Anthony Martino
Royal Flush
Moved into our new home a few months ago. A couple of weeks back a cat showed up in our yard, I called it over and it came over meowing and let me pet it.
Wound up seeing it frequently and fed her, and then it seemed like she was trying to move in with us, wanting to push her way inside the house, always coming around the corner whether it was morning, noon or night.
She had started living under our house, and we continued to feed her on a daily basis. Figured she must've been abandoned, definitely too friendly to be feral.
Contacted a local no-kill shelter, but with four locations they're full with 250 cats. They referred me to the Humane Society in Tampa who gave me a different # to call. Got run around in circles, tried a place in Pasco County and they had VERY specific criteria to accept strays (i.e. cat had to be have been completely declawed front and back so it wasn't able to fend for itself, or be very young or very old, etc).
Found a Lost & Found Pets board for my county on Facebook, posted her there, someone recommended another shelter. Checked their website "we don't accept strays" so that was a no-go as well.
Booked an appointment this Friday with a local vet to have her checked for a microchip and get a checkup. They said we should lure her into a cat carrier Thursday night, then leave her in there so she'll defecate and that way they'll have a stool sample to check.
Provided she's not microchipped we've given in that we belong to her now. We've got a spare room that we can close off. We'll stick her in there and keep her separated from our two cats for about a week. Exchange their bedding so they can get acclimated to one anothers scents and then try to introduce them in person (or in feline?) after that.
Wound up seeing it frequently and fed her, and then it seemed like she was trying to move in with us, wanting to push her way inside the house, always coming around the corner whether it was morning, noon or night.
She had started living under our house, and we continued to feed her on a daily basis. Figured she must've been abandoned, definitely too friendly to be feral.
Contacted a local no-kill shelter, but with four locations they're full with 250 cats. They referred me to the Humane Society in Tampa who gave me a different # to call. Got run around in circles, tried a place in Pasco County and they had VERY specific criteria to accept strays (i.e. cat had to be have been completely declawed front and back so it wasn't able to fend for itself, or be very young or very old, etc).
Found a Lost & Found Pets board for my county on Facebook, posted her there, someone recommended another shelter. Checked their website "we don't accept strays" so that was a no-go as well.
Booked an appointment this Friday with a local vet to have her checked for a microchip and get a checkup. They said we should lure her into a cat carrier Thursday night, then leave her in there so she'll defecate and that way they'll have a stool sample to check.
Provided she's not microchipped we've given in that we belong to her now. We've got a spare room that we can close off. We'll stick her in there and keep her separated from our two cats for about a week. Exchange their bedding so they can get acclimated to one anothers scents and then try to introduce them in person (or in feline?) after that.