Can I keep this cat?

As long as you have checked the newspapers, called the police department and the shelters in your area…then, I think you are not only doing the right thing but a wonderful thing.

You say that you’ve placed posters around your neighborhood, but did you also contact your local animal shelter(s)? Lost animals can wander far beyond their own neighborhoods, so it’s possible that Maui’s family hasn’t seen your posters.

But, Maui’s bad teeth could indicate that nobody cares about him or, more charitably, that somebody couldn’t afford the dental care and hoped another person might step in.

Maui’s a gorgeous cat. If you get to keep him, you’ll both be so lucky. His “bi-polar” behavior could be nothing more than pain from his dental problems combined with fear and insecurity. Stray cats don’t have easy lives.

I support your decision. My question for you is: can Maui be safe as an outdoor cat?

I ask, because where I live, outdoor cats are at risk for coyotes and other predators. But it is really hard, and some might say torture, to turn an outdoor cat into an indoor cat.

Yes but a word of caution or rather perspective.

When my daughter moved into her home she inherited a grey cat named Smokey. The neighbors say the people who lived there prior to her had bought him but he spent most of his time outdoors becoming the neighborhood cat and returning to a semi-feral state. Once he gets to know you he is an affectionate cat, purring and rubbing against your legs and wanting to be petted. In the early days I, and several others, got some good bloodletting from him when pulling your hand away and he swats out but he stopped doing that. I guess he realizes you are not going to hit him or try to pick him up (he doesn’t like to be held). He would also swat at your legs when you turned to walk away. ,He still does that from time to time but it is like he tries to keep his claws in but sometimes they still scratch. just lonely I guess.

He doesn’t want to come inside. You can leave the door open and he will just sit at the sill. He will come to the door in the morning and afternoon. Along with my daughter several other neighbors on the block feed him. When not wandering from house to house he spends a lot of time in a wooded area across the street.

So, technically, she has a cat but in actuality she is just a cat welfare stop.

@ragingloli is the cat expert, ask him.

Be careful however as Loli’s roles for a cat in the home stretch to the… unusual.

**a source of protein?

Finder’s keepers looser’s weepers!
You got you a vicious kitty cat!

Contact the local animal shelter with a description, place where found, and photo. Other than that, welcome to the cat owners society!

Good ideas! Especially about contacting the SPCA shelter. I’ll stop there ASAP and also give them my poster with two pictures.

But I don’t want to wait much longer to get him neutered and medical care.

Maui has been is a few bad fights. One time it looked like a dog ruffed him up bad (looked like he had been through a washing machine and he had a bloody neck). I’m hoping that neutering hime will decrease his night prowling and aggressive behavior.

@gondwanalon As a major animal lover, I thank you so much for caring for this little soul.

Maui is yours. Enjoy!

If he needs that much dental work then he hasn’t been taken care of in a long time, if ever. So ether he’s never had an owner or his previous owners have abandoned him, or they’ve been negligent in his care. Possibly he’s been hopelessly separated from his owners, but even in that case, going by the state of his teeth, it’s been a long while. Whatever the case, not only can you keep him, but you should (since you’re inclined to). Even if he had previous owners cats there’s no legal liability for you keeping him. He’s yours now.

Have you had him checked for a microchip? When you take him for his exam they can scan him. If there is no chip then yes, he’s yours to keep. Even if he is already chipped the owners may not want him back and you can certainly get an idea of how they seem by talking with them.

Tell them you are having him vetted, neutered and treated for a broken tooth and if they want him back they need to pay for his treatment. See how that shakes down. He’s lucky to have found you and I bet he will be a good cat once he is all fixed up again. P.S. He’s adorable, I love the tabby striped with white, he looks a lot like one of my old kitties “Marley.”

That is the cat’s decision.

@gondwanalon What the heck is the blood spatter photos a few rows down anyway? Was that Mauis attack on you? lol

I’d follow Coloma’s idea of having the vet try to scan for a chip first. Otherwise it sounds like you’ve done what you should have.

Don’t count on the cat’s being fixed to settle him down and keep him out of fights. That should have been done when he was a kitten.

He sounds like he’s probably a feral cat, but he’s adopted you, on his terms. I agree you should get his health checked, teeth fixed etc. and you may have to accept that he will live his life with you under his own terms. I doubt you will be able to convince him to be an indoor cat now. His life has been roaming free. He might take off for periods and you won’t see him. If you feed him and build a relationship with him, he might just decide to always come home.

