Helping a wandering cat with an owner?

Question

There's a cat in our apartment complex that I see everyday and it usually hangs out by my car, I'll usually pet her before I leave and when I come home. Yesterday it followed me to my apartment and ended up sleeping all night on a chair we have outside. I'm worried that she isn't being taken care of because shes always outside and looks hungry but I called the owner and said she is being taken care of but that she likes to wander. She is also missing some hair above her eye and it might be mites or ringworm. For cat owners do you let your cat roam around all day and wouldn't you be concerned if you cat didn't come home at night? It's not my cat but I want to make sure shes ok, what should I do?

Answer 1

i'd definitely be worried.

especially at night you never know what could happen.  i have an open area behind my house and any neighbors have had their cats eaten by coyotes and foxes that roam back their at night or come home with battle wounds.

i'm not kidding you will look back their and find remains of a hardly recognizable cat out there in the grass at least once a month. it's so sad.

i once had a cat that we had let out as a kitten but when we took him for a vaccination he had a reaction to it and it almost killed him.

then he came home with a cut on his tongue when he was 14. we tried everything and the vet tried everything. it got infected so bad, he couldn't eat anymore, and eventually we had to put him down.

every cat after that has been an indoor cat and has lived longer and much healthier.

if i were the owner i'd also be afraid the cat might get run over.  everyday for about a week now on my way to work i see a dead cat on Orchard road, that obviously was run over, it eats at me every time i have to pass it and each day it's less and less recognizable as it repeatedly get run over an rots(sorry for the very disturbing image, but it's very hard to take in)

you should call the owner again and tell her many things that could happen to the cat if it's not careful.  If the owner shows no concern, than i'm afraid there's nothing you can do.  it's very sad.

Answer 2

I would never let my cat roam in the first place, but I do feed a feral cat outside, and I get concerned when she doesn't show up for food.

So, of course I would be concerned if it was a personal cat and it didn't show up when it is suppose to.

Answer 3

The choice on whether a cat is indoors only or has access to the outside world is a personal one that the owner gets to make.  So I don't think aggressively pointing out that it's safer to keep cats indoors is the way forwards. Many owners do not mind their cat disappearing for a day or two and get used to it.

At the end of the day, some cats DO enjoy spending a lot of time outside.  If she's a friendly cat it means she'd have been given a lot of love or she wouldn't like being petted by people.  If the lady lives in your apartment she may well be unconcerned as she can see it hanging around and unless it looks like its starving, it knows where to go to get food.

I wouldn't try to feed it or anything or it will become a 'two-dinner-cat', a pet hussy that goes all over the place to get some loving.  Unless there's scabbing or irritated looking skin where she's lost fur, she's probably fine, there's lots of reasons cat fur gets thinner.  Even if she did have mites (outdoor cats can pick them up easily) there's no saying that the owner isn't treating this anyway.  So unless you think she looks very neglected (thin cats have ribs you can see through fur and gaunt tummies, covered ribs means healthy weight regardless of how face looks) there's no need for you to do anything.  Just wanted to put your mind at ease cos I reckon she has a fine life :)