Legalities regarding stray cat

[Gazo]

Hi all,
My cousin has had a cat living under a bush in her big back garden for 10days+ now.
The cat has no collar, however my cousin has put a paper collar with her phone number on, but has not had a reply for over 7days.
She has also posted pictures of the cat on social media and been round her local estate to try and trace any possible owners, but all to no avail.
She has been feeding the cat outside and the cat seems to be gaining her trust.
She was going to take the cat to the vets to see if she is microchipped, but hasn't got round to doing it yet. She goes on holiday tomorrow and I've offered to take the cat to the vets.
What is the legal standpoint regarding: -
1. If the cat is microchipped. Will the vet keep the cat and return to the owner or should I do it?
2. If the cat is not microchipped. I would like the cat to become part of my family, so can I just take her home - obviously using appropriate measures to ensure she intergrates properly with my existing two cats (not related), of which I'm very familiar with the processes.

I'm in the UK.

Many thanks.
Gary

[fecto's mum]

I would say you have done everything to try and trace the cat's owner. If the cat is microchipped you may be able to get in touch with the owner but I know from rescue centres this is not always possible. I would think the vet will be only too pleased for you to take the cat in.

All our cats are rescues, 4 are strays or unwanted cats that were thrown out. The owner of our Ragdoll was traced via his microchip but didn't want him back so we kept him.

Best of luck with the cat, hope all works out well.

[Velvet]

If its a stray female ask the vet to check & see if pregnant - this being kitten season x

[angieh]

Good luck with this cat and bless you for wanting to take him or her into your home.

[Kim]

I think every step has been taken to try and find an owner, bless you for wanting to take her. I hope it all works out.

[yola]

This is what I did when we had a black stray tom hanging around for ages. He was nervous but we fed him and gained his trust. He was entire though and came in and sprayed everywhere. I put a collar and note on him, checked with local vets but we suspected he belonged to someone elderly who had passed away as he was very cuddly once trust had been established and had been living rough for quite some time.

Eventually we took him on and had him neutered and checked out; cost us a ****** fortune in the end as he was FIV+ and had all sorts wrong with him, but he had an extra 3 years of warmth, food and cuddles before he succumbed to heart failure during a routine dental.

So yes, if you can provide evidence you have done everything you can to trace an owner, and left a suitable period of time in which to get a response, I would suggest you could take him on.

[Gazo]

Morning all,
Quick update for you all.

Well we managed to finally get "him" to the vets on Tuesday evening after the Easter weekend and no vets being open locally. We never checked the sexuality, just trusted my cousin, who is a cat mad Uni student!!!
The vet thinks he's about 1-2yrs old, but I'm convinced he may even be a bit younger than that. (Still no photos yet I'm afraid!!!)
So the scan proved unsuccessful, so he's not micro chipped. Yay, we can keep him as a guest until we're sure no rightful owner can be found.
We've booked him in for full works, vaccinations, neutering and basic worming/flea medication.

Girls obviously initially distressed by his boy smell, but all now settling down and were all in the living last night chilling with us.

He does meow/cry a lot at night when we've turned in for the night (we leave the bedroom door open for the girls to come and go as they please), but we're just not sure why. He has ended up on our window cill for the past two nights eventually after about 2hrs of prowling the house meowing (we live in a 3 storey house as well). Is he hungry, wants to go out, needs the toilet? He has been to the toilet once in the litter tray, 3 times elsewhere in the house. Any suggestions would be welcome as to how to undertstand him better.

Thanks in advance.
Gary

I forgot to ask, how much should a healthy young male be eating in a day? He seems very greedy, but we're not putting anything extra other than a portion in the morning and a portion in the evening. Portion = half a foil pack of wet food and about 10 Go-Cat biscuits.

[pamela81]

My Harris wouldn't use a tray, he was found outside at the age of 2montgs so hadn't been litter trained. Vet advised to have trays with different litter types we did this but I also had 1 with compost as he was outdoors and that's the 1 he started using almost immediately. Gradually weaned him on to wood pellets. Maybe try different trays in various locations. Helped for us when we had to litter train

[yola]

I think he wants to go outside; his hormones are driving him to roam. He may also not be comfortable using litter trays as Pamela points out. I would also perhaps feed him a bit more than you're currently doing, up it to a full sachet morning and evening + free access to biscuits and water. It's unlikely a cat will gorge on food, they stop when they're full.

[angieh]

Good advice above re litter trays. As he has been used to roaming, that's where he wants to be - outside. It may be that he will settle, especially after he's neutered. I hope so.