Question on rescuing

We live in an apartment complex, and for the past several weeks we have seen
a beautiful white young adult cat (I'd guess she's 12-18 months, maybe?)
hanging around the pool area. We see her during the day, evening, whenever,
and I've made friends with her. She'll come up to me when I call, likes
being petted, purrs for me, and she'll let me pick her up and hold her for a
couple of minutes. She's not declawed, and seems to be in good health with
good weight. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure it's a she, but am guessing
from the brief look under her tail. =) We're not sure if she's truly a
stray, or if she's an "outdoor cat" that "belongs" to someone in the
apartment complex.

Would I be ethically wrong in trying to coax her inside and either finding
her a new home or keeping her ourselves? Many people walk their dogs
without leashes in the complex (even though they're not supposed to), and
when brought some food down for her, she narfed it right down (when she
wasn't distracted by trying to catch the birds).

My rescue experience has been pretty much limited to transports of dogs, so
any advice is greatly appreciated. =)

Thanks,
Tirya
--
TDC Inca Jeeper
A girl and her Jeep... it's a beautiful thing...

Would I be ethically wrong in trying to
coax her inside and either finding her a
new home or keeping her ourselves?

I don't think so. Do her a favor and take her in. Get her vet checked
and they can shave her tummy to check for a spay scar. AFAIC, a cat that
is without ID, obviously hungry, and is free roaming all hours of the
day and night is at risk of serious harm and in need of rescue.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

wrote in message
...
Would I be ethically wrong in trying to
coax her inside and either finding her a
new home or keeping her ourselves?

I don't think so. Do her a favor and take her in. Get her vet checked
and they can shave her tummy to check for a spay scar. AFAIC, a cat that
is without ID, obviously hungry, and is free roaming all hours of the
day and night is at risk of serious harm and in need of rescue.

Megan

I went out just a couple of minutes ago and ended up talking to her
"owner" - she was lying in the grass near an apartment and a guy was out on
the porch. I asked him if she were his cat, he said yes. I told him I
thought she was a stray because we saw her all the time, and he admitted
that she lived outside mostly. I petted her a couple of times and started
to leave, and she followed me. =) I told her that now that I knew she
belonged to someone, that she should go back home, but she stayed by me,
flopped over on her side and let me scratch her belly, put her paws on my
feet, put her rump against my leg, and basically would probably have
followed me home if I'd kept walking. The guy finally came over his porch
rail and picked her up to take her inside.

::sigh::

Tirya

"Tirya" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
Would I be ethically wrong in trying to
coax her inside and either finding her a
new home or keeping her ourselves?

I don't think so. Do her a favor and take her in. Get her vet checked
and they can shave her tummy to check for a spay scar. AFAIC, a cat that
is without ID, obviously hungry, and is free roaming all hours of the
day and night is at risk of serious harm and in need of rescue.

Megan

I went out just a couple of minutes ago and ended up talking to her
"owner" - she was lying in the grass near an apartment and a guy was out
on
the porch. I asked him if she were his cat, he said yes. I told him I
thought she was a stray because we saw her all the time, and he admitted
that she lived outside mostly. I petted her a couple of times and started
to leave, and she followed me. =) I told her that now that I knew she
belonged to someone, that she should go back home, but she stayed by me,
flopped over on her side and let me scratch her belly, put her paws on my
feet, put her rump against my leg, and basically would probably have
followed me home if I'd kept walking. The guy finally came over his porch
rail and picked her up to take her inside.

::sigh::

Tirya



This sounds like a cat that really does need to be rescued. What did the
guy sound like? Do you think he would be open to a request from you that he
consider letting you adopt her (and possibly even a token payment)? You
would be doing the cat a big favor, and it sounds like you would get a
delightful companion.

MaryL

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
news:S%G3e.58976$3z.32273@okepread03...

"Tirya" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
Would I be ethically wrong in trying to
coax her inside and either finding her a
new home or keeping her ourselves?

I don't think so. Do her a favor and take her in. Get her vet checked
and they can shave her tummy to check for a spay scar. AFAIC, a cat
that
is without ID, obviously hungry, and is free roaming all hours of the
day and night is at risk of serious harm and in need of rescue.

Megan

I went out just a couple of minutes ago and ended up talking to her
"owner" - she was lying in the grass near an apartment and a guy was out
on
the porch. I asked him if she were his cat, he said yes. I told him I
thought she was a stray because we saw her all the time, and he admitted
that she lived outside mostly. I petted her a couple of times and
started
to leave, and she followed me. =) I told her that now that I knew she
belonged to someone, that she should go back home, but she stayed by me,
flopped over on her side and let me scratch her belly, put her paws on
my
feet, put her rump against my leg, and basically would probably have
followed me home if I'd kept walking. The guy finally came over his
porch
rail and picked her up to take her inside.

::sigh::

This sounds like a cat that really does need to be rescued. What did the
guy sound like? Do you think he would be open to a request from you that
he
consider letting you adopt her (and possibly even a token payment)? You
would be doing the cat a big favor, and it sounds like you would get a
delightful companion.

He says she belongs to his four year old daughter, so I doubt he'd be open
to the idea.

