

Feral cats have many options for food and may not need your help at all. You see a stray cat and might have an emotional reaction that causes you to want to help, but cats are natural predators, and ruthless ones at that. Keep in mind, cats are not helpless creatures. If you attempt to force it to eat, you could get bitten or scratched. Remember, a stray cat is basically a wild animal. One important rule to follow is to only offer and never force. Giving a cat milk could be forcing diarrhea or an upset stomach upon them.Īside from food, you’ll also want to make sure to provide the stray cat with plenty of fresh water. Their digestive systems are not built to process dairy. Though you’ll often see people offering milk to stray cats in movies, this is a bad idea. Wet food tends to be more appealing to cats, though if you only have dry cat kibble, you can try to offer that as well. Start by offering the cat a can of tuna or cat food. You can feed a stray cat the same sorts of foods you would feed to your pet cat. Once you’ve determined that the cat is truly stray, you can start to think about providing some care for it. The last thing you want to do is accidentally steal someone’s pet! Image Credit: 1000 Words, ShutterstockĮxhaust all possible options when ensuring that the cat is a stray.

Even without a collar, it’s possible that the cat is microchipped. If you find one, the cat is almost certainly someone’s pet. Make sure to check the cat for a collar or some sort of identifying tag. For instance, if the cat seems very lean, has a patchy or rough coat, or displays an overall unhealthy appearance, it’s a good bet that the cat hasn’t had human contact for some time. Still, you need to be sure that the cat is a stray before taking action. This means there are nearly as many stray cats as domestic ones in America. To put that in perspective, there are approximately 95.6 million cats kept as pets in the country, according to a national survey of pet owners. In the United States alone, it’s estimated that there are more than 70 million stray or feral cats. Truth be told, there’s a good chance that it is. The first thing you must be certain of is that it’s actually a stray cat. In this article, we aim to offer some succinct answers to help you figure out the right course of action to take when a stray shows up on your doorstep. Are you sure it’s a stray? Can you keep a stray cat? What can you feed a stray cat and what do they normally eat?Įach of these questions is sensible, and before you can determine how to best handle the situation, you’ll need some answers. You were hoping for another cat, and here one just happens to show up! But many questions are running through your mind. If you’re feline-obsessed, then a stray cat showing up at your door might seem like divine providence.