Neutering and maturity will greatly diminish his urge to roam and once he realizes how comfy it is in a warm house on a cold night he will start liking that too. My neighbor tamed/befriended a young black cat here on this property last July. He had been running wild in the fields around here and there is about 50 acres of raw land across the road from this 12 acre property. She gradually had him coming closer and closer while she sat out front with a bowl of food.

He then was confined nights in a cozy little outbuilding next to the chicken coop here, his “apartment.” Now, just in the last week he is using the indoor litter box and spending the nights inside. I am house sitting for her all week until Sunday and let me tell you, ‘Beni” is diggin’ flaking out on one of the dog beds in front of the fireplace and he now is Mr. clingy, all over you and wanting pets and attention. From semi-feral cat around a year old to Mr. ‘I own the place” and can’t stay out of your face and want to sleep by the fire in less than 6 months.

Last night I was sitting in the leather recliner next to the fireplace and looked over and he was stretched out belly up on the big dog bed with his back feet pressed up against the bottom hearth of the fireplace in kitty bliss land. haha

Get rid, cats are for pussies…no, wait!

He’s yours.

We found a cat in the school yard a few months ago. I think he’d been living there at least two years because I remember seeing him two years ago. He was very friendly and so I took him home. The next day I took him to the vet and had him tested for diseases (FLV), they scanned him and said he had no chip. My daughter was very happy he had no chip. He had been neutered already, which meant someone owned him at one time. I got him a rabies shot and we were good to go. So I had to pay for the office visit, the blood work and test, sedation because he wouldn’t allow the vet to take the blood without a big tantrum, and the rabies shot.

He is very friendly when he doesn’t see any other cats. He’s very affectionate like a real lover. However, when he sees the other cats in the house he hisses and growls. It seems to really ruin his good time. Maybe it comes from a few years in the school yard (which is a huge piece of wooded property in a rural area). Maybe out there in the woods he had to be defensive and nasty to keep other animals away from him and to maintain his territory.

I think he’s very happy to be in my warm house with great food and not have to worry about where his next meal is coming from or how to stay warm and dry. I’m happy he’s here. He’s a tuxedo cat (black and white like a cow). My daughter named him Oreo. The vet said he is about six or seven.

@jca Awww…that’s great. He’s lucky he survived that long with your severe winters there. Same here for the new cat, lots of coyotes and cougars in these hills and rattlesnakes, which he did get bitten right after my neighbor was starting to handle him and he received treatment. Same thing, he was already neutered so who knows where he came from out here. Somehow he didn’t get eaten all summer.

You all are so helpful. Thank you for your clear thinking advice.

@Coloma The blood splatter pictures were taken of a BM of my other cat (now deceased) that I took to show to the veterinarian last year. I spent a big pile of money on vet bills. Many tests were taken many visits to the vet. No diagnosis. The vet just told me that my cat had food allergies and she was old (16 years old). We tried a number of things to keep her alive. I really knocked myself out to help her but it was a losing fight and so sad.

I’ve determined that Maui has no chip. I have a computer cat door that recognizes cat ID chips. When I went through the process of programing Maui the door didn’t identify a chip.

FYI: Maui sleeps inside the house all day then eats dinner and is out all night. The next day he’s back for breakfast and crashes on the couch all day. I also made a bed for him on the front porch that he regularly uses.

Maui likes to sometimes bat pieces of rolled up pepper around the room. He has shown no aggression at all to my other male cat. They eat side by side and sometimes engage in a friendly game of chase.

@gondwanalon Haha, well, you’ve got yourself a new cat for sure. Sorry about your old kitty. :-(

Maui is a lucky cat @gondwanalon. He obviously recognised someone who would take care of him when he saw you.

@gondwanalon I think Maui has adopted you.

Yeah, the body language in those pictures looks to me (life-long cat lover) to be saying, “I want to live here and have you pet me and feed me like this all the time!”

Hell yeah. Keep the cat.

OK you all have convinced me that I’m justified to give Maui needed medical care and I’ll keep him. Maui likes the care that I’ve been giving him for the last 4 months. He’s comfortable here.

Maui’s previous owners abused him by allowing him to roam free without being neutered or displaying an ID tag or the required rabies vaccination tag on a collar. Also why would he stay with me if he received good treatment elsewhere?

Maui has an appointment for Monday 1–30-17 for a medical check and vaccinations. Neutering and dental work will be scheduled later.

Thank you all again for your help!

I’m glad you’ve fou… sorry Maui has found a new carer. I really do feel he has chosen you. He’s a smart cat.