"Ajanta" wrote in message
...
With no experience in pets, I started feeding a stray/homeless cat.
Initially, I later learned, she was fed by a nighbor,

Yeah, they will have multiple feeding points,..it's part of their survival
response.



but felt
harrassed by his cat and children. So she would eat there but climb one
floor up to my porch to relax. It is quieter, sunnier, higher up here.
That's how we met. She was always friendly, dignified, independent.
Never made a mess, never begged, and always wanted to leave after a few
hours. I never knew and still don't all the places she goes to.

They usually all do that. They are conditioned to live outside. Don't feel
as tho she is rejecting you. She's just doing her rounds. Eventually, she
will spend more and more time with you, as she feels she's wanted and
there's food there every time.



When my neighbor left for Europe, it fell upon me to take over feeding.
That was a minor adjustment for her and she easily learned it.

Now, it sounds stupid, but here is my problem: She is not my pet, I
don't know all the places she roams, she may well have other sources of
food even if they are not stable, and I cannot tell when she is really
hungry and when she has already eaten enough elsewhere.

As far as I know, cats don't eat unless they are hungary. They may just take
a nibble,..but no more than that if they're full.


As I said she does not let me know she is hungry but comes and hangs
around. If I don't offer her food, she won't beg. But, perhaps because
she may have spent many hungry days, she finds it hard to resist the
food that is offered. (On rare occasions, when she is neither hungry
nor likes the food served, she'd eat only a little and most of it is
wasted, but that is the smaller problem.) The bigger and more frequent
problem is that she already ate something, tends to overeat and get
sick. This happens about once a week.

So, dear experts on cat behavior, please help me figure this out. How
can I get a hint whether she is hungry or full?

My experience is, that all cats have a routine when they want to tell you
they want some food. Perhaps she gives you more attention or hangs around
the cupboard or kitchen where the food is prepared/ tins opened?


I have tried asking around if anyone feeds her (no one I asked). I have
tried putting a can in front of her and watch her reaction, but I have
no clue until I open the can and watch the results. (Sorry to be gross,
but I can tell from her vomit that mostly it isn't hairball but some
food in addition to what I gave.)

The vomiting maybe just a response to a different food, or she has just
ingested some grass, or she maybe feeling a little off. Cats eat grass to
make themselves vomit,...but I get the impression, some do it (eat grass) as
a reflex, even when they aren't feeling sick.

Thanks!

Jason