Stray kitten

Stray male tabby kitten started showing up. Saw him a few times with a
adult intact male, who was wearing a collar. Found out the owners of
the adult cat had no idea who the kitten belonged to.

Don't know how he is surviving outside (it was 118F yesterday) but I put
out water for him. My other two cats (both indoor, and both fixed, male
and female) hiss at him if I let him in the door but nothing serious.

I am considering taking him to the vet and having him neutered and then
keeping him indoors. However, I do not want to take someone else's pet.

How can I find out? If he is about 12wk old, how long before he becomes
sexually mature? (don't want him to start spraying if I decide to keep him.)

Check the paper for lost and found. He should be neutered at 5 months. I
think it is a wonderful idea to have him vet checked and then take him in.
Gail
"TAbby" wrote in message
news:LzNwg.116637$TK1.5756@fed1read06...
Stray male tabby kitten started showing up. Saw him a few times with a
adult intact male, who was wearing a collar. Found out the owners of the
adult cat had no idea who the kitten belonged to.

Don't know how he is surviving outside (it was 118F yesterday) but I put
out water for him. My other two cats (both indoor, and both fixed, male
and female) hiss at him if I let him in the door but nothing serious.

I am considering taking him to the vet and having him neutered and then
keeping him indoors. However, I do not want to take someone else's pet.

How can I find out? If he is about 12wk old, how long before he becomes
sexually mature? (don't want him to start spraying if I decide to keep
him.)

My indoor male was neutered at about 5 1/2 months and he has never
sprayed. He's almost 2 now.

As for finding the possible owner, you could make some flyers with his
picture on it to post in your area. On the other hand, if it's 118
outside, I'd have to wonder at the owner that would let such a baby out
in heat like that.

Michelle

TAbby wrote:
Stray male tabby kitten started showing up. Saw him a few times with a
adult intact male, who was wearing a collar. Found out the owners of
the adult cat had no idea who the kitten belonged to.

Don't know how he is surviving outside (it was 118F yesterday) but I put
out water for him. My other two cats (both indoor, and both fixed, male
and female) hiss at him if I let him in the door but nothing serious.

I am considering taking him to the vet and having him neutered and then
keeping him indoors. However, I do not want to take someone else's pet.

How can I find out? If he is about 12wk old, how long before he becomes
sexually mature? (don't want him to start spraying if I decide to keep him.)

TAbby wrote:
Stray male tabby kitten started showing up. Saw him a few times with a
adult intact male, who was wearing a collar. Found out the owners of
the adult cat had no idea who the kitten belonged to.

Don't know how he is surviving outside (it was 118F yesterday) but I put
out water for him. My other two cats (both indoor, and both fixed, male
and female) hiss at him if I let him in the door but nothing serious.

I am considering taking him to the vet and having him neutered and then
keeping him indoors. However, I do not want to take someone else's pet.

How can I find out? If he is about 12wk old, how long before he becomes
sexually mature? (don't want him to start spraying if I decide to keep him.)



We had a female (about 2 yrs. old) that came around in the dead of
winter. I live in the country, but there are houses around. She would
not let us near her for the first several weeks, but gradually "warmed"
up. We knew that she was someone's cat, but she had obviously been
dropped off by someone who did not want her around (I am not so sure
that it was the owner).

As far as your kitten, if you have made the effort to find the owner
and have had no luck, I would go ahead and bring in the kitten. I
would bring it in anyway if you feel that the heat is going to be a
problem. When you bring it in, make sure that you keep it away from
your other cats until you get it checked out by a vet. You don't want
to take any chances. I learned about these things from a great
resource at www.whydoesmycatdothat.com if you want to check it out.

If you decide to leave the kitten outside for a while longer, be sure
that you leave it plenty of food and water so it can survive until you
decide what action you are going to take.

Good Luck.
RB

Hi Tabby,

He's too young and it's too hot for him to be outside. If you can -- I'd
take him in even if you're still looking for possible owners. Could you
keep him in a bathroom or somewhere separate from you other cats?

You can put up posters and some newspapers let you put in free ads for
found pets.

Thanks for caring for him. Sounds like he needs a friend.

Rhonda

TAbby wrote:
Stray male tabby kitten started showing up. Saw him a few times with a
adult intact male, who was wearing a collar. Found out the owners of
the adult cat had no idea who the kitten belonged to.

Don't know how he is surviving outside (it was 118F yesterday) but I put
out water for him. My other two cats (both indoor, and both fixed, male
and female) hiss at him if I let him in the door but nothing serious.

I am considering taking him to the vet and having him neutered and then
keeping him indoors. However, I do not want to take someone else's pet.

How can I find out? If he is about 12wk old, how long before he becomes
sexually mature? (don't want him to start spraying if I decide to keep
him.)

Stray male tabby kitten started showing up. Saw him a few times with a
adult intact male, who was wearing a collar. Found out the owners of
the adult cat had no idea who the kitten belonged to.

Don't know how he is surviving outside (it was 118F yesterday) but I put
out water for him. My other two cats (both indoor, and both fixed, male
and female) hiss at him if I let him in the door but nothing serious.

I am considering taking him to the vet and having him neutered and then
keeping him indoors. However, I do not want to take someone else's pet.

