Stray Animals

[Kpt._Rob]

So, I like to go out at night (amongst other times) to go have a nice cigarette, stare out at the field behind my apartment, and just ponder everything from philosophy to the little questions that pop up every day in my life.

Anyways, the last couple of nights, this adorable little black cat has been showing up. It comes over to me and I pet it while I have my smoke, it purrs a lot, and sometimes it'll try to catch the smoke I exhale. Then I have to slip back inside my apartment without leaving enough room for it to slip in too (cause it follows me and tries to get in [also, sometimes it sits outside my door and the second I open it it's there]).

I haven't had a pet in a long time. The last one I got was a train wreck, this was also a cat, he was a sweet little thing, but he'd just get on my nerves constantly. Ultimately I gave him to another family (and shortly thereafter had an altercation with the maintenance man who had given him to me and said I couldn't give him away, but that's another story). But now (about two years later) this little cat is seriously pulling on my heart strings. It's ridiculously cute, very friendly, playful, and I just happen to really like black cats. I don't know what the rules are on adopting stray animals as one's own, nor am I entirely sure I want to bring a pet into my life again (though I do at the very least want to start leaving food out for the little thing).

Anyways, I can't remember having ever seen a topic here about stray animals, so I figured I'd give it a go. Anyone have any good stray animal stories? Ever make a connection with an animal that didn't come from a pet store or a breeder? Etc...

 

[Saelune]

I dont think anyone will oppose to you adopting it, just take it to a vet to make sure its not gonna give you anything bad.
Personally, I cant help put watch any animal I see out my window, which often are stray cats. I watched one the other night just sitting on the deck of my house. I wanted to pet it, but I dont like taking chances.

 

[VincentX3]

Yup
One time on the road to my grandmothers house there was 2 stray husky's on the road, since I just LOVE DOGS I took them back to my place, got them their shots and bought dog food and whatever was necessary.

It was so sad seeing them abandoned on the road ;___;

 

[VaudevillianVeteran]

Well, there was a cat that used to come around in our garden, even used to sneak into our house and steal our own cats' food. But whenever we tried to get close to it, it'd bugger off through our legs and out the window or something. Very hateful thief of a cat.

But the one that you've found sounds adorable. I suppose you should get it checked out for infections and such first at the vet.

 

[Judgement101]

TAKE IT. EAT IT Adopt it, it needs a home, besides, you should teach it how to smoke.

 

[VincentX3]

TAKE IT. EAT IT Adopt it, it needs a home, besides, you should teach it how to smoke.

Your avatar is adorable o.o
does it smoke too?

joking about the smoke part by the way ¬.¬
/random

 

[Judgement101]

TAKE IT. EAT IT Adopt it, it needs a home, besides, you should teach it how to smoke.

Your avatar is adorable o.o
does it smoke too?

joking about the smoke part by the way ¬.¬
/random

The smoking part was actually an extreme obscure movie refernerce. Also, thank you, I love my avatar.

 

[octafish]

Make sure you spay/neuter it if you take it in.

 

[Roxas1359]

I say adopt it and keep it.
As for stories I'm actually the owner of a few stray cats and have adopted some in the past.
The one with the best story has to be my cross-eyed cat Sandy. What happened was that across the street from me there was a family that for the longest time had been very poor and suddenly started to build up the house they lived in. Then one day the F.B.I came to our door and asked us and everyone on the street about the family. When they left the family quickly loaded up as much as they could and left their pets. Now Sandy was only about a year or two and was an indoor cat so he didn't know how to survive outside. But as time went on he came to my family more and more until now I can pick him up on my shoulder and he'll sit down on your shoulder. So we adopted him and we still have him today.

 

[Kae]

The only connection I've made with an animal was a kick to a cat but in my defense I was chasing him out of my loan and I stepped on it's poop that was on my loan so I was very pissed, but yeah I'm kind of a dick when it comes to animals, haven't really had any good experiences with them they just seem to either bite me, scratch me or do they're "business" on me.
As for you're cat, well they are some of the filthiest animals around so you better get it checked for infections before you decide to take on any further actions.

 

[hayaineko]

That cat sounds adorable, I would adopt it right away if it were me.
I got my cat from the streets. Brought the little bugger to the Vet and got him shots. I swear though, he's on a different time zone, always jumping around at 0200. Always...

 

[TehCookie]

My house seems to attract stray cats, it started off with just one completely feral cat. We slowly started to tame her and she had kittens so then we worked on getting them to trust us too. The mother died and the kittens stayed and had more kittens and we kept half of them and gave the other half away. They may not be strays anymore but they aren't house cats either. Just recently another cat just show up in my house. Don't know how that happened unless my dad left the door open but he just walked inside. We threw him out but he wouldn't leave so he stays in the garage with the other cats.

Spoiler: Also I got to take one of the second generation of kittens, so here's a pic of my baby.

 

[Chemical Alia]

If you want to keep the cat, make sure you take it for a check-up and shots at the vet. He sounds really cute, by the way you described him. I've had both good and bad experiences with adopting/rescuing pets, and have also had good experiences with pets from breeders as well.

The biggest behavioral problem you might run into if the cat is male reaches maturity before he's neutered is urinating inside. It can be a very difficult and sometimes impossible habit to break. We rescued a beautiful and otherwise amazing cat last year who had been given up by his previous owners for this reason, and after months of trying to train him not to pee outside his litterbox, we had to give him to some family friends who could keep him outside on their farm.

On the other hand, I rescued a cat almost 3 years ago who was abandoned as a kitten and spent his first ten months in a shelter, and he's been nothing but the best behaved, most wonderful animal since the day I brought him home.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Every cat we've ever owned has either been a stray, or one we got from the Humane Society.

