is filed under Cats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.