jmc wrote:

Suddenly, without warning, exclaimed (11-Oct-05 8:07
PM):
snip story about cat running loose outside

Does this little kitty have ID tags? If not and she is running loose
with no obvious home, you should grab her, keep her in a separate
room and bring her to the spay van when you bring your other cat.
They can shave her belly and check for a spay scar. If she doesn't
have one they can spay her along with the other cat and you will have
done a great service to cats everywhere by preventing more additions
to an already overpopulated world and some unnecessary deaths. You
could then find her home with a responsible person.

If there's no way to identify her as owned, don't worry about the
possibility she belongs somewhere. I have a rule that if a cat is
running loose with no ID and not neutered they are fair game for
fixing and rehoming. Obviously it's easier to know if a male is not
neutered, but shaving the belly of a cat that might have a home just
to check for a spay scar is no harm done.

I rescued a cat last week that fits this criteria. Running loose, no
ID and definitely has an infestation of earmites. I have her in a
foster home and she's going in tomorrow for testing and spay (if she
doesn't show evidence she has been spayed already.) Even if she was,
she'll be adopted out instead of going back on the street because
whoever had her didn't care enough about her to keep her
identifiable, healthy and free of mites.

I cannot in good conscience turn away from unneutered cats roaming
around. There are just too many cats already and millions dying, and
neutering even one cat makes a difference. You're lucky you have a
spay van where you live. We have no such thing in my city and don't
have low cost clinics, so you pay full price or it doesn't get done.
It's a real travesty and it's disgusting that our local humane
society, who is one of the richest in the country, has yet to
implement any sort of neutering program that could prevent a lot of
unwanted births and subsequent surrender of animals.

Megan

I hope you have them checked scanned for a chip before you rehome
them!
I know some folks that consider collars on an outdoor cat to be
dangerous, but have them chipped so they *are* identifiable.

I'm not going to get into the indoor/outdoor debate, but I think that
with as many cats as are chipped these days, one should really have
that checked before assuming the cat's homeless!

jmc


Almost exactly what I was going to say! My (indoor) cats have microchips
and only Mr. master escape artist wears a collar as well. But even his
collar is a safety collar that could be easily pulled off if snagged. I
sure hope that anyone responsible enough to spay and rehome strays would
also be scanning for micro-chipped lost pets.