Cats on Tuesday

It's been a very busy couple of days for me and I cannot believe it's Cat Tuesday already. I haven't had much time to think about a story, and Gretchen has just told everyone about the excitment in her day on her site, plus the day is almost over for my end of the world, a new day already dawning with most of my cat friends, so I was just not going to post at all until I read an article in today's paper. An article by Deborah Wood in her column, Pet Talk in the Oregonian, made me think again on poor little Ragpuff's fate. I thought I would share it with all, mostly because I was concerned that Ragpuff already had a family and our manager just had him hauled off and dumped in a field somewhere...and what if he did have a family aready? And if he did, they would never know what had happened to him.

Impulse to save a stray cat may mean swiping someone's pet instead
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Pets/Question time

Q: My animal-loving daughter is moving back home for the summer after her junior year at college. She's been feeding a cat (dubbed Mooch for the moment) that's been hanging out in her neighborhood and wants to bring him home with her. I'm concerned that the cat may belong to someone. Many years ago (before I realized the importance of cats living inside), my husband and I had a cat that we found out was living part time with a neighbor -- we never knew until they told us. My family wants to do the right thing; we just need help figuring out what it is.

A: There are roughly as many feral, abandoned and homeless cats as there are cats with loving homes, so the odds are good that Mooch needs you. Still, many cats do hang out at multiple homes, and you don't want to take someone's pet.
First, take a look at the cat and his habits. Does Mooch seem thin and hungry or round and shiny? Is he hanging around the yard most of the time, or does he seem to be splitting his time with another home?
A great way to find if he has a home is to put a collar on him with your daughter's number and a note to say, "Call if you own this cat."
Cats seldom stray far from their homes, so your daughter should ask the neighbors if he belongs to any of them.
With digital cameras, it's easy to create "Found Cat" posters, and most newspapers run "Found Pet" ads without charge.
Before taking the cat, she should have it scanned at a veterinarian's office or the local shelter for a microchip. She should also leave information with the shelter about the cat in case someone comes looking for Mooch.
People who have found an animal -- or lost one -- can get more helpful tips at http://www.lostapet.org/.

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For what it's worth, I probably could have done more than I did to help Ragpuff (don't know what his real name was, of course), and I can't say, right now, if I will pursue what happened to this little creature anymore. It's a lot more complicated than I can tell about and I need to do some more thinking on the subject. A lesson learned.