[Closed] The Cat With No Name™ part III

If winter is like it was last year I would be reluctant to leave a cat out. But then I do let cats get the better of me.

Can it get back inside whilst you're away? Bit mean leaving it locked out alone for a week in the middle of winter if not. What if it snows? Can you get a neighbour to keep an eye on it?

Leaving it out in the cold would be cruel, especially if we get similar weather to what we had last year.

In order to get it into a cattery it will need to be chipped and have its vaccinations all up to date.

Agreed it seems harsh leaving it outside but it's one of 'those' cats IYKWIM.

We've had cats in the past that don't know the meaning of 'outside' but this seems to be a tough little animal.

Bit of a tricky one. I can understand why you are reluctant to get more involved with it & get it booked into a cattery etc. but if you are predominantly looking after it now, then it's a bit tight to not consider it's welfare while you are on holiday.
Sure, it will have survived the summer without much bother as there'd have been lots of things for it to hunt & it wouln't have got that cold, but a week in the winter might be a different story.

As above - is there not a neighbour who could feed it daily & put some fresh water down for it?

Further to my original post.
When I go away I usually do one of two things, take the cat to my parents and leave it there for the holiday or my friend comes over to feed it, change water and every few nights watch tv with it for a couple of hours. I have never used a cattery, but then I haven't had a need to.

The latter is only really possible if you have a cat flap, and a good friend. I assume you have the latter already though.

We are probably underestimating the hardiness of a cat when we say it would be mean leaving it out. I just remember when I was about 13 years old and on holiday with family in the lakes.
There was a stray cat that went to all the chalet doors looking for scraps. It was in good enough condition but on the third morning after a very cold night I woke up excited to see it again and it was already on our doorstep but frozen completely solid 🙁 I think I cried for the whole holiday and we ended up leaving early because I was worried about our own cats.

*edit*
I do know the type of cat you mean rocketman and I don't know the situation fully. The problem is that once you take in a stray it develops an expectation to be looked after. Any haunts and hiding places it used to use but hasn't during the times you have been looking after my have been moved in on by other cats.
It's like putting bird feed out every winter, then one winter not doing it.
Perhaps I'm overstating but I live in a neighbourhood with a crazy cat dynamic. Im sure there is a dissertation on cat behaviour to be written by GPS tagging all the cats around this area.

The most common misconception about cats is that humans either "own" or "choose" them. The situation is very much the other way around.

If you've been away for two weeks and have returned to find that the stray is still attaching itself to you then congratulations, you've just admitted a new member to your household.

If you can't get a neighbour to check on hobocat, then maybe sending it to a cattery might not be a bad idea.

Cat Flap.

It's obviously fond of you lot now, you seem to be fond of it too, why not encourage it to stay by letting the Mog* cohabitate? Leaving it to fend for itself outside will invariably make the Mog go elsewhere, then where would you be eh? Sad, yes Sad is the only place you’ll be,

Shall we spell this out “one more time”

C a t F l a p

With one of those funny “only let me in” collars (if you can get one on said Mog of course), then if you find it comes back without said collar you’ll know it’s got another family closeby..

* other names are available

Do you have a shed or an outhouse that you could put a cat sized hole in (or cat flap if you would rather)? If you make it a cosy bed and somewhere to hide then I would say that it would be ok. This is how my cat lived for many years when I was in rented accommadation and couldn't put a cat flap into the house.

If possible ask a neighbour to top up the food every couple of days. You could leave enough dry food out for the week, but would worry about rats/mice if you are using the shed (or maybe that would just enhance its diet 🙂 )

I've a cat with no name too, and a cat flap and a hopper feeder. So it's pretty much free to do what it wants, and so am I.
Taking it to a cattery would involve being able to pick it up. Which is not high on its list of interests.

flowerpower - Member
Do you have a shed or an outhouse that you could put a cat sized hole in (or cat flap if you would rather)? If you make it a cosy bed and somewhere to hide then I would say that it would be ok. This is how my cat lived for many years when I was in rented accommadation and couldn't put a cat flap into the house.

This is what we did with our cat - cat flap in the shed for occasions when we aren't around and wanted to leave food/water and a warm bed for her.

Are sheds warm these days? Mine is proper rickety and just as cold outside as in, although I guess it would keep it dry and out of the wind.
Have to at least make sure the bed is well insulated from the floor.

If you've domesticated a stray, my primary concern would be about its food source. If you leave it for a fortnight there's a good chance that, whilst it'll probably survive, it's not going to be in the greatest of health.

I had one of 'those' cats too. I fitted a catflap and got a feeder which delivers five portions food on a timer, so I was good to leave him for a few days. Any longer than that, someone would have to come and replenish the food. I wouldn't have dreamt of just leaving him for a fortnight.

Putting down a fortnight's supply of food in one go won't work; cats are very bad at self-regulating.

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Hobo spends a lot of time in the garden inside a cloche on a raised bed, which is were we first found it. Strategically it is a very good location with a full view of the garden and a fence to the rear. It must be comfortable there because it is often asleep inside even in the watery winter sun.

Will ask the neigbours to leave some food out for it while we are away or get a feeder, it seems like a good solution

weirdnumber - Member
Are sheds warm these days? Mine is proper rickety and just as cold outside as in, although I guess it would keep it dry and out of the wind.
Have to at least make sure the bed is well insulated from the floor.

As you say, it will keep the wet & wind off, which makes a huge difference.
We made a bed from an old slide fronted wine box (about 14" square, 5" deep) filled with an large,old bath towel. It worked pretty well & was lifted off the floor on the bottom shelf of a plastic shelving unit.

With one of those funny “only let me in” collars (if you can get one on said Mog of course), then if you find it comes back without said collar you’ll know it’s got another family closeby..

One of those funny collars that the cat loses and then gets stuck outside in the cold winter!

You not got a family or someone that could feed it? Can you puit a cat flap into a shed door if you don't want to do it into the hosue? We took our to the cattery once but it cost quite a bit and he hated us when we got him back. Now leave them to the run of the house with the cat flap and we have someone come and feed them morning and night

If I left my cat alone for any length of time with free access to both her outdoor and indoor territories, I would come home to a house littered with the corpses of small birds and rodents.

At the moment she dumps them on the back step, which is bad enough, and even eats them if they are still wriggling a bit.

She manages to smuggle one in ver occasionally, I have no idea how I conduct a full body search, which leads me to conclude she must swallow them then sick them back up.

I wouldn't go with the cat flap idea...