Do you feed strays?

I have to house cats and I'm afraid to invite any cats communicable disease near my home.

When my cat got out and was lost for two weeks, (I found him) I walked my neighborhood 3 times per day looking for him. I found many people who feed the strays. I was so thankful to have people on the lookout for my kitty.

Someone else just talked about putting a box outside and feeding cats during the winter. Three kittens where huddled in the box. One ran off and she found the other two a home.

I would love to feed the stays but I don't know if the risks outweigh feeding the hungry kitties. Also, I did this once and watching for one cat that I grew attached to and he left me hold him and snuggle him after a while became an obsession for me. I wanted to care for him. I tried to take him to the vet when he came around during the day but he got away from me. All the other times I saw him was at night.

 

I do feed strays, my mother used to do it when I was a child and it is something I have continued. We have always had pet cats and there have been no negative repercussions from feeding strays. As long as your cats are properly vaccinated there shouldn't be an issue.

 

I feed about 32 stray cats daily when I lived in Puerto Rico and about five to 7 stray dogs. I have not encountered many strays here where I live other than the momma who had her litter in our yard, but I will feed any stray I see and probably try to get friendly with them and "foster" them, get them their rabies shot and fixed then find then proper homes like i did with Ally, Moonie, Jasper and bella who where from the litter born in the yard. Many people take strays to shelters, I wont, after siting in a high kill shelter for hours after having Trinity pulled from the kill list, no way i would even recommend taking any animal to a shelter unless it is positively, 100% guaranteed to be a NO kill shelter.

 

I'm so glad this subject came up. I have a house cat -- spoiled and dearly loved. Recently I noticed a large grey cat in the yard and when I try to chase it away it hides under a corner of my shed. I learned the cat can't get into the shed. The weather's been very cold these last few days and I find myself watching that cat more and more. And...worrying about it more and more. I'd always been told not to feed stray cats and that all strays were probably extremely unhealthy. Also heard the cat will try to get into the house. But after reading these posts I think I'll take a dish of cat food out to the shed.

 

I used to feed strays, but as I'm on a 3rd floor apartment now, I don't see any strays anymore. When I lived on the first floor, we had a chair out on the porch and a mama cat and her litter of kittens were always sleeping on it. We started feeding them and of course they rarely ever left. They were very shy though and except for the mother cat, none of them liked to be petted. Eventually one of the kittens warmed up to us and would dart in our apt every time I opened the door!

 

Yes, that is how I got some of my cats. They just showed up here at my house, and we started to feed them. After a few weeks, they became our babies.

 

I don't because the problem of stray cats is that when you feed them, they don't go away again. They keep on coming to your place over and over again. Since I have a house cat, she fights with the few strays that have come by my house so I have made a rule not to entertain them at all.

 

The only stray I ever fed was a nursing mama cat that used to hang around my apartment. My vet even gave us a small bag of kitten food to give to her to make sure her kittens got enough nutrition. As fate would have it, we ended up taking in one of those kittens (other neighbors took in the others), and he was a joy and a delight for his entire 15-year existence.

 

I try to feed the strays at the market but they are not very hungry. Mainly because just about every stall-holder there feeds the cats. Main reason being the cats keep the rats away. I do take strays home when I find a neglected one.

 

I don't feed strays because I know how they grow over the years. When growing up, my mom and I fed a few strays, and at the end of 10 years what started as two strays was a herd of over 30 cats. They were too feral to get fixed, so they kept reproducing and wouldn't leave.

 

Well, I have just picked up another stray from the market. I have a feeling that my house will have a cat population explosion in about one year's time. When the time comes, I will see what I can do about it.

 

I used to feed strays when I had a house. I even befriended a cat and kittens and found homes for the kittens. I couldnt get close enough to the mama cat to catch her to have her spayed, though. I wish I could have. Now I live in a high rise apartment, so no strays near my door

 

I do feed strays. I have one that I feed now. I posted a story about how he was a skinny little thing and came up begging my husband for a BBQ potato chip. Now he is huge and shows up every morning and every night for food. There was a couple of days he didn't show up and I was worried but he showed up again yesterday.

 

I always feed strays. I have two indoor cats and one of them goes outside frequently, but he has all of his shots and is up to date. I was scared he was going to get sick so too, but I keep an eye on him and he is real close to one of the strays. They are buddies and hang out together, but the stray has been missing for almost a week. You will get attached to the stray cats too! We named him Chubbs and he was so white and fluffy. He was a pretty cat so I'm hoping someone kept him instead of something worse.

 

I don't have to feed strays where I live. The strays in the market are very well-fed by the stall owners there. It's kind of like taking care of the cats who keep the rats away at night.