Stray kitty

[Larrymom]

Hello,
So I live in an area which is heavily populated with stray cats, they come by and I give two of them water and sometimes treats. Yesterday I spotted a little kitty, almost a kitten, standing outside my backdoor, I opened it up and she ran straight in, she was not scared in the slightest. Me and my boyfriend came to the conclusion that maybe she belonged to someone and they got bored and threw her out and that's why she's comfortable in the house and why she sometimes runs away when he appears but has no problem laying on me. She's very friendly and doesn't mind being picked up. I opened the back door a couple of times, she went out, did her business and then meowed to be let back in. We even went out for a couple of hours, came back and she was in the same spot sleeping away. I'm such a sucker for cats and want to keep her warm and fed throughout the winter months. She slept in the house all last night and now I think I have accidentally adopted a stray. I have grown up with cats but never had a stray so I don't know anything about her. Does anyone have any tips on how to raise a stray and how to tell her age.

Thanks.
Here she is anyway.

[Snowz]

What I kind thing to do, it is so nice that she wont be freezing in November and December! I grew up with cats too, do you plan on keeping her? if not then you can take her to a adopting shelter.

[BrainGirl]

There's nothing about strays that's any different than any other cat so no need to worry there! She looks to be quite young as you guessed, maybe 8 months to a year. Mature, but with some kittenish features.

I would definitely take her to a vet to be checked over. As she's young it may be easy to tell if she's been spayed. I'm guessing she hasn't and was abandoned when they found out the cost. Happens a lot at the end of the academic year, here anyway :-/

She's a gorgeous kitty though! I do hope you can keep her

[Vicki S]

Are you sure she is a girl? looks like a Tom build to me tall girl awk u have to keep her strays n my opinion make the best pets seem to appreciate more what you do for them plz plz plz plz pretty plz with a cherry on top keep her she looks class the markings

[Artisans_uk]

She is beautiful, Larrymom.

Are you absolutely sure that she is a stray? Might be worth putting up some posters, letting the nearest vet know and maybe checking the community social media site streetlife.com just to check that someone hasn't lost their cat and isn't heart broken and worrying somewhere.

I know you have said that she is can be a bit nervous at times and maybe someone has not been kind to her but not knowing her history, it's not known for certain what may or may not have happened or when.

If she doesn't seem to have any owners then she has certainly landed on her feet finding you.

[Shannonmcn]

Agree with artisans, please make sure she doesn't have a family before you let her settle with you. If she's not chipped or spayed and there are no posters up looking for her then you might be safe but get her to a vet to check for a chip first

[Larrymom]

Hello!

Yeah I've had boys all my life and she's definitely a girl. She's doing the little purry thing they do when they're on heat. Someones coming round tomorrow to check if she's chipped so I'll ask them for confirmation. I hope she's a girl as I've named her susie and she knows that's her name now ha. She is very sweet and very appreciative of all the things I'm doing, a little purrer. Woke me up at 6am headbutting me for love. I've put pictures of her all over facebook on the lost and found and scrolled down as far as I can go and noone's claimed her yet. I know how it feels to lose cats so I'm trying to my hardest to figure out if she is a stray or not. I'm so bad with cats, I will befriend them all and I would keep every stray if I could. My boyfriend isn't very happy as he's allergic haha but he's trying his hardest. I let her out before and opened the door and she ran straight back in. She definitely thinks this is her home now!

[BrainGirl]

Uhoh, get her fixed asap and keep her inside as best you can! You don't want a litter of kittens adding to the burden, plus she'll be more expensive to have spayed once she's had one.

[Larrymom]

We got her checked for a microchip this morning and she hasn't got one. I've checked every page on the internet and noones looking for her. Looks like Susie is now mine! My landlord came round earlier and I jumped up to quickly tell him I let a stray in and he was the one that suggested I keep her, he even said he'd put a catflap in and there I was pretending I had just let her in for a nap. He said all I needed to do was get her spayed, buy her a litter box and de-flea her in spring.

[BrainGirl]

Oh how wonderful! Congratulations on your new family member