alnilam posted:

one time my friend and i discussed taking in a friendly stray cat and after that discussion he never came back i think he heard us and decided it was time to ramble on

Zyla posted:

zyla still loves you, byob

FluffieDuckie posted:

If you can afford to get porch cat fixed please do that. While he’s wandering the streets he’s creating generations of feral kitties who will suffer

I would start talking to rescues. There are rescues who will let you foster a cat while they find them a home.

Mourne posted:

So there's this porchcat that has been coming around the last few weeks. It's dead of winter here in the northeast, so my wife bought some cans of cat food for him and we've been giving him a meal outside when comes by. Except now he's coming in the house and having his dinner and sometimes hanging out to warm up. That's OK, but I see a clear pattern here of escalating cat visits. Both in frequency and duration. This needs to come to an end for a multitude of reasons.

I've got two large dogs that I keep baby gated in the other room while porchcat eats and warms up, but the bottom line is that porchcat can't stay here.

I'm wildly allergic to cats (think daily Benadryl and an albuterol inhaler if he covers my place in dander) and if I pet him I have to wash my hands immediately, and even then I still get hives.

Plus I don't know his medical history -- he's not fixed and I don't know what (if anything) he could transmit to my dogs.

I was looking into no-kill shelters, but my wife thinks he's better off living as an outdoor cat. And apparently, no-kill shelters are a lie and they all euthanize the cats after so long. I think it's only a matter of time until he gets hit by a car or taken down by a predator. There are bears around here.

I can't in good conscience just ignore him, he's not a dick.

Halp BYOB. What do?

me posted:

hmm, while I'm not at all an expert I have learned a few useful things about the lives of cats from the kitten lady. she's on youtube doing generally good things for cats, esp kittens, and is pretty involved in education..

one thing I would say is, you can't always jump to the conclusion that this is a stray cat. some "owned" cats are actually very free ranging and will line up a number of suckers who will give them extra pets and food and whatnot. so maybe porchcat is indeed a stray but maybe not, just taking him to a shelter or whatever could be separating him from someone who cares for him.

one thing you can do for sure to help him and the kittens he won't have is to make sure he's spayed/neutered. you would be a good hearted person to try to take him to a vet for this procedure (or to check if he's had it already). they can check for chips and other signs that he may be an owned cat. some orgs will spay/neuter for free or very low cost.

I cannot tell from your photo but if an ear is clipped in a very neat/surgical manner, this is a sign that this is a feral cat who has been sterilized and released. this is normally done only for cats that are clearly not well socialized enough to be pets (I think). but your cat does not sound feral.

the outdoors is a somewhat dangerous place for cats, but they are actually fairly hardy. still there are things you could do for kitty short of giving him a full time space in your home. these are some suggestions, just as an example:

https://www.petmd.com/cat/seasonal/evr_ct_feral_cats_winter

but the other side of the coin is, your cat might be a former pet who is on his own but would really benefit from a loving owner. if you can't do that for him that's fine, it's really the responsible thing not to take on pets you can't care for properly.

quote:

The hardest thing to overcome in his situation is his perception of no kill shelters, if indeed, taking the porchcat to a shelter ends up being the plan.

In a lot of states, areas, shelters do routinely euthanize but a truly no-kill shelter does not. Animals stay as long as it takes for them to find their forever home. No kill shelters, however, decide what animals they will accept or not as opposed to "open shelters" that take any animal that is brought to them no matter what their condition or circumstances. We will take care of them for as long as it takes to find their forever homes as well. When they have health problems, we do everything possible to make them well but sometimes their conditions are such that euthanization is the most humane thing to do. We battle with the misconception that we are "killers' without understanding we don't pick and choose the healthy/adoptable ones. So, I would encourage his looking for an open shelter and to read reviews to be sure he is comfortable with the organization.

Before taking that route, I would advise him to call local shelters (no kill and open) to see if anyone has reported a lost cat. We have a lost pet service where people can post lost and call in about lost critters. If the cat is friendly and he is willing, as you mentioned, he could take him to a vet to see if he's chipped. He could even go to a shelter and that way if the cat isn't chipped, they can put him in their lost critter service. I'd also put up posters ASAP as you're spot on that it could be a free roaming pet who is very missed. The fact that he's comfortable in their home would be a good indication that porchcat had a home at some point.

Manifisto posted:

TVsVeryOwn posted:

I like birbs more than cattes.

TVsVeryOwn posted:

I like birbs more than cattes.

City of Glompton posted:

hello byob hello bluedeanie hello zyla

City of Glompton posted:

hello byob hello bluedeanie hello zyla

Manifisto posted:

I really like birbs too and wish that cats were kept almost exclusively as indoor cats. best for all concerned, and darwinism will ensure that the smart mouses and such steer clear of the patrolled areas.

roomforthetuna posted:

I like to think that birds that get caught by cats are just tired of life and want to end it all. I mean birds have huge peripheral vision and can fly, and can sit on high up things like wires or very thin branches that cats can't walk on, it seems like they could easily avoid cats if they really wanted to.

Munchables posted:

Yogurt is NOT real

FluffieDuckie posted:

If you can afford to get porch cat fixed please do that. While he’s wandering the streets he’s creating generations of feral kitties who will suffer

I would start talking to rescues. There are rescues who will let you foster a cat while they find them a home.

Munchables posted:

Yogurt is NOT real

BoldFrankensteinMir posted:

Good luck Hamjobs! We have your back!

Olive! posted:

how can sour cream be real if onions aren't real