Adopting a stray cat – Everything you need to know

friendly stray

Adopting a stray cat returns your kindness with the unconditional love from your newly found furry companion whose life you just saved. In our times, most people that own a cat have been ‘chosen’ by the affectionate feline. 

We all have encountered a friendly cat in our neighborhood that stole our heart and we wanted to take it home, but most probably wondered if it already belongs to someone. 

A lost pet, a stray, or even a feral cat can be difficult to tell apart sometimes, but in this article, you will find all the things you need to know about stray cats, how to recognize them and the process of re-acclimating them or adopting one from a shelter. 

Are you ready to find out?

What is a stray cat?

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A stray cat is a friendly cat that has been abandoned, got lost, or has left its domestic home and has been living on the streets for a while, losing human contact and the dependence on humans as a pet. Stray cats have been socialized to people before in their life, or they might have been once pets, so if a stray cat lets you touch it she is most likely not feral and it can readjust to living with people once again after a period of re-acclimating. Stray cats also can become feral over time.

What is a feral cat?

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A feral cat is basically considered a wild animal. A feral is either a stray whose contact with humans has diminished over time or the cat has never had human contact before and would not allow it. Usually, feral cats are born outdoors, then living on the streets in a colony of other feral cats surviving on their own and bonding with each other. These types of cats will not likely become a pet or even enjoy living indoors, but over time it might become more comfortable with the person who is feeding them outside.

How to tell the difference between a stray cat and a feral cat

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1. Stray cats will likely be alone and seen mostly in the day time, whilst feral cats might be part of a colony and roam around at night
2. A stray cat would approach humans and their houses or cars and after a few days of feeding will warm up to you and show signs of trust, while a feral cat will try to quickly hide and avoid all human contact.
3. Stray cats might move like indoor cats, walk with a familiar happy strut and their tail upright in the air whilst making eye contact with you, but a feral cat will crawl and stay low to the ground with his tail close to its body, and will not make eye contact or even blink. 
4. A stray cat might react to your voice, meow, beg and purr, whilst a feral cat is not vocal at all, apart from hissing and spitting.
5. Stray cats might have an unkempt appearance and be dirty and a stray cat will probably have a clean coat instead, but in the case of a male feral cat, he might have scars and a spiky coat. 
6. Stray cats have their ears intact while feral cats might have a tiny part of their right ear missing (an ear tipping) from a Trap-Neuter-Return program ( see image below ).

Take into consideration the contrasting signs above to help you determine stray and feral cats.

To tell if the cat you found is a stray cat or feral cat would be very hard from a first look. Certain cat behavior or the general presence of the cat can also be misleading. Even feral cats might look as well-groomed as a newly abandoned cat or a pet that likes to explore its neighborhood if it’s well adjusted in its colony and gets fed regularly by humans. The absence of a collar also doesn’t prove the friendly cat coming to your porch is stray and doesn’t belong to anybody, as cats tend to ‘lose’ their collars on purpose and wander off on their own adventures, but they most likely have a microchip ID if they have a thoughtful family. To properly determine the nature of a cat, whether stray or feral you need to do some monitoring of the cat over a few days, providing it with food and water to see how sociable she is. 

Before adopting a stray

feeding stray cats

Make sure nobody is waiting for it to come back home. As you watch over the cat for a few days giving it food and water outside, try to advertise finding it on social media to see if anybody in your area is looking for the same cat. You can also advertise with a missing cat poster on lampposts or relevant places where people can see it. Once you come close to the cat and touch it, or you manage to trap it, take it for a vet check and find out if it has a microchip ID. Eventually, if you can not keep the cat but want to make sure she is safe and looked after, talk to local shelters or rescue organizations and see if they can help take it in to be adopted.

Once the cat is trapped also pay attention to its body language and vocalizations that can give you an idea if the cat is stray or feral.

If the cat is stray it might hiss and growl at the start but eventually, it will relax and come to the front of the cage, maybe rub against the cage and even tolerate some human touching. In the case of a feral cat trapped in a cage, she can be aggressive and shake, rattle, or claw the cage (even get injured if scared) and once calmed down will settle at the back of the cage tense and ignore everything. She can not be touched.

If the cat is feral it can not be adopted.

Feral cats have no socialization with people and it’s best for them to just get neutered and released back onto the streets where they are perfectly capable to look after themselves. 

Adopting the stray cat from the street

colony of strays

When you have the ‘all green’ from the vet (after the cat has been checked for diseases and parasites, been vaccinated, and got the microchip scan), and you decide to keep the cat, there are still a few things you need to know before bringing the cat into your home, especially if you already have other pets. 

Firstly, keep the cat in a different room away from other pets, it is recommended a small bathroom, especially because they can transmit some diseases to your other pets (if the stray has any) but also because the stray needs time to adjust to the new surroundings of your home. 

Then, after a few days, you can begin socializing. Speak to her, hold her, pet her and most importantly play with her so she can happily get re-accustomed to living indoors. Reward the good behavior with treats, prepare safe spaces or ‘hiding spots’ to make it feel safe, and whilst spending time in the same room let the kitty come to you on her own accord.  

Make sure you have all the necessary cat supplies like a litter box, cat food, and water for your cat. Of course, you can buy toys and accessories and treats, but the fundamental needs have to be covered first if you want your kitty to be happy. Make sure you have the budget for it every month as a cat will probably require some extra medical expenses or special food.

Prepare play dates to slowly introduce the stray cat to the other animals and humans in your home if you are already a pet owner, to get them accustomed to each other, and spend as much time as you can by playing together, but allow the kitty to do it on its own terms while giving it lots of love and acceptance.

Enjoy the love you get in return!

Why adopting a stray cat from a shelter?

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If you already have a family with kids and possibly other pets and consider adopting a new cat, it may be best to get it from a shelter. Getting a neighborhood stray cat into your can be challenging and sometimes not what was expected. And while every cat deserves a loving family and a safe place to live, maybe their behavior doesn’t fit in with your family’s needs. 

Getting a cat from the shelter will provide you with all the information you need about the cat. The caregivers at the shelter will tell you if the cat it’s healthy or has any health issues. If it’s good with other pets or kids or it has any special needs and it’s best to live on its own, and so on.  Bringing a cat in from the streets will have you guess everything about the cat at first which can be overwhelming and not end up as perfectly as you planned it, and the cat might end up in shelter anyway. Some cats might not be a good match for your family so be aware it might not work out when you bring a new stray into your home. 

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