Fearless Dreadlocked Cat

[dawneliz.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know anything about a collarless, lean, dark, long-haired (matted, dreadlocked), fearless (stalks my dog when we walk her) cat that lurks in the Hall St/Morrison Ave area? I saw it once about a month ago, then again last night. The worrywort in me is concerned that it is homeless and that I should do something...

Comments

[spatch]

Huh. Hall and Morrison, you say? If it was a long-haired cat with nappy dreads but instead of lean, it was the size of a Volkswagen, I'd say that was my cat and what the heck was he doing outside? He doesn't like leaving the porch.

There's plenty of neighborhood cats around Hall and Morrison, some of whom are collared, some who aren't. However, if that cat is as fearless as you say, it's a good chance it's a stray, at least semi-feral, and not the kind of cat you could take in and expect to live happily in a domesticated house, much less with other cats.

And if it is feral or semi-feral, the best thing that could be done for this cat would be a spaying or neutering and the typical kitty medical stuff. It may also be FIV+, which is a whole nother kettle o' fish.

A good resource may be Kitty Angels, a no-kill shelter in Tyngsboro. It's a drive away, but they specialize in rehabilitating feral cats and giving them good homes. The cats who can't adjust to an indoor home life are also available as barn cats. They may be able to help give you advice, at least, on what you should and should not do upon encountering the cat again. I'll keep an eye out for it on Hall and see how it behaves.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Aw, Molly wanna play with Abbie!

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i saw a cat like that about a month ago (very friendly, with collar) but when i called the # (cambridge) the guy said the cat was staying with his gf on morrison and all was well.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

If you are able, you can try a trick that worked for me once. I was worried about a similar cat, so I put a collar on him with my phone number. I got a call that night from someone saying, "Why is your phone number on my cat?!" and I explained that I just wanted to make sure he wasn't homeless. The owner ended up being grateful and kept the collar (but changed the number.)

[dawneliz.livejournal.com]

ah, excellent idea. quite resourceful. :) thanks. maybe i'll pick up a collar this week and start lurking around that 'hood with it...

[grateful1311.livejournal.com]

If you can get a pic of it you could post it on the City of Somerville animal control web site as a "found" cat. Maybe someone is missing it...