How can I find out? If he is about 12wk old, how long before he becomes
sexually mature? (don't want him to start spraying if I decide to keep him.)


I would not worry about it belonging to someone. I regular take
kittens to the Humane Society or find homes for them after running an
ad in the lost and found. If it belongs to someone and they are
worried about it and want it back they will check the lost and found
ads and the shelters.

I can not see leaving a kitten to fend for itself in the wild. If it
is an adult cat that has learned to look out for itself I will feed it
and provide shelter for it during the winter if need be.

The two times I left a kitten be outdoors I ended up putting them down
eventually because one developed feline lukemia and was so skinny I do
not know how it was living. The other was either abused or had an
accident and looked like his mouth and nose and tongue were burned.
He could not eat or swallow and drueled all the time. I took him to
animal hospital and had him put down.

Now if a kitten hang out for more then a couple days I will try to
find it a home or take it to a shelter that will find it a home.

kraut wrote:
Stray male tabby kitten started showing up. Saw him a few times with a
adult intact male, who was wearing a collar. Found out the owners of
the adult cat had no idea who the kitten belonged to.

Don't know how he is surviving outside (it was 118F yesterday) but I put
out water for him. My other two cats (both indoor, and both fixed, male
and female) hiss at him if I let him in the door but nothing serious.

I am considering taking him to the vet and having him neutered and then
keeping him indoors. However, I do not want to take someone else's pet.

How can I find out? If he is about 12wk old, how long before he becomes
sexually mature? (don't want him to start spraying if I decide to keep him.)


I would not worry about it belonging to someone. I regular take
kittens to the Humane Society or find homes for them after running an
ad in the lost and found. If it belongs to someone and they are
worried about it and want it back they will check the lost and found
ads and the shelters.

I can not see leaving a kitten to fend for itself in the wild. If it
is an adult cat that has learned to look out for itself I will feed it
and provide shelter for it during the winter if need be.

The two times I left a kitten be outdoors I ended up putting them down
eventually because one developed feline lukemia and was so skinny I do
not know how it was living. The other was either abused or had an
accident and looked like his mouth and nose and tongue were burned.
He could not eat or swallow and drueled all the time. I took him to
animal hospital and had him put down.

Now if a kitten hang out for more then a couple days I will try to
find it a home or take it to a shelter that will find it a home.




My two cats I have now came the same way. They just showed up (both
together) in the yard one day. I left them outside for months (this was
in San Diego, which is not as hot as Phoenix in the summer) and they
never left for a previous home. (Vet said that they were probably
dumped.) I never put an ad in the paper but did walk the neighborhood
looking for lost cat signs.

This one is very socialized but, from the volume of food he eats, seems
to be starving. No one else is feeding him. As I mentioned in the
original post, I first saw him with an (owned--with collar) intact male.
So there is a lot of breeding going on around here.

As far as the heat goes, I am always amazed at the number of cats I see
outside when it is 110+. They lay under trees or in moist grass. Very
adaptable animals to be able to take it. I suppose so long as they have
water they can make it. How exactly do cats "sweat" anyway? Anyone know?

TAbby wrote:
As far as the heat goes, I am always amazed at the number of cats I see
outside when it is 110+. They lay under trees or in moist grass. Very
adaptable animals to be able to take it. I suppose so long as they have
water they can make it. How exactly do cats "sweat" anyway? Anyone know?

Cats sweat from their paw pads, and I think their noses. Sweating is not
a cat's main way to cool off like it is for us.

They pant and I believe their ears cool them too -- but someone else
probably has more info about that than me.

Rhonda

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 04:50:57 +0000, Rhonda wrote:

TAbby wrote:
As far as the heat goes, I am always amazed at the number of cats I see
outside when it is 110+. They lay under trees or in moist grass. Very
adaptable animals to be able to take it. I suppose so long as they have
water they can make it. How exactly do cats "sweat" anyway? Anyone know?

Cats sweat from their paw pads, and I think their noses. Sweating is not
a cat's main way to cool off like it is for us.

They pant and I believe their ears cool them too -- but someone else
probably has more info about that than me.

Rhonda

Afaik, water loss is mostly via respiration. Some of the big cats do well
in desert conditions. Being meat eaters, that's how they get most of the
water they need. I did read a couple articles recently claiming that
while cats on dry food do drink more water than those on moist food, they
usually don't drink enough to make up the deficit.

As far as the heat goes, I am always amazed at the number of cats I see
outside when it is 110+. They lay under trees or in moist grass. Very
adaptable animals to be able to take it. I suppose so long as they have
water they can make it. How exactly do cats "sweat" anyway? Anyone know?

Cats sweat from their paw pads, and I think their noses. Sweating is not
a cat's main way to cool off like it is for us.

They pant and I believe their ears cool them too -- but someone else
probably has more info about that than me.

Rhonda

Afaik, water loss is mostly via respiration. Some of the big cats do well
in desert conditions. Being meat eaters, that's how they get most of the
water they need. I did read a couple articles recently claiming that
while cats on dry food do drink more water than those on moist food, they
usually don't drink enough to make up the deficit.


Following is a site about how cats keep cool and there is nothing
about their paws.