Want a kitty?

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

There's a beautiful stripey cat (female, I think, but I haven't pried) in my neighborhood. She's sort of become the neighborhood cat - living on porches up and down the street, getting fed by a variety of people (she's currently feasting on a can of tuna on my porch) - and seems pretty happy with this arrangement for now. But I'm worried about her when it gets cold. She's extremely friendly, talkative, purrs readily, looks healthy and fairly young (2 or 3 years old?)...but she's been living in our neighborhood for a month or two and I haven't seen any signs about her, so I think she's up for grabs. I would take her myself, but a) my apartment doesn't allow pets, and b) realistically I think I'm too allergic for that to be a good idea.

So...somebody out in LJ Land must think their life is incomplete without a small furry beast. Right?

Comments

[simply-juniper.livejournal.com]

What coloring? We have a striped cat in our neighborhood outside of Ball Square as well, I wonder if it's the same one?

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

yeah, i'm wondering if this is the one near powderhouse circle. it's very friendly and looks so healthy that i had assumed it owned by someone in the area who was foolish enough not to give it a collar.

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

actually, on further reflection, you may want to put up posters ("found cat" or some such) , before trying to find her a home, in case someone actually does own her.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

i'd agree with that. it could be that the cat got out of it's own neighborhood when your area "adopted" it. flyer around davis - i've seen flyers for lost stripy cats around througout the summer so someone might really be missing her. (and the cat might be microchipped so someone may want to try checking that out.)

[simply-juniper.livejournal.com]

I agree with the posters too. Our 'neighborhood' cat also looks healthy and friendly enough to be owned but with no collar.

What was the colouring for the striped missing cat posters, if they said? The one around here is orange and white.

While we're on the subject there is a sign for a missing black cat in my neighborhood (outside Ball Square) in case any one happens to read this and knows about it.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

hey, i know it's a far distance, but someone in arlington lost a cat on aug 8th. they recently moved TO arlington & lost their cat. (not sure from where.)
http://arlingtonaco.photosite.com/found/lost/leo.html

(i just stumbled across this by accident, actually.)

Ask around first, then try the posters

[darthcr1.livejournal.com]

Even before hanging posters, ask a few of your neighbors who are long-time residents or some local business owners if there are any.

There's a neighborhood cat in the area I moved out of several months back. The cat is loved and fed by about 15 different people and wanders around the area all it wants. After some inquiry we discovered she was owned by a lady in the next building over. The cat wasn't homeless, she'd just worked out a system where she could get a variety of food at a moment's notice petty much wherever she wanted. Everyone who'd been in the neighborhood over a year or so knew who the cat belonged to and all were guilty of buying a box of cat food for her.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

I once put a collar with my number on the tag on a cat I suspected of not having a home. I got a call that night from the owners, and I told them I'd just wanted to make sure he belonged to someone. They replaced the tag with one with their own number and everyone stopped worrying about him.

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

I've talked with a bunch of neighbors, and no one knows whose she is. We've all kept our eyes out for posters about her, and there haven't been any. One of my neighbors tried putting up posters at the beginning of the summer when she first turned up, as I recall, with no success. Someone else called the pound and shelters to ask if anyone had called looking for her. I'll try posters again, but I'm pretty sure she's ours.

(By the way, I live between Teele and Rt. 16, and the cat is a dark brown/grey stripe, so I don't think it's the same one as yours in Powderhouse or Ball Square.)

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

ha! this could be my boyfriend's cat. he lives in teele and the cat (male) doesn't have a collar because he's supposed to be an indoor cat (he's declawed), but he is wiley and gets out with some frequency (he can open doors; i kid you not.) my boyfriend has only had the cat since june. we've recently resigned ourselves to the fact that he's just going to get out, no matter what, and we're going out to get him a collar this weekend.

so if you see this same cat with a collar sometime soon, you'll know. i like joylewis's idea though.

[csbermack.livejournal.com]

Can't help with these specific cats, but a few notes:

- If you have a cat who *ever* gets out, collar it, with a phone number. Technically I think you're required to have it wearing its rabies tag, too.

- If you're in a neighborhood with low turnover (HAHAHA), you might want to ask about people who recently moved. Sometimes cats go "home" again after their family moves, especially if they're indoor-outdoor cats.

- If you have a friendly stray, who is actually a stray, take it to a vet and get it fixed. It may not want to live inside (rehabbing feral cats is hard), but it shouldn't be breeding. If you've got an unfriendly stray, I think there are rescue groups who will come trap it and fix it. And also, unless you're breeding your pets for sale, get them fixed as soon as possible.

- If you want to help out feral critters during the winter, put out food, water and shelter. Like a doghouse or just a board leaning against the house. The food should be high-calorie, like kitten chow. Just be prepared for noncat critters taking advantage!

[georgehitler.livejournal.com]

Be careful to use a kitty safe collar!