Eddy and Rufus belonged to my parents when I was born.

Buddy was "abandoned" on our doorstep as a kitten. What really happened was this lady was moving away and knew we had a cat, so she asked if we wanted this one. My brother and I loved her at once, but my parents said "No thanks, we already have a cat." The lady figured out that the little boys would take care of the cat and force the parents to adopt it, which we did.

Ewok was adopted, but sadly had to be put down after only a year. He got sick, real sick. The vet couldn't do anything for him and the illness was terminal.

George came from the Humane Society.

Tiger we think was a breeder cat that was kept in a cage all his life and escaped. We think this because he didn't know how to act around other cats, always wolfed down his food, and was very pretty. He showed up in our back yard with a broken leg, so when we fixed it we just had to keep him. It was expensive.

Fidget I found under our deck and at first she wouldn't come out, but the moment she let me pet her, I couldn't get her to go back under the deck, so she moved it. She belonged to someone who abused her. She had no claws and has a beebee gun pellet lodged in her spine. The doctors can't remove it, but it doesn't seem to bother her.

Murf was my Uncle's cat. He left him behind because, on the moving day, Murf didn't want to get in the car and bolted. I went to my Uncle's old place and found Murf sitting at the back door at night, wondering why his kitty door was gone. I took him home and he sleeps on my bed with me every night. (And no, I was not too happy with my Uncle for doing that)

Sarah came from the Humane Society after Buddy passed away. She looks exactly like her.

Vader is a stray cat who lived under our deck for TWO YEARS. Vicious cat that was not nice. Hissed and swatted at us all the time. Feral as they come. However, we slowly won him over and now he's this adorable ball of black fuzz sleeping on the couch at the moment. You wouldn't even recognize him. Big cat too. Not fat, but muscular and big.

I love cats.

 

[Erana]

Now, since you know the less delightful consequences of having a pet from the last cat, but still find this appealing, then why not give it a go?

Of course, to make sure you aren't taking in someone else's pet, first look at the health of the cat. Is it skinny? Is its fur dull or otherwise unhealthy looking? Does it have fleas, tics or other parasites? Missing teeth can sometimes be an indicator of being stray, but outdoor pets can get into some wild circumstances. If it looks like its a possibility, when you go to the vet, have them check for a microchip.
You could also take them by the animal shelter, and make it clear that if no one comes for them, you'd like to adopt.

Personally, if I were seeking an animal, I would get a pet from a breeder. Of course, I'm interested in breeds whose standards promote good health, like working terriers.
Of course, when an animal is in reasonable health, then it really comes down to intelligence.
I simply would be unable to live with a moron, human or otherwise.
(And allergies. I can't handle a lot of animals, especially most cats. :/ )

Cats have the good fortune of being more intelligent than not, and it seems like this cat has plenty of personality so if I were in your place, I'd check to see if the animal wasn't as dumb as a sack of hammers and try to adopt.

 

[Hellz_Barz]

Hold on before you adopt it you should take it to a vet to make sure its not micro-chipped cause it might be someone else's. Cause someone out there might be upset about there cat not coming home.

 

[darth.pixie]

Except for one cat, all of my pets are former strays. One dog, another dog that died last year and three more cats. They all had some problem or another but now they're big and healthy. And very very spoiled.

 

[RicoADF]

So, I like to go out at night (amongst other times) to go have a nice cigarette, stare out at the field behind my apartment, and just ponder everything from philosophy to the little questions that pop up every day in my life.

Anyways, the last couple of nights, this adorable little black cat has been showing up. It comes over to me and I pet it while I have my smoke, it purrs a lot, and sometimes it'll try to catch the smoke I exhale. Then I have to slip back inside my apartment without leaving enough room for it to slip in too (cause it follows me and tries to get in [also, sometimes it sits outside my door and the second I open it it's there]).

I haven't had a pet in a long time. The last one I got was a train wreck, this was also a cat, he was a sweet little thing, but he'd just get on my nerves constantly. Ultimately I gave him to another family (and shortly thereafter had an altercation with the maintenance man who had given him to me and said I couldn't give him away, but that's another story). But now (about two years later) this little cat is seriously pulling on my heart strings. It's ridiculously cute, very friendly, playful, and I just happen to really like black cats. I don't know what the rules are on adopting stray animals as one's own, nor am I entirely sure I want to bring a pet into my life again (though I do at the very least want to start leaving food out for the little thing).

Anyways, I can't remember having ever seen a topic here about stray animals, so I figured I'd give it a go. Anyone have any good stray animal stories? Ever make a connection with an animal that didn't come from a pet store or a breeder? Etc...

Idk about where you live, but in Australia if you take it to the vet they can check if theres a microchip for an owner, if its not register than you can register it as yours then your covered if a previous 'owner' comes knocking on your door.

 

[AWDMANOUT]

My dad picked up a stray dog once. But it didn't get along well with the one we had, so he kept it up at his shop.

That's really all I have to say about them... Except once I almost hit a stupid dog that ran out right in front of me. I mean not only would driving into a dog screw up my car, but it would be oh so sad...

 

[Shuswah_Noir]

More than once, I've pulled my car over in the middle of the night to pick up stray dogs. I look after them for the night and find their owners/take them to a shelter in the morning.
We've taken in and re-homed countless animals that have turned up on our property.
I'd be lost without pets.
There is no law, as far as I am aware (I live in Australia), against adopting strays, so long as you get them chipped/registered, etc. Just make sure it doesn't actually belong to someone first. Some cats adopt second families for extra attention/food. I'd be shattered if someone took one of our cats.