It started off that I was just outside weeding my flowerbed. WHen I was finished I was walking up my driveway and happened to spot the "neighborhood" cat under my neighbor's truck in his driveway. (I believe this cat is owned by people a few houses down== story goes that about 6 months ago they took it out to the country and let it go and it found its way back all the way here- our neighbor told my husband this about the people who "own" it. The poor kitty!)
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Anyway that is exactly what I am thinking, "poor kitty" so I called the kitty and surprisingly it came right over to me, meowing and purring and rubbing up against me. Well I figured it might be thirsty and rather than have it try to find a puddle of water around here (it hasn't rained in some time now) I figured I would fill up a dish with water. He/She loved that so then I thought I would give it some of the good food I give my cats- since I figured even if these people are feeding this cat they probably give it cheap garbage. So I gave it some food and then went inside and watched it eat it ALL !! It did not leave until it ate all that food- the poor thing probably never tasted anything so good! Well I left the water outside incase it gets thirsty again later but now I am thinking maybe I made a mistake- is this cat going to always be lingering around my house now looking for food? I have two indoor cats (once abandoned and I adopted them) and I don't want my cats to go nuts because there is a cat outside and also my husband will probably not understand my "broken heart" for this poor cat.
Feeding neighborhood outdoor cat- did I make a mistake?
Re: Feeding neighborhood outdoor cat- did I make a mistake?
Congratulations, Marie, you've just joined the ranks of "the sucker light is on for neighborhood strays".
If you don't feed/water him again, no he will not hang around, he will find other food sources. However, you could talk with the owner and explain the outdoor hazards for cats, and try to advise them to get him back indoors. It doesn't sound like they give one iota for this poor kitty though, so another thing you could do is try to contact a rescue organization in your area to see if there is someone available to foster him until a new home can be found. I wouldn't advise calling a shelter, most are kill-shelters, and his demise would be sure and swift.
He probably also has worms, which would explain the ravenous appetite.
If you don't feed/water him again, no he will not hang around, he will find other food sources. However, you could talk with the owner and explain the outdoor hazards for cats, and try to advise them to get him back indoors. It doesn't sound like they give one iota for this poor kitty though, so another thing you could do is try to contact a rescue organization in your area to see if there is someone available to foster him until a new home can be found. I wouldn't advise calling a shelter, most are kill-shelters, and his demise would be sure and swift.
He probably also has worms, which would explain the ravenous appetite.
..........Traci