Stray Little Kitty (with pictures)

[Jilliebean0606]

We had a very exciting weekend that almost ended with a new addition to the family...

On Friday night I was coming out of work with another teacher (I teach at a dance studio). The studio is in a plaza with many other buildings but we always use the back door. As we were walking to our cars we spotted a tiny little kitty way in the back of the lot near the woods. We slowly walked over to her and after a lot of calm talking and patience, we managed to pick her up and bring her inside the studio (it was freezing out that night, about 35 degrees). We stayed inside with her for about 45 minutes and gave her water. We didn't have any food except some chips and she immediately devoured anything we gave her. She was very skinny and dirty looking and we even found a tick on her.

We weren't sure what to do with her. Since we didn't have food or a litter box at the studio we obviously didn't want to leave her there for the night. It was obvious she didn't have an owner because she was so skinny, we could literally feel every bone in her body. I finally decided to take her home because I have 2 kitties of my own.

When I brought her home I locked my cats in the bedroom before I brought her in. I placed her down in front of a food dish and she the ate for about 10 minutes straight and completely cleaned out the dish. I decided to introduce her to my cats to see what would happen. I have two cats who are 8 months (they are brother and sister). They are my only pets and they are indoor kitties so they haven't seen other animals since they were born.

My little girl kitty Baby immediately poofed all her fur out, hissed a little, then ran under the bed. She stayed under there for several hours.

Salem, the boy kitty, just sat in the same spot and starred at the little stray. If she came any closer than 1 or 2 feet he would hiss and growl at her. I felt so bad for the poor little kitty. She was very sweet and cuddly and loved to be held and pet. I kept her over night but I knew my cats would not be happy if she stayed with us. So, the next morning I had to call the animal control officer to come and get her. She promised they would clean her up, get her healthy and then adopt her out. She said because she was so sweet and friendly that they should have no problem adopting her out. I hope she's right! I will probably call in a week or so to check up on things.

Anyways, here is a picture of the little stray. I'm actually not even sure if she was a boy or a girl. I'm guessing it was about 3 or 4 months old. It was considerably smaller than my kitties but it was so skinny it was hard to tell just how old it was. Isn't she a cutie??

[Traci]

You should NEVER introduce stray cats to your resident cats WITHOUT first having the cat immediately evaluated by a vet and tested for FELV/FIV. This is an easy way to introduce feline infectious diseases! (including mites, fleas, etc)

Also, never relinquish a pet to an animal shelter unless they are a NO-kill shelter only, despite the "promises", most shelters can only house animals for a few days before they are euthanized. So, if you're truly concerned for this kitty, I would strongly suggest calling the shelter ASAP and trying to find her a suitable home on your own.

[Jilliebean0606]

Well I didn't have any other choice but to introduce her to my kitties. I live in a small one bedroom apartment and I only have one litter box. I didn't get home from work that night til about 10 pm so I knew I wouldn't able to take her to the vet until at least the next morning. There was no way I could keep my cats or this cat in a seperate room from the litter box for that long. The stray cat ended up sleeping in the living room and my cats slept in my bedroom with me. My cats were way too scared though to even go near her so I know they never came in contact with each other.

I did call the vet the next morning (Saturday) to try to schedule an appointment. But they were full that day so they suggested I call other local animal hospitals. At point though I knew I wasn't going to keep her so I figured it wasn't worth the time and and money to bring her to an animal hospital.

I know for a fact that the animal control officer I talked to was bringing her to a non-kill shelter. I live in a very small town so she told me that if that shelter couldn't adpot her out they would bring her to a shelter in the closest city. I've adopted from that city shelter in the past so I also know for a fact that they are non-kill.

It's not like I just handed her over without asking questions. And I knew that bringing her home that night was a lot better and safer than leaving her out in the freezing cold.

[Traci]

While I agree that giving her temporary shelter was the right thing to do, it was risky for your other cats. Many viruses are airborne, do not need direct contact with nose-to-nose, etc. Please, in the future, be cautious about that.

Just a word of caution: check into any shelter that claims they are no-kill. Many shelters will claim that, but in fact, will euthanize perfectly healthy animals. A no-kill shelter is usually popular/upstanding in the community/area and will advertise on a frequent basis, will have adopt-a-thons, will establish spay/neuter clinics, and go to great lengths to educate the public...