But if she follows me home and comes inside, that's a whole 'nother story.
=/

On 2005-04-03, MaryL penned:

This sounds like a cat that really does need to be rescued. What
did the guy sound like? Do you think he would be open to a request
from you that he consider letting you adopt her (and possibly even a
token payment)? You would be doing the cat a big favor, and it
sounds like you would get a delightful companion.


As an alternate point of view, Tirya did say that the cat appears to
be in good health, and she's obviously not afraid of people. Maybe
she's just an indoor/outdoor cat who's also a lap fungus and eats food
whenever she can get it. I've certainly read plenty of stories of
apartment cats who go from door to door, mooching food from the
complex with their "woe is me" looks, while the owner is frustrated
that the cat's diet just doesn't seem to be helping it lose weight.

I know a lot of people immediately equate cats being allowed outdoors
to animal abuse, but I don't think it's that black and white, even
though I keep my cat indoors.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Monique wrote:
As an alternate point of view, Tirya did
say that the cat appears to be in good
health, and she's obviously not afraid of
people.

And this is the single best reason why this cat shouild not be allowed
to roam at all hours of the day and night. For you to defend this
practice is thoughtless and stupid. She is exactly the type of cat that
is easy to pick up and walk off with, especially in an environment where
you have a large population of people concentrated into one area (the
apt. complex) and many types of people coming and going all the time.
This puts her at a serious and very real risk for being taken by people
with nefarious intentions.

She could be sold to a lab, used as bait for training pit bulls or be
subjected to abuse, torture and death.

To allow her to roam free day and night is extremely irresponsible, and
to put her at risk for any of the above is unconscionable. If it were me
I would quietly make her "disappear" and then reappear into a home where
concern for her welfare is first and foremost.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

wrote in message
...
Monique wrote:
As an alternate point of view, Tirya did
say that the cat appears to be in good
health, and she's obviously not afraid of
people.

And this is the single best reason why this cat shouild not be allowed
to roam at all hours of the day and night. For you to defend this
practice is thoughtless and stupid. She is exactly the type of cat that
is easy to pick up and walk off with, especially in an environment where
you have a large population of people concentrated into one area (the
apt. complex) and many types of people coming and going all the time.
This puts her at a serious and very real risk for being taken by people
with nefarious intentions.

She could be sold to a lab, used as bait for training pit bulls or be
subjected to abuse, torture and death.

To allow her to roam free day and night is extremely irresponsible, and
to put her at risk for any of the above is unconscionable. If it were me
I would quietly make her "disappear" and then reappear into a home where
concern for her welfare is first and foremost.

Megan




Megan really would do this, too -- and I applaud her for it. Cats should
not be seen as "property" that can be disposed of like a piece of old
furniture or left outside to the whims of whoever might take advantage of a
friendly cat. When I was in college, one of the biology profs actually sent
students out to roam the town and pick up "strays" that were then used for
biology experiments. The practice stopped when some students appeared with
a gorgeous white Persian-type cat wearing a collar. Some stray! Laws have
also been passed since that time that should eliminate the practice, but
these laws have not prevented private individuals from grabbing pets and
either selling them to labs or subjecting them to other types of cruelty. I
literally cringe at the knowledge of some of the things that happen to these
unfortunate cats and dogs.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

I belong to a rescue group. In my area, and most I'm familiar with, if you
let your animal out it must have a collar and rabies tag or is considered a
stray. I would say the cat is at risk and would pick her up.
Joe

"Tirya" wrote in message
...
We live in an apartment complex, and for the past several weeks we have
seen
a beautiful white young adult cat (I'd guess she's 12-18 months, maybe?)
hanging around the pool area. We see her during the day, evening,
whenever,
and I've made friends with her. She'll come up to me when I call, likes
being petted, purrs for me, and she'll let me pick her up and hold her for
a
couple of minutes. She's not declawed, and seems to be in good health
with
good weight. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure it's a she, but am guessing
from the brief look under her tail. =) We're not sure if she's truly a
stray, or if she's an "outdoor cat" that "belongs" to someone in the
apartment complex.

Would I be ethically wrong in trying to coax her inside and either finding
her a new home or keeping her ourselves? Many people walk their dogs
without leashes in the complex (even though they're not supposed to), and
when brought some food down for her, she narfed it right down (when she
wasn't distracted by trying to catch the birds).

My rescue experience has been pretty much limited to transports of dogs,
so
any advice is greatly appreciated. =)

Thanks,
Tirya
--
TDC Inca Jeeper
A girl and her Jeep... it's a beautiful thing...

I've certainly read plenty of stories of
apartment cats who go from door to door, mooching food from the
complex with their "woe is me" looks, while the owner is frustrated
that the cat's diet just doesn't seem to be helping it lose weight.


A friend of mine saw this hungry looking skinny cat and taking pity on
her, took her home. She turned out to own the local vet....So Rosemary
(Friend) starts having a go at him about how as a vet he should know
better than to starve a poor cat and he had to explain that she was
perfectly well fed but unable to resist scrounging.

I don't think the vet ever forgave her even when she did a version of
the "Parrot sketch" which involved a tortoise. (I mean how do you know
when a tortoise is dead? Especially when it's supposed to be
hibernating, she had to walk in and plonk said tortoise on his
examining table and ask the classic question "Is this tortoise dead?")

Lesley

Slave to the Fabulous Furballs